Details surrounding the cruise line tragedy of the COSTA CONCORDIA continue to unfold as six people are confirmed dead and 16 more remain missing. Last Friday, the cruise ship carrying 4,200 passengers crashed into a reef and capsized off the coast of Giglio, Italy. Authorities temporarily halted the rescue mission Monday morning due to fears that treacherous weather conditions may endanger the lives of the rescue divers.
Italian investigators report that the ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, made an unauthorized and reckless maneuver causing the ship to veer off its set course and into the reef. Schettino was arrested and jailed on charges of manslaughter and abandoning the ship before all passengers were evacuated in violation of admiralty law. The Italian prosecutor stated, “We are struck by the unscrupulousness of the reckless maneuver that the commander of the Costa Concordia made near the island of Giglio…It was inexcusable.”
Costa Cruise Lines, Inc., is a Florida corporation, located in Hollywood, Broward County, Florida, and designed, owns, operates and markets the COSTA CONCORDIA and offers cruises to destinations all over the world. Carnival Corp., located in Miami-Dade County is the parent corporation of Costa Cruise Lines, Inc. and of the Italian subsidiary, Costa Crociere, S.p.A, Inc., which, through its parent Costa Cruise Lines, Inc., operated the vessel at the time and place of the accident. All three companies have absolute liability for this outrageous and unexplainable tragedy. Both Carnival and Costa are Florida for-profit companies with venue provisions in the Southern District of Florida. Our Florida lawyers at Colson Hicks Eidson have significant experience in cruise line litigation and venue and jurisdiction will be proper here in Southern Florida.
Colson Hicks Eidson – Florida Attorneys