Costa Victoria accidents and incidents

January 2021Structural and Technical Issues

Initially, the new shipowner (GIN Group) announced plans to use the vessel as a floating hotel for its workers and ship crew at the company's owned drydocks in Genoa (T Mariotti Shipyard) and Chantier Naval de Marseille. However, these plans were never implemented.

After being berthed for 6+ months in Port Piombino, the cruise liner Costa Victoria rusted to the ground and became unseaworthy. In mid-January 2021 was announced that the boat will be soon towed to Turkey's Aliaga shipbreaking yard (near Izmir) to be beached and scrapped.

13 June 2020Structural and Technical Issues

(scrapped) On June 13, 2020, Costa Crociere announced that Costa Victoria is sold to San Giorgio del Porto SpA (shipyard in Genoa Italy that specializes in ship repair and conversion projects). The new shipowner is part (fully-owned subsidiary) of Genova Industrie Navali Srl (2008-founded company).

The decision was based on both the Coronavirus impact on the ship cruising industry and the vessel's age (24 years / 1996-2020), as the cruise ships have planned lifespan around 30 years. The cruise ship's last schedule was planned only through 2021-Q3.

The hypotheses about the vessel's future were two - dismantling at a certified for demolitions shipyard (scrapped) or drydock conversion into a floating hotel (to house workers employed at industrial sites managed by San Giorgio del Porto.

Before the acquisition, Costa Victoria was docked in Port Civitavecchia (Rome, Italy) for a "cold layup", awaiting to restart services for Costa on July 5. Following the acquisition, the vessel was moved from Civitavecchia to Port Piombino (Tuscany, Italy).

On June 23, Francesco Ferrari (Piombino's Mayor) announced on his Facebook page that the cruise vessel had arrived there in order to be prepared for dismantling. He added that he had welcomed the ship's Master (Captain Gianfranco La Fauci) in the morning (of June 23). On June 27, CruiseMapper's tracker showed the ship anchored off Piombino. Costa Victoria's AIS transponder went silent at 8:44 UTC (June 27).

Next table shows the very last cruise scheduled for Costa Victoria.

The 11-day Mediterranean itinerary (roundtrip from homeport Savona) was priced from USD 1140 per person (double occupancy Inside cabin rates). The canceled departures from Savona were in July (5, 16, 27), August (7, 18, 29), September (9, 20) and October (1, 12).

Note: In July-August 2020, Carnival Corporation sold for scrap three Carnival Cruise Line ships - Carnival Fantasy (30-year-old), Carnival Inspiration (24-year-old) and Carnival Imagination (25-year-old). These "Fun Ships" were dismantled at Aliaga Ship Recycling Facility (near Port Izmir, Turkey).

March 2020Cruise Illness / Virus Outbreaks

(Coronavirus) On March 23, 2020, a female passenger (from Argentina) was medevaced (offloaded on a lifeboat) in Port Heraklion (Crete Island, Greece), ambulanced and hospitalized in critical condition. Her condition worsened quickly and she was immediately intubated. The 63-year-old woman tested positive for COVID-19 (Coronavirus).

The ship was returning from Asia to Europe and operating a 28-day Suez Canal cruise (itinerary February 29 - March 28) from Mumbai (India) to Venice (Italy). The voyage had planned visits to India (Mangalore), Cochin), Maldives (Male), Oman (Salalah), Israel (Eilat), Jordan (Aqaba-Petra), Greece (Heraklion, Mar 23, Katakolon, Mar 24, Kerkyra-Corfu, Mar 25) and Croatia (Dubrovnik, Mar 26, Split, Mar 27). The remaining call ports (after Heraklion) were cancelled and the ship continued directly to Civitavecchia-Rome for passenger debarkation.

The liner docked at Civitavecchia's Lazio Pier on March 25. The passenger debarkation started in the afternoon, stopped in the evening and resumed on March 26. All tourists were transferred to Fiumicino Airport for their home flights. The cruise liner was carrying a total of 726 passengers.

03 November 2014Boat Rescue

On November 3, 2014, in the morning, while en-route from Hong Kong to Hainan Island (South China Sea), the ship rescued all the crew (12 men) of a burning boat. The fishing boat was first spotted by the First Officer, then the Captain commanded the itinerary route to be altered in order to assist the distressed vessel.

All the boat’s crew were rescued and assisted medically by the cruise ship crew. The ship also actively assisted China’s Coast Guard helicopter dispatched to the area by actively searching for the other 2 missing men from the boat.

Unfortunately, due to severe sea conditions, the two men didn’t survive. After being granted clearance, the cruise ship resumed its scheduled itinerary route towards Hainan Island (call port Sanya).

17 July 2014Crew / Passenger Deaths

(overboard) On July 17, 2014, a 53-year-old female passenger was reported missing and presumed fell overboard. The incident occurred on an Asian cruise itinerary, while the ship was en route from Japan to Taiwan (call port Keelung). The woman (of Taiwanese origin) was supposed to disembark the ship in Taiwan. The ship’s key card access records showed she last entered her cabin on July 16 in the evening. All her belongings were left inside.

06 February 2014Other Incidents

On February 6, 2014, call port Ha Long Bay (Vietnam) was dropped after a sunken barge ship blocked the harbor and prevented the cruise liner from entering and docking there.

Miramar Travel (Hong Kong-based cruise and tour booking agency) offered as compensation to each one of their ~1000 booked passengers HKD 300 (USD 40). Costa Cruises offered US$50 per cabin in onboard credit. Most of them accepted the refund offers. However, ~340 disgruntled passengers demanded a higher refund (30% of the per cabin fares, ranging between HKD 8000-18000, or USD 1000-2300),. They refused to disembark the ship in Hong Kong and started a protest. By 7 pm, on the ship remained ~50 protesters. The next cruise departure from Hong Kong (to Malaysia) was delayed by ~8 hours.

06 February 2010Crew / Passenger Deaths

On February 6, 2010, a female passenger died on a Costa Cruises sponsored shore excursion in call port Ilha Grande Brazil. The snorkeling tour was to Blue Lagoon (Lagoa Azul). Other passengers found the woman’s body floating face down.

12 March 2009Crew / Passenger Deaths

On March 12, 2009, a male passenger was killed ashore – just 1,5 hours after disembarking the ship in homeport Dubai UAE. The man (of French origin) was run down while crossing a street. He was walking together with his wife and a friend, but they managed to escape the car.

2004Structural and Technical Issues

In 2004, the vessel was extensively refitted and refurbished. The rebuilding project resulted in adding 246 new balcony cabins on upper decks (9-Tosca and 10-Norma) and also 16 new suites on the Lido Deck (11-Rigoletto). The Bolero buffet restaurant was extended with an outdoor terrace. The Lido deck also received its current promenade (open-deck) areas.