Costa Cruises has offered to compensate the passengers of the cruise ship accident that happened two weeks ago. Costa came up with the amount of $14,460 per passenger.
This amount is only being offered to the 3,206 passengers who were not injured. Those injured or families of the dead or missing passengers will be offered a different compensation, although that compensation is still to be determined. The crew of the ship will also be offered a different amount of compensation, which has yet to be determined.
Costa will also refund each passenger the amount paid for the cruise. They will also reimburse additional travel expenses that each passenger incurred while trying to get back home, as well as any associated medical cost. Costa had previously offered each passenger a 30% discount on a future cruise as part of their compensation.
The $14,460 is meant to cover the cost of the lost luggage and psychological trauma suffered to those passengers. Of course, taking the deal absolves the passenger of the right to sue. If the passenger accepts the $14,460, the cruise line is off the hook for paying out any further compensation to that passenger.
Now, some passengers, crew, and the families of the dead, have sought out law-firms to represent them as they go to sue Costa, the Captain himself for negligence, and Carnival (the parent company of Costa). A few law firms have already shopped around the idea of an all encompassing class-action lawsuit, stating that they are expecting to get at least $160,000 for each passenger.
The law firms that want to pursue class-action lawsuits are advising passengers not to take the deal, and to be evaluated for psychological trauma. If a passenger has already accepted Costa's offer, that absolves Costa of any further damages. However, the passenger still may sue other responsible parties, such as the captain, or the parent company Carnival.
At least 16 people are confirmed dead, with another 16 still missing. Some 4,200 people, both passengers and crew, were onboard when the Captain manually navigated too close to rocks off the coast of Giglio, which caused a huge gash in the ship's hull. This gash let to the ship's untimely demise, as the ship sank into the sea with the passengers and crew still onboard.
It will be interesting to see how the lawsuits play out and what safety changes will come from this tragic accident.
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