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Islanders consider suing Carnival over Costa Concordia
Islanders affected by the Costa Concordia disaster are considering suing Carnival for lost tourism.
Franco Gabrielli, the national civil protection official in charge of the operation, said the actual removal of the ship would take from seven to 10 months – meaning that the wreck will be visible from the Italian coast for the entire summer tourism season.
Giglio islanders have called for an emergency meeting to discuss what impact it will have on the economy of the island, reports the Telegraph.
"If the recovery of the Concordia goes badly, it will be us islanders who pay. For this reason we’re warning Costa Cruises and Carnival that they must remove the ship quickly, without polluting the sea, otherwise we’ll hit them with a class action," Fabio Agugliari, a spokesman for the island, told Corriere della Sera newspaper.
It comes as Carnival reports a significant downturn in bookings since the Costa Concordia disaster in which 17 people died and 15 are still missing.
The cruise operator said across all its fleet – which includes Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Seabourn and P&O Cruises among others – it has seen a decline in the mid-teens compared to the same period last year.
It said bookings ‘bottomed out’ on 16 January, three days after the ship ran aground .
Carnival added while Costa’s booking patterns were difficult to interpret due to clients who were to travel on Costa Concordia having to be re-booked, it did believe bookings were down significantly.
However it added: "Despite these recent trends, we believe the incident will not have a significant long-term impact on our business."
Carnival reported the booking patterns while filing its Annual Report and added that it expects to give a revised indication of 2012 earnings in March.
The Cruise Lines International Association has launched a Cruise Industry Operational Safety Review on the back of the Costa Concordia tragedy.
It will review members’ safety practices, consult independent experts and work with governments to implement regulatory changes.
By Diane Evans
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