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Costa Cruises boss to step down six months after Concordia tragedy
Chief executive of Costa Cruises, Pier Luigi Foschi, is to retire in July, six months after the cruiseline’s Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Italy, killing 32 people.
The news was announced ahead of a comprehensive revamp of cruise ship safety measures, expected to be revealed later today by the European Commission.
New safety steps are expected to include restricted access to a ship’s bridges and closer monitoring of watertight doors, along with other measures intended to avoid a repeat of the Concordia disaster.
Costa parent company Carnival said Foschi will be replaced by Michael Thamm, currently president of Germany-based Aida Cruises, a part of the Costa Group, on July 1, but he will stay on as chairman of the Costa Group and remain a Carnival board member.
Carnival said that Foschi, 65, had always intended to retire this year and CEO Micky Arison said yesterday’s announcement was part of the company’s longterm succession plan.
Since joining Costa in 1997 Foschi has built it into one of Europe’s largest cruise lines, but over the last six months he has been dealing with the fallout from the January 13 disaster when the Costa Concordia hit rocks off the Tuscany.
Just a few weeks later, a second Costa ship, the Allegra, was left drifting in the Indian Ocean for days after its power was knocked out by a fire onboard.
Carnival said Foschi would continue to deal with the clean-up of the Costa Concordia in his role of company chairman.
In a statement released yesterday, the company said: "Over the past 15 years, Foschi has played an integral role in the company’s tremendous growth and success while building upon its distinction as Europe’s number one cruise operator.
"In his role as Costa’s chairman, Foschi will continue to oversee the company’s government relations, matters related to the Costa Concordia accident and spearhead a number of strategic projects."
Gianni Onorato will continue in his role as president of the Costa Cruises brand.
By Linsey McNeill
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Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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