Lawmakers defend safety of US cruise industry at hearing on Italian crash

Lawmakers and industry officials insisted that U.S.-based cruise lines are safe Wednesday as survivors of an Italian crash that killed more than 20 people testified about their ordeal.

The Wednesday hearing of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s subcommittee on the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation was scheduled after the Costa Concordia cruise ship ran into a reef off the coast of Isola del Giglio in January.  

“It’s sort of a warning when you have a fairly new mega-liner hit rocks and sink,” House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) said. 

{mosads}The ship was carrying 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crewmembers when it crashed. Two of them, Sameer and Divya Sharma, recalled the experience Wednesday. 

“We were in full spirit of our vacation and were very happy to be on board,” the Sharmas said in prepared remarks to the committee. 

“At about 9:15 pm we were at our dinner table on Deck 3 and were in process of ordering our food,” they continued. “As we had just ordered our appetizers, there was violent shaking of the ship followed by loud crash noises as the plates and glasses broke due to the listing of the ship towards the starboard side.” 

The Sharmas, who said they were celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary with the trip, told lawmakers there were no announcements about safety precautions in the aftermath of the cruise liner striking the reef, leaving passengers to their own devices. 

“It was pitch dark and with no visibility,” the couple said. “Everyone nearby started to scream and few minutes into the ordeal the emergency lights came on and we observed that the ship is now listing on the port side. This is when the first announcement came on telling us that it was nothing but an electrical failure and that everything is under control.” 

But while lawmakers expressed sympathy for the Sharmas, both Democrats and Republicans on the committee said they are confident the U.S. cruise industry is safe. 

“This was a good ship. There was nothing wrong with this ship,” Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) said during the hearing. 

“The problem was we had a captain who forgot he was a captain,” he continued. “I want us to be careful about casting aspersions on the U.S. cruise ship industry. We’ve had a good safety record.”

Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) compared the cruise safety hearing to recent congressional inquiries into incidents involving battery fires during tests of the Chevrolet Volt electric car. 

“I don’t want there to be collateral damage,” Cummings said. “I don’t want the word to go out that we haven’t fulfilled our responsibility.”

Coast Guard Vice Adm. Brian Salerno agreed the U.S. cruise industry is safe. Salerno said the Coast Guard has implemented changes since the Costa Concordia accident to prevent a similar occurrence in the U.S. cruise industry. 

“As a result of the Costa Concordia incident, we have also put into place a regime to witness passenger musters as part of our mandatory vessel examination program,” he said in prepared remarks. 

“The Coast Guard places the highest priority on vessels that embark passengers in the United States; and embark U.S. passengers world-wide,” he continued. “We have a strong and effective port state control program for foreign cruise ships and ensure that vessels that visit the United States are in substantial compliance with applicable international and domestic standards.” 

Christine Duffy, president of the Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Cruise Lines International Association, also maintained the safety of America cruise ships. 

“Safety is the cruise industry’s number one priority,” she said. “It is absolutely essential to our business. Nothing is more important.” 

CLIA is the lobbying group for cruise lines. Its president, Duffy, said there were only 28 fatalities on cruise ships from 2002 to 2011, though she added that, “not a single fatality is acceptable to our industry. 

“One of the reasons fatal casualties are so rare is that we treat every one of these tragedies as a profound reminder of our duty to put ourselves under a microscope so we can continuously improve our practices, procedures and performance,” she said. 

For their part, Divya Sharma said she and her husband would likely not be taking any other cruises any time soon.

The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will hold a hearing of its own on the issue of cruise ship safety Thursday. The inquiries from Congress come amid reports one of the Costa Concordia’s sister ships was drifting in the Indian Ocean after fires were noticed in the ship’s engine room.