Prow's Edge Cruise Magazine Blog

COSTA ATLANTICA RECEIVES A PERFECT SCORE FOR VESSEL SANITATION

Following our many reports of health and safety at sea, and news of the awards and reports on cruise lines and cruise ships at Prow's Edge Cruise Magazine, news comes today of the perfect score for vessel sanitation for Costa Atlantica.

The Costa Atlantica, a member of the Costa Cruises fleet, once again received a perfect score for vessel sanitation in a recent inspection conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The inspection was held on September 26 during a stopover in New York, one of the port calls of the Costa Atlantica during the latter part of her transatlantic cruise. The cruise departed on September 16 from Savona and ended on October 3 in Québec.

The CDC inspections are part of the Vessel Sanitation Program introduced in the early 1970s for all ships that stop in a U.S. port. The inspections are unannounced and conducted by officials from the United States Public Health Service twice a year. The score, on a scale from 1 to 100, is assigned based on a checklist with 48 areas of assessment, evaluating hygiene and sanitation of food (from storage to preparation), water, shipboard personnel and the ship as a whole.

This is the sixth time that the Costa Cruises fleet has received maximum marks from the CDC inspectors. The first vessel to obtain the perfect 100 was the Costa Atlantica in 2001. She repeated this success in 2005, while her sister ship, the Costa Mediterranea, obtained a top score in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Costa is the only cruise fleet flying the Italian flag and therefore is the only line whose cruise ships are subject to more restrictive environmental, safety and social accountability regulations. Costa Cruises not only operates in accordance with the prevailing laws but also, where possible, seeks to preempt legislation, setting higher standards for itself and more ambitious objectives by means of internal procedures that go beyond the scope of mandatory requirements of local, national and international regulations.

For more information about Costa Cruise Lines visit the Prow's Edge profile of the cruise line at http://www.prowsedge.com/cruise-lines-costa-cruise-lines.html or visit the Costa Cruise Line web site at http://www.costacruise.com/B2C/USA/Default.htm