Costa Cruises, part of Carnival Corporation & plc, said that 57,130 gross ton and 1,800-passenger Costa neoRomantica will be based in Asia as the fifth vessel of the Italian company.

“The deployment of Costa neoRomantica comes as part of Costa Asia’s continuing investment strategy in the region and represents the company’s commitment to its valued markets in Asia,” Costa Cruises said in a statement.

The company has consistently increased its capacity across the region in recent years, with Costa Victoria’s deployment in Asia in 2012, followed by Costa Atlantica (2013), Costa Serena (2015), Costa Fortuna (2016) and Costa neoRomantica (2017), demonstrating great confidence in the market by adding ships each year since 2015.

“The deployment of the fifth Costa ship in Asia, will reinforce our leading position in Asia and allow us to continue significantly grow the Asian cruise market in the next decade, and further boost Asia market to become one of the most prominent markets in the world.” said Costa Group Asia President Buhdy Bok. The ship will undergo a HKD900 million refit and its cruises will include new destinations, including Sokcho and Busan in Korea, Vladivostok in Russia and Hakodate, Aomori, Sakata, Niigata, Kanazawa, Maizuru and Sakaiminato in Japan.