How Safe Was Your Last Cruise?
For anyone concerned with cruise ship safety, the capsized hulk of the 1,000-foot-long Costa Concordia stands as a grim sentinel in the waters off the Tuscan island of Giglio, where the vessel ran aground in January.
In Italy on Monday, pre-trial hearings began in a lawsuit brought by the families of the 32 people presumed killed in the accident (to date, 30 bodies have been recovered). The court prepared to hear data recorded on the ship's "black box," and the goal was to determine whether Captain Francesco Schettino should stand trial next year.
While Schettino himself has acknowledged his own blame in the accident—he brought the ship close to shore in a maneuver known as a "salute," and left the ship before all passengers were evacuated—both he and a board of court-appointed experts maintain (in a 270-page report) that some responsibility may lie with the cruise line, Costa Corciere, a division of Carnival Corp. In a finding that should resonate with anyone booking passage on a cruise line, the board noted that some members of the Costa Concordia's crew did not speak Italian, lacked current certification for safety and evacuation, and that some passengers had not been given the chance to participate in evacuation drills.
The ship struck a rock off Giglio on January 13, tearing a hole in its hull and rapidly capsizing; in the attempt to evacuate more than 4,000 passengers and crew members at night, more than 30 people died. Schettino was dismissed from Costa Corciere earlier this year, but he has sued the company, claiming his firing was unfair.
As more details from this terrible accident come to light, we'd like to hear about your own experiences with cruise safety. When you've sailed, what kind of opportunities did you have to participate in evacuation drills?
