Expect to see the capsized ship Concordia sitting in the waters off the coast of Italy for many months to come.  Experts have suggested it may take up to 10 months to remove the ship from the coast, due to delicate preparations that must be made in order to do as little damaget to the surroounding ecosystem as possible.

First, workers must remove fuel from the ship, a process which is expercted to take 3 weeks to a month.  After the fuel removal, the ship itself must be removed, a process which will take several months to complete.

According to USA Today:

“Our first goal was to find people alive,” Franco Gabrielli, the national civil protection official in charge of the operation, told a daily briefing. “Now we have a single, big goal, and that is that this does not translate into an environmental disaster.”

On Saturday, the body of a female crew member was found, bringing the death toll to 17.  15 people remain missing.

Primary Source: http://travel.usatoday.com/cruises/story/2012-01-29/Rough-seas-still-delay-work-on-grounded-Italian-liner/52867316/1

Concordia continues to be a pain for all involved. Divers are continuing to search the vessel for bodies, with 17 bodies having been discovered, and 15 still missing. The search effort was halted as the ship began to slip recently, but has since been resumed.

Shame on the parliaments of all of the countries and of the EC which have adopted the Athens Convention.  The Convention imposes across the board damage caps for claims brought by passengers against cruise lines.  What does the passenger get in return?  Nothing.  That is why the Athens Convention really should be called the Cruise Line Relief Act.

Damage caps serve only to ensure that the claims will be settled if at all for amounts well under the cap.  Why would the cruise line subject to the cap offer in settlement anything even close to the cap if the worse they can do at a trial is to be liable for the damages of the cap?  They would rather settle for peanuts or go to the trial or final hearing because there is no risk of any significant loss and any loss above the cap.

That means that:  (1) the cruise line does not have to take full responsibility for their actions and provide compensation for the full extent of the losses and harms to the passenger;  (2) significant claims either for economic losses (medical expenses and/or lost wages in the past and in the future) and for non economic losses (pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of ability to enjoy life, scarring, disfigurement, and disability) go uncompensated.

What is the result?  The result is that the passenger—not the cruise line– has to absorb the losses.  That also means that you and I pay for it.  If the injured passenger receives insufficient compensation for an injury where for example they are unable to work and need public assistance or need medical care whether the public assistance is Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security Disability or even food stamps, or if they go to the emergency room of your local public hospital instead of to a doctor, you and I as taxpayers are paying for the losses, not the cruise lines.  That does not make sense.

The result also is that the cruise line is not made to take full responsibility for causing—if it did—the non economic losses include  pain and suffering, mental anguish, loss of ability to enjoy life, scarring, disfigurement, and disability.  In many injuries these can be permanent.  If you do not have chronic pain, ask someone who does.  Ask them how chronic pain affects their every waking minute, their sleep, their activities of daily living, relationships, ability to enjoy being in this world, daily happiness, and ability to be themselves.  They will tell you all about it.

The Athens Convention is the Cruise Line Relief Act.  Shame on all of the parliaments and the EC which have shown more loyalty to the lobbyists and executives of the cruise lines than to their own people.  How many expensive dinners, free cruises, promises, or worse bought this loyalty?  We need to demand that our representatives serve our needs, not the needs of some executives or lobbyists.  Demand that your parliament or government never adopt– or repeal if it is in effect– the Athens Convention.

Is it true that you, the cruise line, under the maritime law, have an obligation to provide medical care to the injured crew members until they reach a plateau in their healing known as maximum medical improvement?

Is it true that there have been instances when the treating doctor in the crew member’s home country–usually in a third world country– recommends surgery or other important medical care, and the cruise lines have used their doctors in Miami to provide a report without even seeing the patient that says that the crew member does not need the surgery?

Is it true that there have been instances when the treating doctor in the crew member’s home country–usually a third world country– recommends surgery or other important medical care, and the cruise line’s representative calls and talks to the doctor–who is getting paid by the cruise line, and within days and without seeing the patient again the doctor changes his or her opinion and prepares a different report?

Is it true that the cruise lines have delayed or denied surgery or other medical care to its crew members?

Is it true that the cruise lines have required that the crew members communicate with the “ship’s agent” in the home country of the crew member and that later the cruise line denies that it has received any requests for medical care (and that the “agent” is not a cruise line employee after all and does not communicate any such requests to the cruise line because they get paid for among other things bringing crew members to the cruise line and taking care of “problems” and an injured crew member is a problem).

We have been saying for years that the cruise industry maintains one of the best public relations operations of any industry in the world.  Accidents are often under reported, if they are reported at all.  Passengers go missing, are raped and sexually assaulted by cruise line employees, and are injured in large numbers.  But, these incidents rarely make the headlines.

However, after the recent Concordia cruise ship accident, there may be ano opportunity for much needed oversight to be imposed on the industry.  Today a piece by Reuters news agency points out some of the issues with regulating the industry until now.

First the story quotes a statement by the European Council saying “During the past two decades, cruise lines have maintained the best safety record in the travel industry.”

However, as the story goes on to point out, this is a very difficult assertion to verify, given the lack of adequate reporting by the cruise ship industry to date.

“Research by Reuters has revealed, however, that patchy safety data and poor accident reporting standards make it difficult to verify how safe the industry really is and impossible for members of the public to easily compare the relative safety standards of different operators,” the article says

The article goes on to list different ways the cruise industry is under-regulated, including lack of minimum stafffing levels, and regulations which are “full of holes”

Particularly shocking is that, according to the article “The IMO database lists 38 incidents involving passenger ships since 2005 in which more than 60 people died.”

The hope is that finally the international governing community will finally wake up and make the necessary changes to ensure ships are operating in a safe manner.

Primary Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/25/us-italy-ship-regulation-idUSTRE80N1OD20120125

As the wrecked cruise ship Concorida sits in one of Europe´s most pristne marine habitats, preparations began today to remove a half million gallons of fuel from the ship.  The race is on to remove the fuel before it leaks into the pristine Tuscan Sea. 

Today workers were seen attaching a barge to the ship, marking the first steps of the process.  The actual removal of the the fuel is not set to being until Saturday. 

The salvage team, workig for the Dutch firm Smit, made the prliminary inspections today on the wrecked ship, preparing to clean up the mega-cruiser.  So far the death toll from the accident stands at 16, with still more than a dozen missing. 

See below for an animation of the propsed fuel extraction

Primary Source: http://www.startribune.com/world/137950498.html

Reports indicate that two additional bodies have been found in the wrecked cruise ship Concordia, bringing the total number of confirmed dead to 15. The bodies, which were reportedly recovered today, were of two women. There are reportedly 17 people still missing as a result of the accident.

Meanwhile, according to ABCNews.com, two Americans remain unaccounted for, the only two Americans still missing. Jerry and Barbara Heil of White Bear Lake, Minn., have not been seen since the disaster. They reportedly used retirement savings to take the cruise off the Italian coast.

Recent challenges to searching inside the half sunken ship included weather patterns, which caused the ship to shift. According to Franco Gabrielli, head of operations of the Civil Protection Authority, the ship has stopped shifting.

“Searching underwater inside the ship is getting increasingly more difficult, but can continue,” said Gabrielli. “The ship is now stable and should not slip further.” He said divers are also trying to recoup personal belongings from the ship.

Primary Source: http://abcnews.go.com/International/cruise-ship-wreck-womens-bodies-found-heil-children/story?id=15421660

A lot has happened in the less than 2 weeks since the Costa Concordia disaster.  There has been the monumental resuce effort, which in many ways is still ongoing.  There has been the storyline of the showboating captain, the attempt by the cruise line to displace culpability, and the heart wrenching stories of chaos and lives lost.  But, even now it is not too soon to begin to ask  “How Much Will The Costa Concordia Disaster Cost?”

First, we deal with the economic impact of the loss of the ship itself.  Costa Cruise Lines has previously stated that they are not sure if the ship will be a total loss, or whether it can be salvaged.  Assuming it is considered a total loss, the cost for the ship alone could run into the several hundreds of millions of dollars.  Though the ship doubtless has insurance, there will probably be some kind of fight with the insurance company over the payout.

Second, we look at the environmental cost, and the cost of the clean-up.  The ship ran aground in one of Eurpoe´s most pristine marine habitats.  It is already said to be leaking oil into the water, and weather conditions threaten to sink the ship completely.  The cost of the clean-up for the environment, and the removal of the ship will certainly run into the tens of millions of dollars.

Finally, we consider the human cost.  At least a dozen people lost their lives in the accident, and about 20 more are still missing.  There has been some question as to the maximum compensation each passenger is able to seek because the cruise contract can be very restrictive to passengers seeking damages.  It has been reported that maximum damges are limited to $71,000 per person.

Check out this quote on CruiseCritic.co.uk – which includes a quote from our own Jack Hickey.

An Italian consumer protection agency, Codacons, said Tuesday that 70 passengers have already joined a class-action lawsuit against Costa. In a statement, Codacons head Carlo Rienzi said the “objective is to get each passenger at least 10,000 euros (~$12,900) compensation for material damage and also for … the fear suffered, the holidays ruined and the serious risks endured.” Maritime attorney Jack Hickey told Cruise Critic it’s likely additional suits will be filed. “Civil lawsuits are based on negligence,” said Hickey, “and there’s no doubt that the negligence is due to the captain — and of course [Costa] is responsible for the actions of its employee.”

Expect this limit to be challenged in court.  Not only are there legal reasons to challenge it, but from a public relations standpoint, Carnival Cruise Lines, the parent company of Costa Cruise Lines, may pay out more.

Overall, this is easily a $100 million disaster, though the costs seem to have very little upward limit.  Depending how the courts rule as far as liability, and whether the ship is a total loss, the total cost could be significantly more.

In the video which can be seen below, a woman, reportedly working for Costa Cruise lines, tells passengers that everything is fine, and to return to their cabins.  According to the source of the video, The Guardian, the woman designated the message as being from “the captain,” and the message was delivered some 40 minutes after the ship struck the underwater rocks which tore a 100 foot breach in the hull.

The woman in the video stressed that there was an “electrical problem”  which the crew had finished addressing.  She insisted everthing was under control.

No doubt this video will become evidence in any upcoming litigation against Costa Cruise Lines and its parent company Carnival Cruise Lines. The cruise lines immediately tried to pin the blame soley on the capain, saying he acted recklessly, and independent of cruise authority.  However, this video seems to show a more systematic breakdown of order.

The exact number of deceased is not known, but about 20 passengers remain unaccounted for.

Jack Hickey is working with Italian attorneys in order to assist the victims of the recent Concordia cruise ship disaster.  He has been quoted by numerous news sources, including the New York Times.  He has also appeared on ¨Good Morning America¨ and ¨Anderson Cooper 360.¨  Below we have included the 2nd NY Times quote, and a little of the story for context.

But the egregious acts must be the owner’s. If the captain disregarded his duties, the company could argue that it was not responsible for his behavior. To Jack Hickey, a maritime lawyer in Miami who is working with an Italian lawyer to represent Costa Concordia passengers, the cruise line’s responsibility is obvious. Referring to the captain, Mr. Hickey said that the company had “nobody with more authority or responsibility than him” on the ship.

The issues in the case could be shaped by the highly restrictive terms of the contract that every passenger gets with his or her ticket, said Gerald McGill, an admiralty lawyer in Pensacola, Fla.

Cruise contracts are notoriously restrictive regarding the rights of passengers, and Costa’s 6,400-word contract is no exception. The Costa contract sharply limits the kinds of lawsuits that can be brought, where those suits can be brought and how much the company can be made to pay. All such provisions have been upheld in the courts of the United States, he said.

Primary Source: http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/c/cruises/index.html?scp=2&sq=jack%20hickey&st=cse