Today, January 13, 2019, marks the 7th anniversary of the Costa Concordia disaster which left 32 dead and 4,000 passengers and crew traumatized, after the cruise ship run aground at Isola del Giglio, an island off the coast of Tuscany, Italy.

Captain and the crew of the cruise ship Costa Luminosa were presented with a plaque by the Hellenic Coast Guard for the rescue of 11 crew members from the cargo ship "Kilic 1". Captain Pietro Sinisi is pictured here receiving the recognition on behalf of all shipboard personnel on Costa Luminosa from the Hellenic Coast Guard.

A new player in the international duty-free market has just started to operate its first stores on the Costa Cruises ship, Costa Atlantica. After some fierce competition from many international duty-free companies back in July this year, China Duty Free Group CDFG has won the tender launched by Carnival Corporation for operating retail shops on Costa Atlantica.

The Italian cruise line Costa Cruises presented a new campaign with a video spot starring Penelope Cruz in which she will become a beautiful mermaid, enchanted by the sound coming from the Costa cruise ship.

The food prepared on board the Costa cruise ships not served to the guests from now on will be distributed to the ones who need it the most. The Spanish organization “Banc dels Aliments” and Costa Cruises signed an agreement for the food surplus to be distributed, among different NGOs in Barcelona.

Around midnight on November 20, the Italian cruise ship Costa Luminosa, sailing to the port of Katakolo, Greece received a request for intervention by the Greek Coast Guard Center in Piraeus. The SOS signal was sent by the Turkish cargo ship “Kilic 1” who was in serious trouble due to fire on board.

Greek authorities arrested a Turkish family at the Port of Katakolon (Olympia), who was sailing on a cruise ship with fake passports.

Carnival Corporation announced today the signing of a joint venture with China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), leading to a new cruise line named “CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping Limited”. The new China-based cruise operator will start sailing with two cruise ships currently operated by Costa Cruises. Costa Atlantica, 85.861 tons and 2,210 total passengers ship, will be transferred to the new cruise company by the end of 2019.

With over 50 thousand useful reports gathered along the Italian coastline and the involvement of over 600 teachers and 5,700 students of 156 Secondary schools, Costa Crociere Foundation is supporting one of the largest citizen science project.

A Costa Cruises crew member send a message saying that since the company changed crew payroll from JP Morgan debit cards to Ocean pay, shipboard employees are facing difficulties with withdrawing cash from ATM’s. Furthermore, the crew is feeling cheated because every time they withdraw their hard earned money there is a fee.