Concordia report finds fault with Costa emergency training

An official report on the Costa Concordia tragedy has laid part of the blame on Costa Cruises.

In sections of the report leaked to the Italian media, most of the blame is heaped on the Captain, but the cruise line itself also comes under fire for insufficient emergency training for its staff.

According to Italy’s La Republica newspaper, the report said language difficulties meant some crew were not able to understand the emergency instructions given in Italian.

The Costa Concordia ran aground off the Tuscan coast in January and 32 people died.

The report was compiled to decide who should be put on trial in a hearing scheduled for October 15.

Captain Francesco Schettino, who faces charges of causing a shipwreck, manslaughter and abandoning ship, is one of nine people under investigation.

In a statement, Costa refuted the claims that staff were unprepared.

"The claim that the staff was unprepared for emergencies, is without foundation," it said. "The alleged defects in the certifications of some of the crew, in no way shared by the technical and administrative point of view, concern only a few components that were not key in emergency management."

The statement added: "With regard to the notification of the emergency, the law provides that in the event of an accident the obligation to inform the authorities is the captain’s, while it is the duty of the company to put itself at disposal of the authorities," it said.

"The records confirm that the captain had assured the representative of Costa Crociere’s crisis department that the authorities had been informed, and there is no doubt that the company put itself at disposal of the authority.

"It is also clear from the records that the communications from the ship’s master to the crisis department were not timely, and were partial and confused, not allowing the department to gain a clear perception of the seriousness of what was actually happening."

Meanwhile, hundreds of passengers and businesses on Giglio island are going ahead with lawsuits in the US against Miami-based Carnival Corp, Costa’s parent company seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages.

Carnival is fighting the lawsuits, arguing that Costa is a separate corporate entity and that lawsuits should be filed only in Italy.

by Bev Fearis

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