Costa Crociere Group has appointed Tom Strang as senior vice president maritime development and compliance.
He will report directly to Michael Thamm, CEO of the Costa Group, and will be responsible for ensuring that industry regulations and safety standards are continuously updated and adjusted.
Strang is currently employed by Costa’s parent company Carnival Corporation in its corporate maritime policy group.
His appointment comes as a leaked report into the Costa Concordia tragedy laid part of the blame on Costa Cruises. See earlier story.
The report, leaked to Italy’s La Republica newspaper, laid most of the blame on the Captain, but the cruise line itself also came under fire for insufficient emergency training for its staff.
According to La Republica, 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, killing 32 people.
by Bev Fearis
