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First Costa Group Volunteer on Board the Africa Mercy

Engineer joins the crew to help and supportMercy Ships in West Africa

Genoa – July 6, 2017 - Mercy Ships and Costa Group have reached a key milestone in their recentlyannounced cooperation by kicking-off a joint volunteer program supporting the hospital ship Africa Mercy. For a total of four months, the first Costa Group volunteerTomislav Zubovic will serve as an engineer on board to support the ship's staffand pass on his seafaring experiences gained with companies like AIDA.

Michael Thamm, Group CEO Costa Group& Carnival Asia, is thrilled about the quick results that follow thesigning of a memorandum of understanding in March 2017: "The collaboration with Mercy Ships enables us to support the people whoneed it most. As this reflects our key values, our crews are very much lookingforward to becoming active and giving back to society. I am proud of theiroverwhelming resonance."

The Africa Mercyis the largest non-governmentalhospital ship in the world and provides free surgeries and dental care to patientswith urgent medical needs. It hosts over 400 volunteers from more than 40 nations. Costa Group has committed to continuously manone Engineering position on board.

"TomislavZubovic and future volunteers will not only lend a helping hand but will alsoshare their knowledge with the other volunteers on board. This way, we can ensureto provide sustainable benefits beyond this program", explains Michael Thamm.

28-year old Zubovic holds a degree in MarineEngineering and has already worked on different ships within the Group, such asAIDAsol and AIDAluna. "I am very excitedabout this challenge", says Zubovic. "Weare truly making a difference here and I am looking forward to help operatethis ship that gives hope to so many people."

The volunteer program is only one of severalactivities 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. Additionally, officers and engineers withMercy Ships have the opportunity to gain sea-service experience and nauticalexpertise on board Costa Group ships. To grant immediate help, Costa Group has alsomade a donation of 100.000 €.

The Africa Mercyis operated by the charity organization Mercy Ships and is about to set courseto Douala, Cameroon in August. Douala is the country's biggest city and home toCentral Africa's largest port. Quality of healthcare in Cameroon is stillrelatively low and average life expectancy is only 56 years.[1] Thecountry however enjoys relatively high political and social stability which facilitatedthe development of agriculture, roads, railways, and various industries.

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 70countries providing services valued at more than $1.3 billion, treating morethan 2.56 million direct beneficiaries. The Africa Mercy is crewed by 400volunteers from up to 40 nations, an average of 1000 each year. Professionalsincluding surgeons, dentists, nurses, healthcare trainers, teachers, cooks,seamen, engineers, and agriculturalists donate their time and skills to theeffort. With offices in 16 nations, Mercy Ships seeks to transform individualsand serve 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 27 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 6 new vessels by 2021.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