Costa Concordia victims file new lawsuit
The victims of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which that capsized off the Italian coast in January, have filed a new lawsuit against the Carnival Corporation.
The complaint against Carnival is that of “concealing and/or delaying notification of life threatening situations to passengers on board their cruise ships”. Carnival’s Miami-based architect has also been cited for “defective ship design”.
The law firm representing the victims, Napoli Bern Ripka Shkolnik LLP, alleges that Carnival was aware that the ship’s hull design and power systems were defective. It cited two previous incidents; the puncturing of the hull of Carnival’s Costa Europa in Egypt in February 2010, and a fire aboard the Carnival Splendour off the coast of Mexico in November 2010.
Marc Jay Bern of Napoli Bern Ripka Shkolnik LLP, co-lead attorney, commented; “No one got off the Concordia unscathed. Even those who survived and avoided serious physical injuries will never be the same after the horror they lived through. These people trusted a well-known cruise industry brand and had every reason to believe they were in responsible and experienced hands but unfortunately that proved to be anything but the truth.”
The law firm is seeking at least US$2 million compensation per passenger.
A total of 3,229 passengers were onboard the Costa Concordia when it struck a rock and capsized off the Italian island of Giglio on 13 January 2012. Thirty-two people died.