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Can a Lawsuit in the Costa Concordia Cruise Liner Crash be brought in the United States?

Victims of the Costa Concordia Cruise Liner accident are wondering whether or not they can file a lawsuit and claim damages in the United States, given the fact that the ship is owned by Carnival Cruise Lines here in the United States.  Reportedly, there were 125 passengers on board.  The passage contract for the Concordia Cruise Ship specifies Italy as the venue for any litigation, but these passage contract venue provisions are subject to challenge in court.  Given the relative large number of U.S. passengers reportedly on board, 125, it is extremely likely that this issue will come up before a U.S. Court in Miami, Florida.  It may be extremely inconvenient and cost prohibitive for United States victims of the cruise liner accident to file their cases outside the United States.  It may also be more convenient to litigate in Miami, Florida, where Carnival typically specifies venue for these cruise ship accidents, given the large number of United States victims who will be seeking compensation and damages, including potential punitive damages, for what appears now to be, at a minimum, gross negligence, reckless disregard for safety and perhaps even intentional misconduct by the captain, Francesco Schettino. 

If you have a question about your rights as a passenger who was on the Costa Concordia Cruise Ship, contact one of our cruise ship attorneys for more information.  An experienced cruise ship lawyer can help you understand:

1. What your rights to compensation may be as a victim of the Costa Concordia Cruise Line disaster. 
2. Whether or not you have to suffer a physical injury in order to receive compensation and damages.
3. What constitutes a “physical injury” under maritime law, and whether or not that provision in the passage contract is enforceable?
4. The potential punitive damages which you might be able to recover as a result of the gross negligence, reckless and potentially intentional misconduct by the captain and crew.  
5. Where your case may be filed, albeit, Italy or Miami, Florida.
6. What your rights as a family member may be if your loved one died on the Costa Concordia Cruise Ship as a result of the listing and eventual sinking of that vessel. 

Swiss Survivors of the Costa Concordia Disaster Detail Events

The Telegraph article below indicates more aggravating circumstances that will cost dearly Carnival Cruise Ships who owns the company that operated the Costa Concordia.  Swiss survivors detail that the Celine Dion’s Titanic theme from the latest movie was playing as the cruise ship hit the rocks.  It also references in related articles that the captain, who is accused of abandoning the ship before making sure that all of the passengers were evacuated, claims that he tripped and fell into a lifeboat as the reason for his early exit from the disaster.  Swiss survivors detail in the article the complete lack of any crew assistance in launching the lifeboats and providing any assistance in abandoning the ship.  The only help appeared to be kitchen staff.  One Swiss survivor commented that they had never seen such a display of incompetence, unawareness and irresponsibility related to the conduct of the crew in the face of the disaster.

The pending criminal charges against the ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, who claims to have tripped and fallen into a lifeboat for his escape and the pervasive claims of incompetence and lack of any assistance in evacuating the ship, will surely weigh in favor of passenger claims for punitive damages against Carnival Cruise Line’s operating subsidiary Costa Cruises.   Crew ship lawyers and attorneys will surely seize upon the abundance of information suggesting criminal gross negligence that occurred relative to the grounding and sinking of the ship together with the lack of organization in the evacuation of the sinking ship.

Contact a Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Accident attorney for more information by clicking here.

Michigan Couple Survives Costa Concordia Disaster

A Port Huron, Michigan area physician and his wife survived the Costa Concordia Italian cruise ship disaster and are back in the United States discussing their harrowing experience. 

In a recent story in The Times Herald | Port Huron, the couple described how they attempted several times to leave the ship in a lifeboat, but were instructed to get out of the boat by the cruise ship staff several times; suggesting a delay in the evacuation of the ship.  The couple describes sitting in a lifeboat in 40-degree weather with little or no assistance from the cruise ship line or American Embassy during the ordeal.  Mr. and Mrs. Ledtke described the experience as a “conglomeration of errors”, suggesting that there is no reason that anyone should have died.  It will be interesting to ultimately know further detail from the Ledtkes concerning the conglomeration of errors by Costa Cruises that led to the deaths of so many people.  Two Americans remain among the missing from the disaster.  It will be worth further investigation concerning all of the reasons for the delays in getting the passengers off the ship before it capsized. 

Over 70 Missing in Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Accident

Newzar reports that the Costa Concordia is owned by Costa Cruises which is an affiliate of Carnival Cruises based in Miami Florida.  A standard Carnival Cruise Line passenger contract provides that all claims are to be litigated in the Federal District Court in Miami, Florida.  It is unkown at this time whether the passenger contracts for the passengers of the Costa Concordia contained a form selection clause concerning where claims are to be litigated in this matter. 

 

Newzar Breaking: Dozens Feared Dead in Italian Cruise Accident Costa Concordia 

Welcome back to Newzar.  We want to bring you up to speed on that terrifying accident of that cruise line off the Italian coast.  At this hour, three people are confirmed dead, but that all will surely rise as many as 70 people are still unaccounted for.  The ship known as the Costa Concordia tipped over near the island of Giglio, just off the Tuscan Coast.  As it did so, a 160 foot gash was torn in the ship’s hull, a flood of water was sent in and the ship tipped over.  There was 3,200 people on board at the time.  Now, we’re getting some eyewitness video.  These are survivors who were saved from the ship looking back at the sinking vessel and as they do so, they taped this video.  It’s very disturbing but we want to share it with you. 

Interviews of the Victims of the Costa Concordia that went aground off the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Italy

The following accounts by passengers is reported by FRANCE 24 International News indicates that the passengers were aware of the gravity of the looming disaster.  At least one passenger understood that they were close enough to the rock island that the ship was in danger of hitting something.  Note that in the video report that the captain was arrested and authorities were contemplating criminal charges for both criminal negligence and abandoning the ship before all of the passengers were evacuated.

The specter of criminal charges suggests that the Costa Concordia cruise line owners may be civilly liable in this case for acts of gross negligence or criminal negligence which may introduce the element of punitive damages available for the victims of this disaster. 

FRANCE 24 – International News:

"Ship Captain Arrested Following Deadly Cruise Accident" - by Jade Barker

Latest Costa Concordia Cruise Liner Accident Attorney Update: Captain Detained after Claiming to Hit Rock

Modified Costa Concordia cruise liner / cruise ship accident in icy waters off Tuscany, Italy -  (Friday January 13, 2012). 

Authorities in Italy initially detained and questioned the captain of the cruise ship that ran aground off Tuscany, Italy, Francesco Schettino, leaving scores dead and many injured and unaccounted for. The ship operator Costa Concordia, owned by Carnival Cruise Lines, confirmed the vessel hit a rocks while navigating too close to shore off the island of Giglio. It is unclear whether the captain of the ship or its crew had taken the ship off course. Schettino or the crew reportedly sailed so close to the island in a form of salute to the island for the benefit of an islander working on the crew.

"Costa ships have their routes programmed, and alarms go off when they deviate, the chief executive said in a press conference. " “This route was put in correctly. The fact that it left from this course is due solely to a maneuver by the commander that was unapproved, unauthorized and unknown to Costa ...”

Cruise ship injury and death cases are expected to be filed in the United States for those passengers who were on-board. While a physical injury is sometimes required to bring a negligence claim under the Cruise Liner passage contract, physical injury can mean anxiety, inability to sleep, bruising or other physical manifestation of a problem.

Do you have information about the accident?  Contact us today.

Our cruise ship accident attorneys are reviewing passenger claims.  A lawsuit for negligence is being prepared against Costa Concordia and Carnival Cruise Lines in the operation of the Costa Concordia and the failure to follow proper safety procedures after the collision with the rocks. For many passengers who escaped severe physical injury, problems sleep, nightmares and anxiety will set in in the days after they finally return home. These passengers may also have legal claims.

What was the Cause of the Costa Concordia Accident? 

The captain of Costa Concordia has now been blamed for causing the accident and failing to follow proper safety procedures after the accident. An attorney who handles cruise ship listing cases has confirmed his belief that the cause of the accident was indeed negligence.

How Many Injured and Killed Passengers and Crew?

The latest numbers are over 20 still missing and 11 dead in what is now clearly one of the worst disasters in many years. Often, passengers who do survive immediate injury suffer symptoms of anxiety and PTSD after an accident such as this. Many would have thought they were going to die early in the accident chaos when it was unclear how serious the collision was that caused the cruise ship to sink.

Costa Concordia Video Below ...

Who owns the Cruise Ship?  Costa Cruises operates the Costa Concordia Cruise ship. The Costa Concordia is owned by Untied States Cruise ship company Carnival Cruise Lines, subsidiaries of Carnival Corporation & plc.. According to Wikipedia, the name of the sole Cruise liner operated by Concordia and Carnival was formally named the Carnival Splendor.    Carnival Cruise Lines is the largest cruise company in the world, with headquarters in Miami-Dade County. The first lawsuit agasint Carnival and Costa Concordia are expected soon for violation of maritime negligence laws and industry regulations.

The captain and some crew actuallyy tabandon ship before many of the passengers.  The ship may have lacked a warning system to notify the crew when the ships was off course, which could have prevented the ship accident.

PORTO SANTO STEFANO, Italy - 4,234 passengers were aboard an Italian cruise liner which ran aground with passengers from Italy, Germany, France, United States and Great Britain aboard.

The cruise ship ran grounded on a reef navigating from Civitavecchia, listing to starboard, knocking many passengers to the floor and causing some to jump overboard in panic. The ship had departed from Civitavecchia, a port near Rome. There is a clear 100+ foot tear in the hull and a rock stuck in the hull depicted in many pictures and videos.  The compilation of videos of the disaster below are compelling.

There is conflicting information concerning how many passengers and crew have died and been injured in this unfortunate cruise ship accident.  Many passengers are missing.  Some passengers escaped the disaster in life boats. others leapt overboard and some passengers and crew swam to shore as the ship started to sink into the waters near the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast.

We are monitoring the accident, and our sympathies go out to all those aboard. The focus, as it should be, is on the families and the cause of this accident.  This disaster appears to be one of the worst maritime disasters in years, with more deaths than the Crown Princess cruise ship disaster on July 18, 2006. 

This ship has a history of prior accidents.  The best interviews of survivors of the Costa Concordia cruise liner here. [Traverse legal handled over 40 cruise ship accident victim lawsuits in the Crown Princess cruise ship disaster. This represented the largest number of clients of any cruise ship accident law firm.]

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