Italian Cruise Ship Disaster

The flurry of new safety policies that began in the weeks following January's Costa Concordia accident continues with the adoption of two more safety-related rules, both effective immediately.
Announced by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) and the European Cruise Council (ECC), the policies standardize the required elements for muster drills and emergency instructions, and require the addition of passengers' nationalities to their cruise records.
Although all 12 of the required muster elements are already common practices on most major cruise lines, Mike McGarry, senior vice president of public affairs for CLIA, told Cruise Critic, "Our industry's safety experts believe that consistent messaging in this area will improve the effectiveness of delivery of this important information to passengers.
"CLIA's oceangoing members have identified 12 common elements of musters and emergency instructions to reinforce and supplement the legal requirements, as well as to help provide greater consistency in carrying out these most important safety preparedness exercises," he added.
Peter Shanks, Cunard's president and managing director, also weighed in on the new policy.
"We are adopting a universal approach to safety, whereas before it was rather piecemeal and done line by line," he told Cruise Critic. "This is the reassurance that is needed for first timers."

The 12 common elements mandated by the Common Elements of Musters and Emergency Instructions policy are:


When and how to don a lifejacket
Description of emergency signals and appropriate responses in the event of an emergency
Location of lifejackets
Where to muster when the emergency signal is sounded
Method of accounting for passenger attendance at musters both for training and in the event of an actual emergency
How information will be provided in an emergency
What to expect if the Captain orders an evacuation of the ship
What additional safety information is available
Instructions on whether passengers should return to cabins prior to mustering, including specifics regarding medication, clothing and lifejackets
Description of key safety systems and features
Emergency routing systems and recognizing emergency exits
Who to seek out for additional information

That's a good question. Much as Finn and I spar on occasion,
I don't rate him high in the spoiled brat stakes., despite a previous aspersion.
Who might be at the top of the line, there are riches of possibilities.
The first one I think of will fill my screen with pages of rancor,
but that's an easy take. . . .

Salvage crews start work to refloat Costa Concordia
By Cristiano Corvino
6/21/2012

ROME — Salvage crews began preliminary work this week on preparations to refloat the half-submerged Costa Concordia cruise liner in what is set to be the biggest ever operation of its kind.

A barge has moved next to the liner and the ship's radar has been removed from the upper deck. The swimming pool slide and the large yellow funnel will be taken off in coming weeks, salvage workers and local officials said.

The nearly 1,000-foot cruise liner, operated by Carnival Corp's Costa Cruises unit, capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio after hitting rocks on January 13. At least 30 people died and two are still unaccounted for.

"The preliminary work has begun before the ship is stabilized, which will happen in the next few months," Mayor of Giglio, Sergio Ortelli, said on Wednesday.

U.S. firm Titan Salvage, owned by Crowley Maritime Corp, and Italian firm Micoperi are handling the refloat and removal of the ship, which is set to cost at least $300 million and last about a year.

The vessel is expected to be stabilized by the end of August to prevent it shifting down the rocky ledge it is resting on and plunging into the deep waters of the surrounding marine reserve.

Two cranes attached to an underwater platform beside the 114,500-metric-ton ship will then pull it upright, helped by the weight of big water-filled tanks that will be fitted on the part of the ship above water.

Once upright, more tanks will be fitted to the other side of the hull. They will then be emptied and filled with air to refloat the huge liner, which will be towed to an Italian port and broken up.

The ship's owner has said guarantees for the local tourist industry and protection of the environment during the salvage operation will be key priorities.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47891279/#.T-NNUrWe6a8

US firm sues Carnival over 'flawed design' of cruise ship Concordia
June 27, 2012

ROME—A US law firm said Tuesday it is suing Carnival, the American owner of the cruise liner shipwrecked off Italy this year, for allegedly leading its designers to sacrifice safety for profits.

The Eaves law firm said it was suing for punitive damages in California over the design of the doomed luxury Costa Concordia and hoped that a win would see all similarly designed cruise ships declared unseaworthy.

"This morning we filed a claim for punitive damages against Carnival and the architects who designed the Concordia, for purposefully ignoring safety to maximize profit," lawyer John Arthur Eaves told a Rome press conference.

Eaves, who said he is part of a collective of lawyers representing around 150 claimants from the liner, said the ship's design was fatally flawed "because it was top-heavy and had a propensity to roll."

"The sad tragedy is the race to build the biggest ship with the shallowest hulls and room for the most passengers. When will it stop? We decided we must file this complaint to stop a race which is destroying safety," he said.

The firm alleges Carnival "controlled or at least heavily influenced the design of the MV Costa Concordia to suit its commercial needs as opposed to best or even good marine practices."

It also brought legal proceedings against the architects, named simply as "John Does," for "designing the vessel to maximize passenger carrying capacity, but at the expense of seaworthiness, and passenger safety."

"The ship's shallow draught, the area below the waterline, made it unstable, so that it tilted quickly over and many lifeboats became useless," Eaves said.

The 114,500-tonne ship–more than twice the size of the Titanic which sank in 1912–ran aground on January 13 with 4,229 people from 60 countries on board. A total of 32 people were killed, many trapped as the ship rolled.

Lifeboats on one side of the ship failed to deploy because of the tilt, leading dozens to throw themselves into the sea in the night, several of whom died while others were injured in the fall into the freezing waters.

Eaves said the ship's designers had "followed outmoded standards" for a vessel that size, adding that he hoped a win on this case would force the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) to bring in up-to-date rules.

"The problem at the moment is that the IMO's rules are just guidelines. There are no punitive consequences for those who flaunt the rules," he said.

The suit calls on the court to award plaintiffs "at least $10,000,000 and punitive damages" and Eaves said he expects a ruling within a year.

Should the court find the corporation guilty of using a dangerous design for the Concordia, the ruling may mean "a significant if not majority of the existing cruise fleet would be suspended," he said.

"We have filed this complaint with a great sense of urgency. As things stand at the moment, we're simply sending empty coffins out to sea, just waiting for tragedies to happen," he said. —Agence France-Presse
http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/263250/economy/companies/us-firm-sues-carnival-over-flawed-design-of-cruise-ship-concordia

We decided we must file this complaint to stop a race which is destroying safety," he said.

Next year in late spring or summer, the Costa Concordia will then be towed away from the island to be taken to an Italian port, such as Piombino or Palermo, where it will be dismantled for scrap.