Tag: Carnival

Crew member claims being unaware of the Carnival Corp, whose luxury cruise liner Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Italy, was sued by a crew member in a first of what may be multiple U.S. lawsuits seeking class-action status over the disaster, court documents show.Lawyers for Gary Lobaton, who was a crew member on board the Costa Concordia, said in a court filing that he was not aware of the "dangerous conditions" of the cruise ship until it was too late to abandon the ship.The lawsuit sought to determine whether Carnival deviated from international safety standards when operating the cruise ship."Costa Concordia's Captain, Francesco Schettino, delayed the order to abandon ship and deploy the lifeboats," Lobaton's lawyers said in the filing.Lobaton, who sued Carnival individually and on behalf of all others similarly affected by the cruise disaster, had sought damages from the company, according to the court filing.Lobaton had also requested the court to assign class-action status to the lawsuit.The 114,500-tonne ship capsized off the Tuscan coast, which left 11 people dead and 22 missing.According to a January 24 BBC report, the number of dead has risen to 16.Carnival could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside ...

s Comprehensive Audit and Review of Safety and Emergency Response Across All Its Cruise Lines Following the tragic Costa Concordia accident, Carnival Corporation & plc, parent company of Costa Cruises and nine othercruise lines around the world,announced a comprehensive audit and review of all safety and emergency response procedures across all of the company's cruise lines.Carnival Corporation & plc and the cruise industry as a whole have maintained an excellent safety record over the years. "However, this tragedy has called into question our company's safety and emergency response procedures and practices," said Micky Arison, chairman and CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc. "While I have every confidence in the safety of our vessels and the professionalism of our crews, this review will evaluate all practices and procedures to make sure that this kind of accident doesn't happen again."The review is being led by Captain James Hunn, a retired U.S. Navy Captain and currently the company's senior vice president of Maritime Policy & Compliance. Following a 32-year career in the Navy, Hunn has held senior positions at Carnival Corporation & plc for nearly a decade, focusing on corporate-wide efforts to establish maritime policy standards, while overseeing the company's health, environmental, safety, ...

Statement from Micky Arison The following statement is from Micky Arison, chairman and CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc, parent company of Costa Cruises:"We are deeply saddened by the reports of additional deaths following the grounding of the Costa Concordia. On behalf of the entire Carnival Corporation & plc team, I offer our heartfelt condolences to all of those families affected by this tragedy.Our immediate priority continues to be supporting rescue and recovery efforts and looking after our guests and crew members, along with securing the vessel to ensure there is no environmental impact. My senior management team and I have been in continuous contact with the Costa executive team in Italy and we have our senior level technical experts on the ground to provide additional support for this tragic and highly unusual incident.While this is a terribly sad time for everyone involved, we want to recognize the tremendous efforts of Concordia's crew, who along with the Italian Coast Guard and authorities, helped to evacuate more than 4,000 passengers and crew members from the ship in very difficult conditions. And we continue to offer our deep gratitude to the Italian authorities for their support and ongoing efforts."Source : Carnival Corporation ...

A Carnival Cruise employee aboard the Dream found a deceased newborn baby A Carnival Cruise employee aboard the Dream found a deceased newborn baby. The mother was detained in St. Maarten. The FBI boarded the cruise ship when it returned to Port Canaveral.

THe hurricane is barrelling towards Puerto Rico. Royal Caribbean and Carnival Corp have been forced to divert nearly a dozen cruiseships from the path of a hurricane that is barrelling towards Puerto Rico.The storm, dubbed Hurricane Irene, was upgraded from a tropical storm over the weekend and is expected to hit the US mainland by mid-week, sources said Monday.At last check, Carnival had reworked itineraries tied to the Carnival Pride (built 2002), Carnival Triumph (built 1999), Carnival Destiny (built 1996), Carnival Conquest (built 2002), Carnival Victory (built 2000), Carnival Liberty (built 2005) and Carnival Miracle (built 2004).Royal Caribbean overhauled routes linked to the Oasis of the Seas (built 2009), Freedom of the Seas (built 2006) and the Allure of the Seas (built 2010).According to US hurricane advisories, maximum sustained winds have topped 80 miles per hour and further intensification is expected over the coming days.Source: Tradewinds

Agreement with Carnival Corp to construct two 125,000-ton vessels In a huge fillip for Japan's shipbuilding industry Mitsubishi Heavy Industries said that it has reached agreement with global cruise ship giant Carnival Corp to construct two 125,000-ton vessels, becoming the first Asian yard to build cruiseships for more than seven years.The firms will next work on such details as the contract price and technical specifications, targeting an official agreement before the end of the year.The two 3,250-passenger ships will be constructed at Mitsubishi Heavy'sNagasaki shipyard with delivery dates scheduled for March 2015 and March 2016. Mitsubishi Heavy is said to be anticipating the order to total around 80 billion yen, but a strong yen could reduce the figure.The shipbuilding order will be Mitsubishi Heavy's first for a cruiseline since a fire broke out on the Diamond Princess ship during construction in October 2002 .Source: Seatrade Asia

A $24 million verdict against Rolls-Royce Carnival Cruise Lines recently secured a $24 million verdict against Rolls-Royce, which was found guilty of fraud by a unanimous jury.Rolls-Royce marketed its Mermaid pod propulsion system to Carnival for operation on its largest and most prestigious ship, the Queen Mary II. The jury found that at the time Rolls-Royce presented its pod to Carnival, Rolls-Royce knew the pod was defective and not fully developed.Carnival argued that Rolls-Royce rushed into the market to beat its competitors and sold an untested product that failed throughout the cruise industry. It further contended that Rolls-Royce made money not only on the sale of the pods, but also each time that the bearings on the pods had to be replaced. It claimed that Rolls-Royce refused to pay for any of the replacement costs and made money off the repairs, forcing it to file suit.The judge and jury agreed with Carnival. US District Judge Patricia Seitz said that the jurors asked her why the case ever went to trial: "The first question they had was why didn't these people settle when they have to work together." Seitz also stated that she regarded the trial as a potential "bellweather for ...

Lawsuit against BP Cruise operator Carnival Corp has filed a lawsuit against BP Plc and other companies seeking damages that resulted from the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.The lawsuit, filed on April 20 in U.S. District Court in New Orleans, also named Cameron International Corp, Transocean Ltd, and Halliburton Co, along with several others.Carnival said it lost bookings and revenues for cruises in the Gulf of Mexico from ports in Florida, Alabama, Texas and Louisiana. It is seeking unspecified economic and compensatory damages with interest, the costs of litigation, and punitive damages.Carnival is suing all defendants for negligence and Cameron specifically for allegedly designing and manufacturing a defective blowout preventer.It is also suing BP, Transocean, and Halliburton for fraudulent concealment of material facts about the spill. BP "did not provide complete and timely announcements and warnings about the severity, forecast and trajectory of the oil spill," the complaint said. Transocean owned the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and Halliburton manufactured the cement used to seal the well.The cruise operator filed the 26-page lawsuit in the same court where hundreds of other lawsuits against BP and its partners have been consolidated. A federal judge has set a trial date of February ...