Costa Fortuna

In May 2005, while the cruise ship Costa Fortuna was making a close approach to the island of Sorrento, there was a “loud bang” after which the vessel rolled from left to right according to the ship’s photographer Roberto Cappello, 59.  He later would photograph damage to the ship’s keel and a broken propeller blade, only to have the photographs and files confiscated by Costa.  Costa apparently later claimed that the ship had stuck a whale.  Italian magistrates will be asked to investigate whether Costa Cruises attempted to cover-up the previous grounding.

Costa’s service record is hardly unblemished.  In October of 2010, we posted about the collision between the Costa Classica and a cargo vessel at the mouth of the Yangtze River, leaving a 60 feet long gash in the side of the ship. Three passengers were hospitalized but there there were no fatalities.  The Costa Classica was also involved in a collision with the MSC Poesia in June of 2008. There were no injuries.

In February of 2010, three crew members were killed and three passengers injured when the Costa Europa struck a pier in high winds in the Egyptian port of Sharm el-Sheikh.  In 2009, the Costa Europa’s “Jewels of the Indian Ocean” cruise was beset by a range of mechanical failures leading to the cancellation of several port calls and a near mutiny by passengers. Costa Failure.

One concern is that even serious incidents are not always reported.  Although three crew members died when the Costa Europa struck the pier in Egypt, the casualty was never submitted to IMO’s Marine Casualties database.

How the cruise ship industry sails under the radar