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First Mercy Ships Volunteer on Board a Costa Group’s ship

Costa offers the opportunity for Officers andEngineers of Mercy Ships to gain

sea-service/experience on board Costa Group ships

Genoa– 15 March 2018 – As part of the cooperation announced on 2017 between Mercy Ships and Costa Group the joint volunteerprogram is proceeding with the first crew-member from Africa Mercy who recentlyembarked on board Costa neoRomantica.

Rodrigo Souza Fraga, a 38-year-old Spanishnational, embarked as a 3^rd Officer on board to gain sea service andexperience. Reporting to the ship's Officer on Watch, Rodrigo is actuallyserving as member of the bridge staff for navigation and watch keeping aspects.

Rodrigo is the 2^nd Officer of the Africa Mercy, the largestnon-governmental hospital ship in the world which provides free surgical anddental care to patients with urgent medical needs. It crews over 400 volunteers from morethan 40 nations. The Mercy Ship deliversthis surgical expertise for 10 months at a time in African ports, sailing toand from new destinations each year to maximise time in port so actual time atsea for maritime crew is much less than other ships.

"My time onboard the Costa neoRomantica isvery challenging yet very fulfilling," stated Rodrigo Souza Fraga. "There are many positive aspects of the dailywork that I'm learning and can be beneficial for Mercy Ships. But what catchesmy attention the most is how well people are trained. At the end of this4-month commitment I will have the opportunity to upgrade my Officer'slicense. Being able to spend asubstantial amount of time at sea is helping me to sharpen up my sailing skills."

The volunteer program is only one of severalactivities that Costa Group and Mercy Ships agreed on in their partnership. Thegroup will furthermore sensitize guests travelling on board the Costa Group fleetfor Mercy Ships and its activities. In addition, to grant immediate help, CostaGroup already donated 100,000 € to Mercy Ships.

Mercy Ships

Mercy Ships uses hospital ships to deliverfree, world-class healthcare services, capacity building and sustainabledevelopment to those with little access in the developing world. Founded in1978 by Don and Deyon Stephens, Mercy Ships has worked in more than 70 countriesproviding services valued at more than $1.3 billion, treating more than 2.56million direct beneficiaries. The Africa Mercy is crewed by 400 volunteers fromup to 40 nations, an average of 1000 each year. Professionals includingsurgeons, dentists, nurses, healthcare trainers, teachers, cooks, seamen,engineers, and agriculturalists donate their time and skills to the effort.With offices in 16 nations, Mercy Ships seeks to transform individuals andserve nations one at a time. For more information click on www.mercyships.org.

CostaGroup

The Costa Group is the leading cruisecompany in Europe, headquartered in Genoa (Italy). The 26 ships of the brandsCosta Cruises, AIDA Cruises and Costa Asia together have a total capacity of76,000 beds. The fleet will be further strengthened by 7 new vessels by 2023.The company has a global workforce of 27,000 employees working onboard and inits 20 offices in 14 countries. In 2014 the company introduced the CostaCrociere Foundation, an independently-run, non-profit organization generating apositive impact on the society and the marine environment, currently through 22ongoing projects.

Contact:

Costa PressOffice - Tel. +39 010 5483523/010 5483068 – costapressoffice@costa.it

GabrieleBaroni – Communication Director – mobile 3497668013 – baroni@costa.it

AIDA Cruises:Hansjörg Kunze, Vice President Communication & Sustainability, Tel. +49 (0)381 / 444-8020, presse@aida.de

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