In lieu of the recent disasters that plagued its line's reputation, most notably, on board of their Triumph and Splendor ships, the cruise giants, Carnival Corp. is defending its safety record to the democratic Senator from Virginia, Jay Rockefeller.
"Carnival has an excellent safety record throughout its 41-year history," Carnival senior vice president for corporate maritime policy James Hunn wrote in a letter, which addressed the six questions that Rockefeller had sent Carnival Corp. chairman and CEO Micky Arison in the wake of February's engine room fire on the Carnival Triumph, reported USA Today.
Even though Hunn's letter to the senator was dated March 29, it has only become public on Wednesday.
In the letter, he stated that the him and the Carnival as a company take the incidents such as Carnival Triumph fire "very seriously," noting, according to USA Today, "the company has called in outside experts in the disciplines of fire safety, naval architecture, marine engineering, electrical engineering and mechanical engineering to help with a fleet-wide review following the fire."
However, Hunn does being into question the list that Rockefeller's office staffers complied detailing 90 "serious events" on Carnival Corp. ships over a five-year period, which the staffers claim was based on reports filed with the U.S. Coast Guard.
Dunn stated in his letter that "83 of the 90 events did not meet the definition of a serious marine incident as defined by the Code of Federal Regulations and did not require U.S. Coast Guard intervention," reported USA Today.
As far as the other seven incidents: there are the Carnival Triumph fire; one other engine room fire on the Carnival Splendor in 2010; the fatal capsizing of the Costa Concordia in 2012; the collisions of two ships, that thankfully for Carnival did not involve injuries to passengers or crew; a case of appendicitis that required the airlifting of a crew member; and an instance of a passenger jumping overboard.
Carnival Corp. the parent company of both Carnival Cruise Lines and Costa Cruises as well as eight other brands including Holland America, Princess Cruises and Cunard, carried "more than 28 million passengers over the past three years," according to USA Today.
"Our commitment to safety is reflected in the significant reviews, corrective measures, redundancies and investments undertaken by Carnival" following such events, Hunn writes, reported by USA Today.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
