In a hearing today in the Tuscan city of Grosseto, Italian Judge Valeria Montesarchio will ask court appointed experts to examine the “black box,” which contains digital recordings of the night of the grounding and sinking of the Costa Concordia off Giglio Island on January 13, 2011.  Just as the salvage of the ship could take up to a year, the court proceedings are expected to be lengthy.  The analysis of the data recorder itself could take three months, according to an Italian prosecutor. Captain Francesco Schettino and eight others, including three executives from ship owner Costa Crociere, are under investigation disaster although no-one has yet been charged.

Given that the court proceedings will take some time, have there been any changes in rules or procedures by the regulators or cruise lines to increase cruising safety in the mean time?  The cruise industry has changed the rules on safety drills.  Prior to the Costa Concordia tragedy, these drills were required to be held within 24 hours of passengers embarking.  The new rule requires that safety drills and instruction are to be completed prior to the ship leaving port.  On the Costa Concordia up to 700 passengers had embarked in Civitavecchia, the nearest port to Rome. The safety drill was scheduled for 5PM the following day, the day after the ship ran aground and sank.

Only last week, Italy banned banned cruise ships from sailing within 2 miles of coastlines in “environmentally sensitive” areas, possibly ending the tradition of sailing cruise ships close to shore in what is the referred to as the “inchino” or “bow.”  Given the outcome of the Costa Concordia‘s “bow” to Giglio, it seems unlikely that the managers of cruise ships would continue the practice under any circumstances.