Cruise Line Attorney: After Costa Concordia Sinking, Change ‘Muster Drill’ Laws to Prevent Death, Personal Injury

The Costa Concordia grounding and capsizing has led to deaths, personal injury, and significant loss of property. Yet another failure has come to light: The delay of “muster drills” designed to familiarize passengers with emergency evacuation procedures. In Port Everglades and Port of Miami, Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Norwegian Cruise Lines and others often hold lifeboat drills before or immediately after ships set sail. Muster drills are where passengers report to a station where lifejackets and passenger dress is checked and the lifeboats are pointed out.

Yet on the Costa Concordia, guests reported that no drill had occurred by the time of the ship’s accident three hours after sailing. This often is the case for many of those sailing the Mediterranean, Europe and elsewhere beyond the U.S. According to USAToday…

Costa chairman and CEO Pier Luigi Foschi discussed “criticism that the ship had not held a lifeboat drill for passengers after departing from Civitavecchia, the port for Rome, earlier in the day. He noted the line follows U.S. Coast Guard and International Maritime Organization rules that drills must take place within 24 hours of departing, and a drill had been scheduled for the morning after departure…Foschi said the company would review its policy of when to hold lifeboat drills.”

Foschi said various guests boarded the vessel at different times from different ports. This left some having gone through the drill – and others not.

This is unacceptable – bordering on criminal.

Muster drills should be held in port at least an hour before the ship sets sail. International Maritime law and U.S. Coast Guard regulations should be changed to require more timely drills. Moreover, amid reports of confusion, chaos and ill-prepared personnel tasked with seeing that passengers safely board life boats and are lowered correctly, cruise ship personnel should be better trained and prepared for such accidents.

This may help prevent such damages, personal injuries and deaths in the future. Many of today’s safety rules were passed after the Titanic sank in 1912. Now, 100 years later, because of Costa Concordia, new regulations need to be enacted.