Cruise Ships in the News: How Safe is Your Vacation?

In light of the recent grounding of the cruise liner Costa Concordia, many people are pondering that next cruise ship vacation. It seems the problem may not only be with the Captain, but also with ill prepared crew. According to the CLIA, “U.S. Coast Guard inspections include conducting plan reviews of each cruise ship before construction is even started, inspecting the ship at the ship yard during construction, conducting a comprehensive initial Control Verification Examination upon delivery, and annually conducting a Certificate of Compliance examination (with quarterly re-inspections) for compliance with both federal and international regulations. This oversight system means, for example, if the U.S. Coast Guard finds a cruise ship to be in violation of any required regulation or considers it unsafe in any way, the local Coast Guard Captain of the Port has the authority and responsibility to prevent passenger boarding or departure from a U.S. port with passengers onboard until those deficiencies are corrected”.

In light of the recent disaster, numerous current and former merchant mariners who have worked in the cruise line industry are not surprised by the chaos that unfolded on board the Concordia. Many have described safety drills where crewmembers have no idea what their responsibilities are, language barriers that add to the chaos, and exhausted workers who pay little attention during safety-training sessions. In the coming months all aspects of training will need to be scrutinized and individual cruise lines will need to conduct their own reviews. Changes due to the Concordia disaster will initiate immediate changes in the industry. With 24 presumed missing and 11 dead the staging of lifeboat drills will need to be a priority. Changes in international maritime legislation can take years, but the cruise industry has a loyal following and there is doubt that this will put much of a dent in the customer base.