Costsa Crociere’s Costa Smeralda seen docked on the Italian port of Civitavecchia following a well being alert because of a Chinese couple and a potential hyperlink to coronavirus, in Civitavecchia, Italy, January 30, 2020. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Sept 3 (Reuters) – Carnival Corp’s shares surged 11% on Thursday after its Italian model Costa Cruises mentioned two of its ships would resume crusing this weekend, with extra to observe.

Cruise firms, among the many worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, have been compelled to halt voyages for months after ships in Japan, Australia and California made headlines due to giant numbers of infections onboard.

So far this yr, Carnival’s shares have misplaced almost two-thirds of their worth, whereas peer Royal Caribbean Cruises Group has misplaced about 45% and Norwegian Cruise Line Holding Ltd about 67%.

Shares of Royal Caribbean have been up 6% and Norwegian Cruise rose 8% in morning buying and selling.

Carnival’s German model AIDA Cruises will resume operations in November with two of its ships crusing from the Canary Islands, it mentioned late final month.

Costa will sail from Italian ports starting weekly cruises from Genoa and Trieste to western Mediterranean and southern Italy, reserving one-week itineraries solely for Italian visitors, it mentioned.

The cruises will happen with adjusted passenger capability and well being protocols developed with authorities and well being authorities, Carnival mentioned.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)

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