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Cruise ship disaster to Costa lot
Travel experts are attempting to assess how many potential passengers have been scared away from taking cruises following the Costa Concordia partial sinking.
A Costa spokesman said the company has not released any figures on cancellations in the wake of last Friday’s accident.
He said those who cancel may get a partial refund, depending on how soon they are due to depart.
The death toll from the accident on Friday is 11, although at least 24 people are still missing after the ship, carrying 4,200 passengers and crew members, hit rocks and overturned off Giglio Island, in Italy.
Carnival, which is based in Miami and London, owns 101 cruise ships – including the Costa Crociere fleet – and has 85,000 employees around the world.
An analyst with Numis Securities in London has estimated Carnival’s total liability at US$800 million if the ship was scrapped.
Analysts said the accident could not have happened at a worse time for the industry, which carries more than 21 million passengers each year.
January is the beginning of the wave season, a period when cruise lines typically book a third to half of their reservations for the entire year.
Gregory Badishkanian, an analyst at Citigroup, told the New York Times he had seen indications of a six to 10 percent decline in cruise bookings after the tragedy.
"The pictures and the videos from the Costa tragedy are more graphic and widespread than past incidents," he said in a note to investors.
Ian Jarrett
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