Carnival Corp. Dealing with Legal Issues from Concordia Accident

Carnival Corp. is dealing with an array of legal issues stemming from the Jan. 13, 2012, Costa Concordia tragedy, which killed 32 people near the Italian island of Giglio. In its annual Form 10-K filed Jan. 29 with the SEC, Carnival said it has settled with 93 percent of the crew members and 62 percent of the passengers onboard when the ship sank. The form listed 11 lawsuits that have been filed against Carnival, Costa and other individuals.

Also, on Jan. 24, Costa was notified by the chief prosecutor of Grosseto, Italy, of his intention to seek to charge Costa for acts committed by its employees in connection with the Concordia incident.

If the prosecutor proceeds, he will be required to present his evidence against Costa to a court in a preliminary hearing to be held this spring. If the court finds sufficient evidence to support a claim against Costa, it will order a formal trial that would be expected to start this fall.

Carnival stated that the Costa Concordia hull is expected to be removed sometime this year; the removal has been delayed and is now expected in late summer. “We remain committed to minimizing any environmental impact from the ship incident,” Carnival said.

Carnival Corp.’s net income for 2012 was $1.3 billion, compared to $1.9 billion for the prior year. This decrease was caused, in part, by “the direct and indirect consequences of the ship incident and the challenging economic environment in Europe. Although our North America brands achieved a slight increase in net revenue yields, they were affected by the indirect consequences of the ship incident.”

Costa has launched a number of initiatives, including enhancements to existing safety and security procedures, training and related processes. In addition, Costa has initiated a major international advertising campaign called the “Real Costa” that targets consumers in its key markets.

Source: Travel Pulse, http://www.travelpulse.com/carnival-corp-dealing-with-legal-issues-from-concordia-accident.html