€1m cap on Costa Concordia fine

The Independent
Costa Cruises, the company whose Concordia cruise liner capsized in January last year with the loss of 32 lives, has made a deal with an Italian court that will limit its criminal liability for a fine of just €1 million. The plea bargain payment, which curtails the cruise operator’s criminal culpability for the disaster, is a set tariff. It means Costa Cruises will not face any more criminal charges and will now aim to participate in the forthcoming trial as an injured party.

€1m cap on Costa Concordia fine: ‘It hardly seems a lot given the magnitude of the disaster’ The Independent
Costa Concordia : amende d’un million d’euros pour la compagnie euronews Youtube (FR)
Costa Concordia firm pays £850k fine to avoid trial Scotsman

There is no real connection between the Thomson Majesty and the Costa Concordia

The Independent
Some may be quick to connect the deaths of five crew members aboard the Thomson Majesty on the island of La Palma with the Costa Concordia disaster just over a year ago. In fact, the only apparent link is that the crew were practising the emergency deployment of lifeboats in order to ensure a safe evacuation were the order given to abandon ship.

Simon Calder: There is no real connection between the Thomson Majesty and the Costa Concordia disaster The Independent

Concordia: A year after on Jan 13

USA TODAY
A year after the ship ran aground — leaving 30 dead — questions remain about its captain, the risk to marine life and when the Costa Concordia will be removed. Costa Concordia. Workers pass on a small boat near the Costa Concordia on Thursday. Salvage operations to raise the Costa Concordia began in May. Approximately 400 workers are on site day and night. Special care is being taken to protect the environment. A look at the plan:
One year later, Costa Concordia still half-submerged USA Today
Salvaging the Costa Concordia BBC News
Captain steered Costa Concordia ‘like a canoe’, says prosecutor The Guardian
Letter: Survivors ‘Not Welcome’ to Costa Concordia Anniversary Eyewitness News
captain piloted ship ‘like a canoe’ The Independent
New video emerges showing evacuation of Costa Concordia South Florida Business Journal
In pictures: first anniversary of Costa Concordia’s sinking adelaidenow
Costa Concordia survivor relives horror of ship wreck The Telegraph
Costa Concordia maneuvered like a canoe THe Independent
Embedded rock from Costa Concordia to be used in memorial News.com.au
Salvage effort underway for cruise ship – CBS News CBS News

Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino: I’m not as bad as Osama Bin Laden

The Independent
Francesco Schettino, the captain who crashed the Costa Concordia liner into rocks off the Italian coast with the loss of 32 lives, has complained he has been depicted as “worse than Bin Laden”.Mr Schettino, for whom prosecutors are likely to demand criminal indictments within weeks, made the comments to La Stampa in the run-up to the anniversary of the tragedy on 13 January.

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Cruise Industry Is Throttling Up Again, a Year After Costa Concordia

DailyFinance
The cruise industry is starting to regain its sea legs.Shares of Royal Caribbean (RCL) coasted higher on Thursday after posting an encouraging quarterly report — and market leader Carnival (CCL) followed suit. Most of the cruising industry news this year has been disheartening, largely stemming from the grounding ofCosta Concordia off the Tuscan coast of Italy. The incident in January left at least 30 people dead. It was a tragedy in of itself
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Cruise Bookings on the Rise in 2012 Despite Costa Concordia Incident

TravelersToday
Despite the deadly crash of the Costa Concordia in January, cruise lines have seen an increase in bookings in 2012. The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) found that there has actually been an increase in cruise bookings this year. After polling travel agents, the group found that more than half of them reported an increase in cruise sales. Twenty-five percent of the travel agents said that the number of cruise booking was similar to last year.
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Sophia sails into row about monster ship in Venice

The Independent
The monstrous vessel, which is 40m longer than the wrecked Costa Concordia, swept past St Mark’s Square, and no doubt blotted out the sun from some positions, while protesters, like specks on the shore, waved banners which read “No Big Ships”.  Environmentalists are urging Italian screen legend Sophia Loren to ditch her endorsement of the latest giant cruise liner to sully the views and pollute the air of Venice. The 140000-tonne MSC Divina was christened by the actress last month in France.
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What lessons learned from Titanic?

Hamilton Spectator
A century later, 32 were killed when a luxury cruise ship, the Costa Concordia, was shipwrecked off the Tuscan coast in January. The number of victims in the 2012 incident pales in comparison, but it was a wakeup call for many who believed large-scale
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Cruise Report: More overnight stops could lure passengers back to ships

The Independent
Overnight, the Costa Concordia disaster shattered the image of the most durably successful travel sector. The giant ship belonging to the world’s biggest cruise firm, Carnival, struck a rock on 13 January. By dawn the next day, more than 30 passengers  and crew had died. The big question for the cruise industry is: has that tragedy put off some potential customers for life? Read More