Carnival to audit safety and emergency procedures at all its cruise brands

The Costa Concordia accident “has called into question our company’s safety and emergency response procedures and practices,” says Micky Arison, chairman and CEO of Carnival Corporation & plc.

Carnival Corporation yesterday announced a comprehensive audit and review of all safety and emergency response procedures across all of the company’s cruise lines, which include Costa and nine other brands,

“While I have every confidence in the safety of our vessels and the professionalism of our crews, this review will evaluate all practices and procedures to make sure that this kind of accident doesn’t happen again,” said Mr. Arison.

The review is being led by Captain James Hunn, a retired U.S. Navy Captain and currently the company’s senior vice president of Maritime Policy & Compliance.  Following a 32-year career in the Navy,  Captain Hunn has held senior positions at Carnival Corporation & plc for nearly a decade, focusing on corporate-wide efforts to establish maritime policy standards, while overseeing the company’s health, environmental, safety, and security practices.

Captain Hunn and senior health and safety executives from each of the lines will review all safety and emergency response policies and procedures, officer and crew training and evaluation, bridge management and company-wide response and support efforts.

Captain Hunn will report to the Health, Environment, Safety & Security Committee of the Board, and to Howard Frank, vice chairman and chief operations officer of Carnival Corporation & plc.

In addition, the Health, Environment, Safety & Security Committee is engaging outside industry-leading experts in the fields of emergency response organization, training and implementation to conduct an audit of all of the company’s emergency response and safety procedures and to conduct a thorough review of the Costa Concordia accident.

Mr. Frank said, “This company-wide initiative will identify lessons learned and best practices to further ensure the security and safety of all of our passengers and crew.”

Carnival Corporation & plc also supports a call for a comprehensive evaluation of safety regulations by the IMO requested  by the Cruise Lines International Association.

January 20, 2012