Post by ferryfast admin on Jan 17, 2012 15:40:00 GMT -5
Ship disaster sparks safety rules rethink
Last updated: January 16, 2012 11:29 pm
By Robert Wright, Guy Dinmore,
Roger Blitz and Alistair Gray
Fianacial Times of London
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/570c557a-4068-11e1-9bce-00144feab49a.html#axzz1jkYnhDGN
Friday’s cruise ship tragedy off Italy could lead to a wholesale rethink of international rules on passenger ship safety after the UN body that sets standards said it would “seriously consider” the lessons from the accident that killed at least six people.
Meanwhile, the number of people missing from the shipwreck rose to 29 on Monday after the Italian coastguard said 25 passengers and four crew members remained unaccounted for.
Koji Sekimizu, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organisation, spoke about the accident’s implications on Monday after Carnival, the owner of the Costa Concordia, gave the first details of the financial impact of the accident, in which the vessel capsized after hitting a rock. The company said that the loss of use of the vessel would reduce earnings for the current fiscal year by up to $95m.
Carnival’s shares fell 370p, or 16.5 per cent, in London to £18.78 on the announcement about the accident, which some analysts estimate could cost the vessel’s insurers as much as $750m – making it one of the costliest ever maritime disasters.
There have been criticisms in the wake of the accident that passenger ship safety rules have failed to keep pace with cruise ships’ increasing size. The Costa Concordia was carrying 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew when the accident took place.
Mr Sekimizu, who took over as IMO secretary-general only on January 1, said the organisation “must not take this accident lightly”.
He said: “We should seriously consider the lessons to be learnt and, if necessary, re-examine the regulations on the safety of large passenger ships”.
Francesco Schettino, the captain, will be questioned on Tuesday by a preliminary investigating judge to decide whether the case goes to a full trial. The captain could face charges of multiple homicide, causing a shipwreck and abandoning his vessel.
Asked at a press conference in Genoa whether an alarm should have alerted the captain to the danger near the island of Giglio where the disaster struck, Pier Luigi Foschi, Costa Cruises’ chief executive, said there were visual and audible alarms if the ship diverted from its predetermined route.
But he went on: “Of course, if somebody manually neutralises that system, the alarm will not go off.”
Even if the accident proves to have been entirely a result of an error by the captain, tougher safety standards could still prove damaging for cruise companies. Morgan Stanley analysts said the worst case scenario for the industry was that safety, including lifeboat requirements, would be constantly under review.
Rescuers on Monday located a sixth body inside the ship. A coastguard official said he held a “glimmer of hope’’ that some of the 29 missing might have survived, but Sergio Ortelli, mayor of Giglio, said that hopes of finding any of them alive were minimal. He said the only hope was that bubbles of air had formed within the ship after it hit the rocks.
About 10 Germans were thought to be among those still missing.
Last updated: January 16, 2012 11:29 pm
By Robert Wright, Guy Dinmore,
Roger Blitz and Alistair Gray
Fianacial Times of London
www.ft.com/cms/s/0/570c557a-4068-11e1-9bce-00144feab49a.html#axzz1jkYnhDGN
Friday’s cruise ship tragedy off Italy could lead to a wholesale rethink of international rules on passenger ship safety after the UN body that sets standards said it would “seriously consider” the lessons from the accident that killed at least six people.
Meanwhile, the number of people missing from the shipwreck rose to 29 on Monday after the Italian coastguard said 25 passengers and four crew members remained unaccounted for.
Koji Sekimizu, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organisation, spoke about the accident’s implications on Monday after Carnival, the owner of the Costa Concordia, gave the first details of the financial impact of the accident, in which the vessel capsized after hitting a rock. The company said that the loss of use of the vessel would reduce earnings for the current fiscal year by up to $95m.
Carnival’s shares fell 370p, or 16.5 per cent, in London to £18.78 on the announcement about the accident, which some analysts estimate could cost the vessel’s insurers as much as $750m – making it one of the costliest ever maritime disasters.
There have been criticisms in the wake of the accident that passenger ship safety rules have failed to keep pace with cruise ships’ increasing size. The Costa Concordia was carrying 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew when the accident took place.
Mr Sekimizu, who took over as IMO secretary-general only on January 1, said the organisation “must not take this accident lightly”.
He said: “We should seriously consider the lessons to be learnt and, if necessary, re-examine the regulations on the safety of large passenger ships”.
Francesco Schettino, the captain, will be questioned on Tuesday by a preliminary investigating judge to decide whether the case goes to a full trial. The captain could face charges of multiple homicide, causing a shipwreck and abandoning his vessel.
Asked at a press conference in Genoa whether an alarm should have alerted the captain to the danger near the island of Giglio where the disaster struck, Pier Luigi Foschi, Costa Cruises’ chief executive, said there were visual and audible alarms if the ship diverted from its predetermined route.
But he went on: “Of course, if somebody manually neutralises that system, the alarm will not go off.”
Even if the accident proves to have been entirely a result of an error by the captain, tougher safety standards could still prove damaging for cruise companies. Morgan Stanley analysts said the worst case scenario for the industry was that safety, including lifeboat requirements, would be constantly under review.
Rescuers on Monday located a sixth body inside the ship. A coastguard official said he held a “glimmer of hope’’ that some of the 29 missing might have survived, but Sergio Ortelli, mayor of Giglio, said that hopes of finding any of them alive were minimal. He said the only hope was that bubbles of air had formed within the ship after it hit the rocks.
About 10 Germans were thought to be among those still missing.