At a Global Cruise Industry Media Briefing held today at the Millenium Gloucester Hotel, experts from a variety of cruise industry organizations spoke about the Costa Concordia grounding. The panel of experts of the global cruise industry covered the regulatory safety regime for cruise ships and cruise ship operations.
“Todays press conference is not about speculating about the cause of this accident. But we understand there has been a great deal of interest in the technical aspect,”said Christine Duffy, President and CEO of CLIA calling for lessons to be learned from the Costa Concordia incident so that the cruise industry can remain safe.
Grilled by members of the press for about an hour, the expert panel answered questions ranging from “When is the appropriate time to have a safety drill?” to “Are ships being built too big?” Not a lot of new information there.
On course alterations, said to be the reason Costa Concordia ran aground when an apparently out-of-control captain decided to take the ship on a joy ride, Captain Bill Wright described an industry-standard two-person check system as the norm, indicating the captain of the Concordia was not performing as he should have been.
Hosted by the Cruise Line International Association (CLIA), the European Cruise Council (ECC) and the Passenger Shipping Association (PSA), the event was web streamed live worldwide.
- Christine Duffy, President and CEO of CLIA, also on hand was
- Tom Allan, Naval Architect who since 2007 has been Chairman of the Cruise Ship Safety Forum. In 2010 Tom was appointed as Chairman of the internationally structured Independent Appeal Board (IAB) by IACS. He is also currently a Vice President of the Royal Institution of Naval architects
- Richard Evenhand, who has 16 years of experience sailing on various ship types, ranging from general cargo and reefer vessels to passenger vessels. Currently Managing Director, V.Ships Leisure UK Ltd, the world’s largest and leading third party ship manager, where Richard performs marine, safety, technical and management roles.
- Sir Alan Massey who became the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) Chief Executive in July 2010. He joined the MCA following a career in the Royal Navy that culminated in the post of Second Sea Lord and Commander-in-Chief, Naval Home Command, in the rank of Vice Admiral. During his seagoing years he commanded four warships, including the aircraft carriers HMS ILLUSTRIOUS and ARK ROYAL. He was appointed CBE in 2003 and KCB in 2009.
- Captain William Wright, a Cruise Industry Maritime Expert, who has occupied various positions at Royal Caribbean International from SVP Marine Operations to Ship Master. Captain Wright carries more than 40 years of seagoing experience and has most recently served as Captain of the Oasis of the Seas, one of the largest cruise ships in the world.
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