Costa Venezia, the first ship designed by Costa and built specially for Chinese guests will arrive at its homeport in Shanghai on May 18, according to Costa Cruises, the Italian brand of Carnival Corporation, the world's largest cruise company, on Monday.

With a gross tonnage of 135,500 tonnes, the 323-meter-long Costa Venezia offers 2,116 cabins for a total of 5,260 passengers and will be the largest among Costa's fleet in China.

After arrival, Costa Venezia will join the other three Costa cruise ships serving the Chinese market (Costa Atlantica, Costa Serena and Costa Romantica) and complete a full-year operation in Asia, according to Costa Cruises.

The company also sees huge potential of the Port of Tianjin in north China, and believes it will soon become a powerhouse for the Chinese cruise industry, said Mario Zanetti, president of Costa Group Asia.

Costa Serena, homeported in Shanghai since 2015, moved to Tianjin port and made a debut at its new homeport last week. A second ship specially designed for Chinese guests, a sister to Costa Venezia, will be delivered by Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri in 2020.

"These relocations are part of Costa's new deployment strategy for the China market in 2019," Zanetti said.

A joint venture, founded by Carnival and China State Shipbuilding Corp. last November, will operate its own fleet by the end of 2019.

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