March 2015

BC FerriesThe Vancouver Sun reports that a passenger went overboard from BC Ferries" Queen of Oak Bay ferry 4:15 p.m. yesterday. 

The ferry was sailing from West Vancouver to Nanaimo. The crew stopped the ship and launched a rescue boat. Another ferry operated by BC Ferries, the Queen of Cowichan, also launched a rescue boat. 

The passenger

Costa Concordia The Independent reports that the Costa Concordia was carrying a "huge shipment of Mafia-owned cocaine" when it departed on its final voyage, according to investigators. 

The dramatic story involves tape recordings of gang member communications which revealed that a Calabrian crime syndicate called Ndrangheta had hidden cocaine hidden aboard the Concordia, when it capsized in January

Diamond PrincessA cruise ship passenger suffering from an undisclosed medical condition has been medevaced from a Princess cruise ship sailing to Sydney. 

The ABC News network in Australia reports that a Westpac rescue helicopter was dispatched to the Diamond Princess after a passenger became ill.

A doctor, paramedic and rescue crewman were first winched down from

The International Cruise Victims (ICV) organization just announced that it is expanding in Europe.

The ICV is a grass root non-profit organization operated by victims of crimes and families who have lost loved ones at sea. The ICV and the families have been successful in the scheduling of 8 Congressional hearing in the U.S. Senate and

Security failed the tourists from the Costa and MSC cruise ships visiting Tunisia last week. The result: 17 dead cruise passengers and two dozen injured.

Tunisia acknowledges it. The risk of jihadists attacking tourists was readily foreseeable. Security analysts and security forces blew it.

In response to this failure, Tunisia fired the country’s leading security

USS Cole AttackFor the past couple of years I’ve been troubled by the increasing violence in North Africa and the Middle East and the unprecedented nature of the cruelty of jihadist terrorists who have beheaded and burned “infidels” alive. I have worried about various scenarios where cruise passengers are at risk of attack.

We already know that

The cruise industry’s favorite publication, Travel Weekly, just published an article titled After Tunis attack, Impact on Cruise Sales Pondered

The article speculates whether cruise sales will drop following the Islamic State’s massacre of cruise passenger’s in Tunis last week. 

In the last couple of years, first quarter "wave" sales were negatively impacted by

According to a Greek newspaper, a high speed catamaran, High Speed 5, undergoing repairs in an area near Piraeus Greecearea, called Keratsini, caught on fire today. 

40 fire fighters and 13 vehicles battled the fire. 

Unfortunately, the ship’s Chief Electrician lost his life during the firefighting operations. 

The vessel is operated by Hellenic Seaways. 

March