Margaritaville at Sea Islander

Overview

*Costa Atlantica (2000–2023) *Margaritaville at Sea Islander (2023–present)

country	Bahamas
owner	Carnival Corporation house flag.svg Carnival Corporation & plc (2000–2023) Paradise Cruise Line Operator Ltd (2023–present)
operator	Costa Cruises (2000–2019) Adora Cruises (never operated) *Margaritaville at Sea (2024–present)
registry	🇮🇹 Italy, Genoa (2000–2021) 🇧🇸 Bahamas, Nassau (2021–present)
builder	Helsinki New Shipyard Helsinki, Finland
yard number	Kvaerner Masa-Yards 498
launched	11 November 1999
sponsor	* Claudia Cardinale (Costa Atlantica) * Savannah Buffett (Margaritaville at Sea Islander)
christened	* 17 July 2000 (as Costa Atlantica) * 10 June 2024 (as Margaritaville at Sea Islander)
acquired	30 June 2000
maiden voyage	* 17 July 2000 (as Costa Atlantica) * 14 June 2024 (as Margaritaville at Sea Islander)
in service	* 17 July 2000 (Costa Cruises) * 14 June 2024 (Margaritaville at Sea)
identification	* Call sign: C6FB7 MMSI no.: 311001063
status	In service
notes	‡R1R‡

Margaritaville at Sea Islander is a Spirit-class cruise ship operated by Margaritaville at Sea. Previously sailing for Costa Cruises as Costa Atlantica, she was built in 2000 by the Kvaerner Masa-Yards Helsinki New Shipyard in Helsinki and delivered in 2000. Costa Atlantica was sold to CSSC Carnival Cruise Shipping in 2019, but the ship never entered service with the line. She was later sold to Margaritaville at Sea and began service in June 2024.

Design and construction

Costa Atlantica, unveiled in 2000, was one of four Costa ships built during the 2000s that were designed with magrodome-covered pool areas and other features that would allow travel to a wide array of destinations. The ship also had the same platform as sister line Carnival's four Spirit-class ships.[3] The ship is 85,619 tons with a capacity for 2,114 passengers with a length of 292.5 m and a 38.8 m maximum breadth.[4]

Incidents

In 2010 Francesco Schettino, later the captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia, was the captain of Costa Atlantica as it entered the port of Warnemünde, Germany, at too high a speed, allegedly causing damage to AIDAblu, also a Carnival Corporation ship.[21]

Coronavirus pandemic

During the coronavirus pandemic, on 20 April 2020, a positive case was reported aboard Costa Atlantica when it was docked at Koyagi Factory of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Nagasaki Shipyard in Nagasaki, where it was under repairs from 20 February to 25 March.[22] A doctor had collected samples from four suspected cases and conducted PCR tests, with three negative results and one positive.[22] The positive case had suffered a fever beginning on 14 April.[22] About 20 other crew members had started developing fevers in the week before the first case was reported.[23]

Costa Atlantica had 623 crew members of 36 different nationalities, including a Japanese translator and no passengers at the time the first positive case was first reported.[24][22] There were a total of 56 crew members that have had heavy contact with the positive case.[22] They have all been quarantined, and PCR tests have been planned for all of them.[23][22] The prefecture has considered requesting assistance from the Self-Defense Forces to help manage the situation.[23]

On 22 April 2020, officials of the prefecture announced that, of the 56 additional tests conducted, an additional 33 crew members had tested positive, bringing the total number of positive cases to 34.[25] The other 23 tests returned negative.[25] On 23 April, it was announced that 48 tests in total have returned positive, with 14 of the positive cases being cooks or people serving food.[26] On 24 April, officials stated that 91 people had tested positive, with one patient being hospitalized.[27] Officials also noted that even though Costa Atlantica had been quarantined upon its arrival in Japan, with its crew ordered not to leave the quay unless they needed to visit a hospital, some crew members had left without informing the officials.[27] On 25 April, Television Nagasaki announced that 57 new cases had been discovered, bringing the total number of positive cases to 148.[28] With the latest cases count at 149, the ship left Nagasaki port on 31 May, bound for Manila.[29]

Margaritaville at Sea Islander

Design and construction

Costa Cruises

Margaritaville at Sea

Incidents

Coronavirus pandemic

External links

References