Rock Center
Shortly after the Costa Concordia ran aground off the coast of Italy, leaving at least 32 people dead, Costa Cruises began offering settlements to the survivors of the accident.
Nancy and Mario Lofaro of New Rochelle, N.Y., said they were offered $14,500 by the cruise line following the Jan. 13 incident.
“Well, my first reaction was that I thought it was grossly insulting, but what upset us most is that it almost seemed like they wanted to do this very quickly and get it done so that it could all go away and that’s the part that we have a problem with,” Nancy Lofaro said. “They promised payment within two weeks, we would have had $29,000 between us in two weeks…That’s not what it’s about. This particular incident should not be forgotten and good should come from it somehow.”
The Lofaro family isn’t alone. Six months after the Concordia disaster, hundreds of survivors are challenging the settlements that Costa Cruises has offered.
Costa Cruise’s parent company, Carnival Corporation, is the world’s biggest cruise line. Citing pending litigation, Carnival Corporation denied Rock Center’s request for an interview. No one disputes that the cruise line is acting in accordance with the terms of agreement on each passenger’s ticket.
Getting access to the terms of agreement for a cruise ticket is a difficult and complicated process, said Marc Bern, an attorney for a number of passengers that were on the Concordia when it wrecked. “When you get on a ship, you are covered by the limitations that the law of that ship wants to apply to you and you can’t even find out what those limitations are unless and until you book your trip and you’ve paid for it and you’ve already accepted those limitations,” he said.
He said the print is “extraordinarily fine” and often “buried.”
Most cruise ships are registered in foreign countries which provides enormous tax advantages to the owners and also puts the ships outside U.S. jurisdiction once they’re a few miles off shore.
Bern said that the terms of agreement should be thrown out for those involved the Concordia wreck because of the egregious actions of the ship’s captain. In an interview this week, Captain Francesco Schettino admitted to being distracted on the phone when he navigated the ship off course, hitting the rocks near the Italian island of Giglio. Schettino could face manslaughter charges and was recently released from house arrest.
By the terms of the ticket agreement, passengers who want to challenge the $14,500 settlement offer have to do so in an Italian court. Liability for loss of life is limited to $75,000. That amount is incredibly low compared to what would happen in an airline accident, said Attorney John Arthur Eaves, Jr., who is representing more than a hundred Concordia survivors.
“They’ve offered the people $14,000. That would include their tickets, that would include their property and that would include all their future problems that they have received from this thing. I think that’s disrespectful and I believe it’s horrible to the value of life.”
Families of a person lost in a plane crash, are offered between $2 and $5 million, Eaves said.
Eaves said that the value is important because the higher the cost a company pays out after an accident, the more incentive they have on the front end to train crew members and better prepare for a disaster.
Remo Casilli / Reuters
The Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,200 passengers, ran aground Jan. 13 off the coast of Italy killing 32 people - including two Americans.
Those on the Concordia on January 13 recount a harrowing night of confusion where crew members seemed ill prepared to help them.
The Lofaros have been on several cruises before and were excited to embark on their winter getaway. At the start of the cruise, they say there was no safety drill to practice what to do in the event of an emergency. When the cruise ship first hit a rock, they were in the ship’s theater.
“We looked at each other and we said, ‘We hit something,’” Mario Lofaro said.
No alarm was sounded until more than an hour after they felt the ship shudder.
The Lofaros said that they were shocked to encounter crew members who they said had no information. At first the passengers were told the ship had an electrical problem.
“With anything that you do in life, there are always risks. But you don't think that a half-a-billion-dollar ship that's almost 1,000 feet long, that does this route every week, week after week-- you would never think that this could happen, even though you know anything can happen,” Nancy Lofaro said. “But what is most concerning is that you put your confidence in the professionals in anything that you do.”
When they heard six short whistles and a seventh long one, the signal to abandon ship and board life boats, the Lofaros said that it seemed the crew members didn’t know how to navigate the boats. They described the life boats bumping into one another like “bumper cars.”
They say when the life boat they were in was lowered, it got hung up on the ship.
“Everybody is thrown to the other side. We went crashing against the ship,” Mario Lofaro said. “the lifeboat released and it went into a freefall.”
Nancy Lofaro added, “That’s the time I actually felt we could die.”
Joan Fleser and Brian Aho, both veteran cruisers, were in the middle of dinner when dishes began raining from the dining tier above them.
“People were screaming. A lot of people were getting up immediately and trying to leave, some people fell down, waiters that were carrying trays, food went flying, dishes and glasses were starting to slide off the tables,” Fleser said. Fleser, Aho and Aho’s daughter, Alana, clung to a pillar to prevent themselves from falling over as the ship began to list to the side.
Six months after the tragedy, it’s hard for the family to contemplate how people lost their lives when the ship was in relatively shallow water and so close to land.
“People died because of this for no reason. I mean, that’s the tragic thing about this,” Fleser said.
Of the ship’s captain diverting off course, she said, “And he was allowed to do this by the cruise line, by the corporation.”
The Aho family is being represented by Eaves and is battling Costa Cruises and Carnival.
“Some people just don’t want to have anything more to do with it and I completely understand that. All the trauma, you just want to get past it and continue on,” Fleser said. “We on the other hand, think that it’s important to try to change something.”
The family’s attorney recently took his fight to the seas. Eaves got the federal court in Texas to send U.S. Marshals to seize the Carnival Triumph which was about to sail from the port of Galveston. The federal court accepted a suit on behalf of the family of a woman killed on the Concordia, thus compelling Carnival to post a $10 million bond before the Triumph could sail.
“We asked the court to seize Carnival Triumph, a large passenger ship, and hold that ship as collateral for the judgment. Just much like you do with a criminal, you know, you capture him. Then he has to post a bond for him to go free, to make sure he'll return to court. We did the same thing with the ship,” Eaves said. “They had to post a bond to make sure that, out of that bond, when we get a verdict, we get a judgment, that they'll pay this family and help them rebuild their lives.”
Of his fight against the cruise line industry, Eaves said, “Oh, it's Goliath, it's Goliath times two…I'm throwing my little slingshot, and I got one or two pebbles that I can throw. I've done thrown a couple of them and I'm going to keep throwing until we find some way to make this better.”
Editor’s Note: Harry Smith’s full report airs Thursday, July 12 at 10pm/9c on NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams.
Leave a Comment:
The people got the ride of their life.
Ship happens when you let others have control of you.
But you don't deserve millions to live.
and lots of attorneys showed up those days after the wreck and told everyone NOT to accept the settlements and they had translators with them. So if stupid people accepted at that time and are now regretting it that is their own damn fault for being stupid and greedy at the time they saw 14 thousand and said oooo yea baby money money and now they are seeing the smart ones suing and being offered way higher amounts and now want that too well honestly too damn bad is what I say.
These people are greedy. I've been on many cruises - 14K is a fine settlement. These people are not disfigured, not dismembered - they can get up and got to work and continue to make a living for themselves. 14K is almost (or more than) a half-year's wages for the majority of Americans. Expecting to retire becuase of an accident is selfish, greedy and dispicable behavior.
Average American in 2011 make just under $42k, thus $14 is 1/3 of an average yearly income. Took me less than 1.5 minutes to find the info and do the math, like everyone should before posting verifiable numbers.
He said majority..not average. Average is based on the average of all people which takes into account high earners. By saying the majority, he was referring to the "median" way of looking at income.
Dope!!
Median income $49,445 in 2010, usa today. I'm Just say'in.
$32,000 if you include people under 25, so $14,500 is pretty close to 50%.
I hope the captain of the ship gets convicted of all the charges against him!
So how much do you want already??? Stop flapping your gums about what a tragedy it was and let's hear the number. We all know the story. Save us the plea for justice. You and the lawyer are looking to get paid on this. So how much do you want???
I think that those of you saying they should just take the $14,500 and stop being greedy don't realize how little that actually is, considering. It's not like they're getting $14,000 to just go have a ball with. I once received a $6,000 settlement for an incident where my arm was broken. After my lawyer took his share and I paid my medical bills (which wasn't just one bill - just for that one broken arm I had bills from a hospital, from radiologists who looked at my x-rays, and from the doctor I had to see multiple times over the next few months to follow up), I barely had anything left over. And that was just for one broken arm which left no lasting damage - these people have it MUCH worse than I did. Their entire vacation was ruined (which probably cost them thousands of dollars in and of itself by the time you factor in the cruise ticket plus round-trip airfare to Europe). They were in fear for their lives - stop and think for a minute how terrifying that must have been. Some of them have injuries which I'm sure they have medical bills from, and possibly lasting effects. They lost possibly thousands of dollars worth of personal belongings. And this wasn't just some act of God, the captain and the cruise line are at fault. The salute, the lack of emergency training of the crew, the skipped safety drill, etc. are all simply unforgivable. I guarantee you that if those of you saying "stop being so greedy" were on that boat, you'd be insulted by $14,500 too.
Glad to see someone else understands the complexity of the situation.
i'd take that cruise again and again for $14000 a pop.
14,000 dollars sounds pretty good to me. It just cost a couple hundred to take the trip. So what, I got my feet wet. They just turned the ship over a couple hundred feet from land. Its not like we spend two weeks in a raft 3,000 miles out in the ocean.
I've taken Princess Cruises which are also owned by Carnival and on every one of those cruises you had to go to Muster stations before the ship even detaches its moorings from the dock. In the Muster stations, you learn how to put on your life vest and how to abandon ship if the occasion should arise. These were mandatory lessons and the crew would not let you slide on it.
I haven't taken a cruise in about seven years and I hope that these mandatory life vest lessons are still being done. Of course nothing happened on these trips so I don't know if the crew actually knew more than how to make beds and serve drinks.
If something had of happened, I'd be pissed too if the cruise line just wagged 14 grand at me and wanted the matter to be forgotten about as quickly as possible.
After this disaster, if I ever take another cruise, I'm going Royal Caribbean.
They still do the safety drills. I've been on three cruises in the past several years and on every one, we did a safety drill before we left the dock. And they were very serious about attendance - they won't start the drill until every passenger is accounted for.
I'm glad to hear that, Shannon.
If Costa got lax on the drills then Carnival should have cracked down on them. There was no excuse for that ship running aground with all the technology on those ships today.
Where are the usual people who would say these lawsuits just drive up the cost of taking a cruise for everyone. And that the cruise industry needs "tort reform" to limit lawsuits to keep the cost of taking a cruise low.
Well, with what happened to the Concordia, guess I won't be taking any ship cruises for a LONG time.....about 100 years long. I'll stick to driving.
If it is proven that gross negligence caused the accident (and I don't think that is a problem in this case) then everyone, survivors and family of the deceased, deserve more $14,500 or $75,000. The captain was distracted by talking on the phone while he was stearing a 10 story high cruise ship. It is almost the same as being drunk (imparied) behind the wheel. If the captain was "drunk" would you still think everyone is still only intitled to be compinstated in accordance with the original "term of agreement"? I think NOT!
Money grubbing bastards, should be thankful they are not among the deceased!
What a surprise, it always comes down to the money!! Shed a few tears and then
right to the jugular!!
Apparently a lot of folks did not read the article. Ships registered in another country and not within U.S. territorial waters are beyond the reach of our courts and tort system. There is a reason why the U.S. with just 4.5% of the world's population, has 95% of both the world's lawyers and lawsuits. We have a litigation culture in this nation, and people sue at the drop of a hat. That is not possible elsewhere in the world. Maybe that is one reason so many companies have operations in other countries.
14,000 subtract the cost of the ticket just guessing 4,000=10,000 then subtract their possessions guessing 1,000=9,000. That is not much money for all they went through. They may need counseling or may have been injured which could add up in the future, I'm not big on suing but it seems they should get more than what they are being offered. 75,000 for loss of life is way too low too.
Looks like a good portion of you don't understand the difference between liability and negligence. Negligence such as displayed by this Cruise line needs a large punitive damage to make sure they train the crew properly in the future to prevent further incidents
The ownership of the cruise line company are raking in profits at the cost of vacationers.
They do not pay any fair taxes, by design of the shipping industry. They were already aware of the this captain's past infractions, yet they did nothing punitive to him.
ALL the passengers went through a night of absolute hell and fear while the captain apparently already sat in a lifeboat. We have all heard the telephone conversation with the local coast guard.
Again, the shipping company executives are just as responsible and should be tried along with the captain.
There should be a punitive ruling, there should be compensation for each passenger for a night of terror, and there belongings replaced as a minimum.
$14,500 sounds like an absolute insult. This offering from the executives should be considered an legal infraction in itself and should lead to an additional punitive ruling directed squarely at the executives rather than the company.
I think they all should get way more compensation for this. I was on a Costa cruise about 7 years ago to the bahamas. The staff was all great, we had our safety drill the first day. It was a nice 7 day cruise, and we even had to go in the lifeboats to reach a private island, which was all done without a hitch. Maybe i just go lucky to have such a great, well trained staff. If that had been me on my cruise over something so stupid and i lost my life, or even if i had survived, i would have wanted compensation, not only for property lost, and ticket price, but just for the mental anguish that i would have suffered from the whole incident.
I understand your vacation was interrupted, I understand you lost valuables like clothes, cell phones, etc. but they came away ALIVE. These a-holes should take the $ 14 K and shut their traps. But everyone thinks they are 'due' something. This reimburses their costs and a little extra for the unfortunate events.
Now those who lost their lives, families deserve something for punative damages and emotional distress and the $ 75 K is offensive. I have an idea, let's take the people who want to complain about their $ 14,000 and add it to the pot for those who weren't so fortunate to fly home and hire a lawyer!!
Enough of this crap. Except for the families that lost loved one's this is ALL ABOUT THE MONEY. People are so litigation happy that they live for incidents like the Costa to try and cash in. First, they all signed waivers of liability accepting the dangerous nature of ocean voyages. Second, the cruise they were on was less than $1800 a ticket unless you were in Deluxe Ocean-View Balcony rooms. Third, almost all travel companies from Airlines to Trains try to settle as soon as possible in order to mimimize their losses - after all they ARE a business. The longer it takes and the more they lose - the MORE they shift the costs to YOU. Fourth, how many of you had EVER heard of a cruise line sinking other than the Titanic before the Costa - reason?? They don't happen that often. Last, the ship tipped within an easy swim of land, in perfect weather, and giving people plenty of time to get off except for those that were trapped in the initial listing, For many, this will be the most exciting event of their entire lives; some I'm sure will write books, and many have already hit the media circuit - which they get paid for. Enough is enough; I'm tired of the nanny mentality that has replaced a pacifier for whiners. If passengers can PROVE the value of the property they lost + cost of ticket + disrupted travel costs AND it exceeds the $14K - they are owed more. If however they feel they are owed millions for "mental anguish etc", give them the money AFTER the military families that lost loved one's in the Pentagon on 9-11 get THEIR millions. THAT was REAL mental anguish! Enough said.
Had the crew been told to abandon ship after the captain knew there was water coming in (a lot of water sir) and the crew lowered the lifeboats and helped the passengers as they should have been trained to do and everyone got home safe at the end of the day then yes they should settle for the amount offered.
But that is not what went down, one negligent lack of action compounded on lack of training not to mention precious time wasted with everyone not knowing what to do because they were not told the truth. No, the offered amount is chum in the water to have a low payout for those naive enough to have taken it.
4000 people left in panic to fiend for themselves, and to boot people died and others were injured as a result all were tramatised beyond belief because of numerous negligent action or lack there of...
Made it home without a scratch $150,000 (each)
needed hospitalization $250,000 (each)
Died, their estate gets 1,000,000 (each)
Then those that can sign on the dotted line should and put the horrible vacation behind then.
and the CEO got a 2M$ bonus for keeping the profits high and being "competent"
man my sarcasm tab is on...
I agree that the survivors deserve a decent payment for what they went through. But what I hate to see are all of the lawyers jumping aboard acting as if they "just want to help". All the lawyers want is money. I don't dare what you say they are part of the downfall of this country. Greed must be a class they give you in law school. You fail that class no graduation for you. While I do feel bad for the deaths and sufferin g of all of the passengers I cannot get past the lawyers greed driving them to sue for more and more.
Wayne "I cannot get past the lawyers greed driving them to sue for more and more"
If the passengers were offered a reasonable amount as I attempted to show, then there would not be a need for any money leaching lawyers sucking 35-40% of the winnings from each victim.
Still waiting for some liberal left moron to blame the shipwreck on Bush..... what no takers????
Past your med time?
I feel the survivors are owed quite a bit, first, trying to climb inside a ship on it's side, in the dark, with water pouring in would be terrifying. All this was cause by a series of actions by the captain that led to death, when death could have easily been avoided. But the captain LIED to the passengers about the "electrical problem", the passengers were told to go to their cabins, all things which led to people dying unnecessarily. The captain wasn't trying to help anyone after his disaster of a mistake, he was only trying to hide the fact that he blew it big time. He purposely delayed abandoning ship until it was too late. He has a whole series of actions that basically shows he was trying to get people killed. He is not a "professional", and people buying tickets to a cruise ship should expect their captain to be a professional, be trained, and follow the rules.
Some of the people on the ship lost all their belongings, and apparently many brought some expensive items with them - those items need to be paid for, even if it goes above the $14K per person. Regardless of the ticket contract or whatever it was, since the captain broke about every rule there was, the captain was negligent and 100% to blame for the sinking.
Of course there are risks to going to a cruise with even the best ship and crew. But an incompetent captain who basically drove his ship into the land, then did none of the steps to help passengers, deserves everything he gets. And a cruise company who would hire such an idiot is going to have to pay the price. I'm not for suing everyone at the drop of a hat either - but this is a case I feel the company deserves everything they get for what happened.
Steve your right, he could have sounded abandon ship then do all the bow thruster stuff to get the ship in close to shore. That was probably the only good thing the captain did that day. In his mind might have been more important to get the ship parked before he told everyone it was time to get out. Please wait till the ship comes to a full and complete stop before leaving your seat.
You take a boat ride in a foreign flag ship, you take your chances.
Then I guess your not going to ever sail, eh ? Try and find a major cruise line that sails under the "red, white and blue".