Additional Costa Concordia Survivors Sue Carnival Corp. for $528 Million

Dozens of additional survivors from the Costa Concordia shipwreck have joined in the Florida lawsuit against the ship’s owners accusing them of gross negligence and fraud. The price tag for these accusations is $528 million in damages. The amended lawsuit against Carnival Corp. was filed in a Miami state circuit court.

33 more passengers were added to the original 6 that filed back in January, following the initial accident. The total number of plaintiffs is now 39. Carnival has not yet commented.

The lawsuit claims that the company exemplified gross negligence and careless disregard during the cruise, resulting in the death of 32 people onboard. The crew allegedly failed to conduct safety drills, the ship was off its intended course, the captain waited too long to evacuate, the crew was ill-prepared for evacuation procedures, and the cruise line caused emotional distress without providing proper aid to survivors are all statements used to back up the accusation.

Witnesses recall being left to fend for themselves on a sinking ship for over an hour with no communication or direction from the captain and crew. The suit also claims that the cruise line committed fraud stating that it followed safety regulations, and that the online agreement that passengers accepted when buying tickets did not include the full details.

Lastly, it defends the passengers’ argument by recalling the captain’s abandonment of ship before all passengers were evacuated and harshly criticized his character. They are asking for over $78 million in compensatory damages and at least $450 million in punitive damages. These totals do not include interest and attorney costs.

The compensation offer that Costa originally offered survivors totaled at about $15,000. The deadline for surviving passengers to accept this offer was on this past Tuesday (February 14, 2012), but the company has now extended that to March 31, 2012. The reason was to lessen the urgency for reviewing the proposal, and this is only for people who returned home. Families of the deceased, missing, and injured will be covered separately based on individual situations, according to the cruise line.

MSNBC reports that the plaintiffs in the Miami lawsuit are from the United States, Italy, Venezuela, China, Canada, Germany, Korea and Kazakhstan. The lawsuit said the Florida court is the appropriate jurisdiction because the defendants engaged in business in the state. The case number is 12-3496CA 40, Geoffrey Scimone et al vs. Carnival Corp et al.

Related Articles

Costa Concordia's Captain Enters Hearing for House Arrest Sentence

Cruise Industry Introduces New Mandatory Pre-Departure Safety Drills Following Concordia Incident

OP-ED: A Need for Changes in Cruise Vessel Laws in Light of the Costa Concordia Disaster