Costa neoRomantica accidents and incidents

November 2021Fire Accident

(Antares Experience/scrapped) In late-November 2021, Gadani Ship Breaking Yard (Pakistan) announced that the vessel "Antares Experience" was sold (sales price was not disclosed) and soon to be scrapped.

The last AIS data showed the ship arriving at Gadani (on Nov 22) following a Suez Canal transit (Nov 6-7). Gadani (the world's third-largest shipbreaking yard - after Alang India and Chittagong Bangladesh) is approx 40 km/25 mi northwest of Karachi (Pakistan's largest city).

September 2021Other Incidents

(Celestyal Experience) In July 2020, Carnival Corporation (via its subsidiary Costa Cruises) sold to Louis Group Costa neoRomantica (1993-built/27-year-old at the time). The ship joined the Celestyal Cruises' fleet in early-August under the name "Celestyal Experience".

On September 2, 2021, Louis Group announced that (due to the ongoing COVID crisis) has sold Celestyal Experience. The buyer was later disclosed (Beacon And Bay Shipping Services LLC/Dubai). The sale price was not disclosed, but (reportedly) it generated ~EUR 3 million / ~USD 3,6M profit, thus supporting Celestyal's liquidity.

A total of 107x itineraries were canceled - all voyages with scheduled departures between November 6, 2021, and December 27, 2022.

Curiously, the 28-year-old boat never carried passengers for Celestyal.

06 February 2018Other Incidents

(Costa neoRomantica) On February 6, 2018, while berthed in Hong Kong, the Costa Asia-operated cruise ship neoRomantica hosted a Jessica Minh Anh fashion show. The famous Vietnamese show producer and supermodel held the special event in the evening, on the sundeck.

04 March 2015Propulsion / Power Loss

(Costa neoRomantica) On March 4, 2015, during Mediterranean cruise itinerary and while en-route from Trapani to Marseille, the ship experienced rough weather with high waves (over 20 ft / 7 m) and strong winds (speeds exceeding 75 mph / 120 kph). The storm forced the vessel to enter and dock in homeport Savona Italy, from where passengers were bused to Marseille France.

Along with the total power loss/blackout, among the sustained in the storm damages were also reported flooded cabins and portside hull damages caused by the chain of the anchor (dropped during the storm).

21 December 2014Propulsion / Power Loss

(Costa neoRomantica) On December 21, 2014, the ship experienced a total power loss accident while en-route from homeport Savona Italy to Marseille France. The incident occurred upon entering call port Marseille and lasted for ~2 hours. During that time, the vessel was anchored in the harbor.

25 February 2009Fire Accident

(Costa Romantica) On February 25, 2009, a small fire broke out in the engine room (deck 1) caused by one of ship’s diesel generators. The incident occurred on a South American cruise (itinerary Feb 18-25) from Brazil to Argentina (Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires), while the vessel was near Punta del Este Uruguay.

The emergency backup generators provided electricity for all passenger services. The ship remained anchored approx 13 km (8 ml) from Punta del Este for damage assessment and repairs. For over 24 hours, the liner was without electricity and running water, which resulted in most of the toilets being clogged. No injuries were reported.

After all attempts to repair the generator failed, the partially repaired vessel was moved ~1 km away from the coast. All the 1429 passengers and 590 crew were evacuated (offloaded via ship’s tender boats) and transported to Punta del Este, then bused to Buenos Aires for their home flights.

As compensation, all passengers received a partial refund (2-days fare equivalent), plus 20% future Costa cruise booking discount. The next scheduled itinerary (departure Feb 26, 14-day Antarctica roundtrip from Buenos Aires) was canceled. All booked passengers were complimentarily accommodated overnight in Buenos Aires hotels, then an alternate land resort vacation was arranged for the whole canceled cruise period (Feb 26 to Mar 12). They also were given a 50% future Costa cruise booking discount. Booked passengers who refused the company’s resort option received a full refund and were also compensated for all their travel (including the airfare) and dining expenses.