Person Overboard from Costa Serena Cruise Ship?

CruiseJunkie.com reports that was a person may have gone overboard from the Costa Serena last Saturday February 27th.

A passenger informed the CruiseJunkie web site that a person was reported missing from the Costa cruise ship while in the Atlantic between the Canary Islands and Malaga.

Costa Serena Overboard? - Missing - DisappearanceThe web site stresses that this incident is not yet confirmed from the cruise line company but is based on the account from a passenger on board the ship.

We last reported on an overboard passenger last week - Passenger Reported Overboard From Holland America's Rotterdam Cruise Ship.  There was no official confirmation from the cruise line in that case either.

This is one of the problems with overboards and crimes on cruise ships.  As matters now stand, cruise lines are under no legal obligation to report such incidents to U.S. authorities.  As a practical matter, cruise lines do not like to report incidents which tend to show that cruising is unsafe.

It has become increasingly difficult for cruise lines to engage in cover ups, with an increasing number of people using blogs and other social media tools like Twitter and FaceBook.  

Although the cruise industry refuses to disclose the actual number of people going overboard from cruise ships, the Cruise Junkie web page documents over 130 passengers and crew members have jumped, fallen, or been thrown from cruise ships in the last decade.  

 

Credits:

Costa Serena cruise ship                     comequandofuoripiove1973 Flickr Photostream

 

Costa Europa Collides With Pier in Egypt - Three Crew Dead, Passengers Injured

Newspapers are reporting that the Costa Europa cruise ship collided with a pier in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt yesterday.  The collision ripped a hole in the hull of the ship and flooded a crew cabin, resulting in the death of three crew member who, unidentified, are described as "an Indian, a Honduran and a Brazilian."  (Technically speaking, when a vessel strikes a pier, it is called an "allision" - "collisions" occur between vessels). 

Costa Europa Collision - Egypt - Passenger and Crew Injury and DeathFour other people were injured.  Some reports indicate that another crewmember and three British women passengers were injured.  Other newspapers say that four passengers were injured. 

Pursuant to the terms of the passenger's cruise tickets, if the passengers need to make a claim for medical expneses and compensation, they are required to make their claim in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. 

Cruise line officials are quoted as saying that "strong winds" pushed the cruise into a pier as it tried to dock at the port.

It seems that every time a cruise ship hits a dock, the cruise lines blame it on the wind as opposed to poor seamanship at the helm.   

The cruise ship was sailing on an 18-day cruise from Dubai to Savona.

The photographs of the Costa Europe show the vessel listing heavily on its port side, in order to keep water ouring into the large opening on the starboard side. 

A photograph of the extensive damage to the crew quarters in shown is an article in the U.K. Sun newspaperCosta Europa - Damage to Crew Cabin - Collision

The passengers were disembarked, and Costa Crociere is arranging for them to be flown back to their countries of origin.

 

Credits:

 

Costa Europa  cruise ship -  AP (Hussien Talal) via Mail Online

Damage to crew cabin of  Costa Europa - U.K. Sun Newspaper

 

 

 

Costa Victoria Passenger Goes Overboard During Excursion

A newspaper in Brazil reports that a passenger from Costa Cruises' Victoria cruise ship went overboard during an excursion while the cruise ship was off the coast of Brazil between Río de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

Costa Cruises - Costa VictoriaEntitled "Una Turista Argentina Falleció Cerca de Río," the article reports that the passenger was from Argentina.  She had taken an excursion boat with other passengers to go to a beach to snorkel and dive.  The passenger went overboard during the trip, and her body was found hours later.

No information was provided to explain how the passenger went overboard.  The passenger's name was not released.  The article indicates that Brazilian authorities will be investigating and a report is expected in 90 days.

 

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Credits:

Costa Victoria          Wikimedia Commons