MS Costa Allegra

MS Costa Allegra

MS Costa Allegra was a cruise ship owned by the Italy-based Costa Crociere, one of many subsidiaries owned by Costa's parent company Carnival Corporation. She was built in 1969 by the Wärtsilä Turku Shipyard in Turku, Finland, as the container ship Annie Johnson for the Sweden-based Rederi AB Nordstjernan. In 1986 she was sold to Regency Cruises with the intention of being converted into a cruise ship as Regent Moon, but she was laid up instead. In 1988 she was sold to Compania Naviera Panalexandra and renamed Alexandra but continued laid up. In 1990, the ship was acquired by Costa Cruises and rebuilt into a cruise ship at the T. Mariotti shipyard in Genoa, Italy. She entered service as Costa Allegra in 1992.

Costa Allegra suffered a generator fire while off the coast of Africa approximately 200 miles southwest of the Seychelles on 27 February 2012 and was taken into tow toward the island of Mahé in the Seychelles Islands the following day, a journey of several days. She was later renamed Santa Cruise and sold for breaking in Aliaga, Turkey. Prior to beaching at the scrapyard, her yellow funnel, a trademark of Costa Crociere, was painted white.