COSTA SURVIVORS COMMITTEE
The no-profit organization "Associazione Impegno Civico" (Association for Civic Commitment) based in Rome, is the
promoter of the Costa Survivors Committee,
The Costa Concordia Shipwreck Disaster (Legal profiles by Alessandro Canali)
The Costa Concordia shipwreck disaster of Jan. 13 2012, unique in the recent history of Italian shipping, is going to
leave an indelible mark in the world of cruise holidays. The tragic loss of 33 persons, as it is emerging from the
investigations leaded by the Prosecutor office of Grosseto, it may have been avoided. In particular, aside from the
emistake in planning the route, the delay in the evacuation of the ship and the premature abandon of the boat by
the same captain, seem to have been key factors in the development of tragedy and its casualties.
The last information released is showing that meanwhile the Captain Schettino was urging to abandon the boat, the
heroic Peruvian bar tender Erika Fani Soraimolina was putting dozens of people in safe before sinking with the ship
herself.
According to a strict legal point of view, it should be noted that in the days immediately following the disaster, some
consumer groups, highlighting some goodwill toward the responsible company , have started to agree on very small
compensation in favor of the survivors, amounting to about $ 15,000 per person.
According to Italian law, the damage that may' be required in such case, needs to be consequential and related to
the "ruined vacation trauma", and it cannot be claimed a punitive damages attributable to the gravity negligence or
recklessness that caused the disaster.
Instead a much higher compensation may be granted by any American court, which would declare itself competent
for this case. Indeed the Costa Cruise Corp results to be majority owned by an US corporation and this may cause
some American court to become venue for the possible suits
Under this scenario much bigger monetary compensations are expected to be granted by American courts
Indeed an aprox 350,000,000 euro claim has been already submitted to the Court in Miami from 6 of over 4,000
survivors.
LATEST LIST OF CASUALITIES (17)
Maria D'Introno, Italia, 30 anni; Sandor Feher, Ungheria, 38, membro dell'equipaggio; Horst Galle, Germania;
Jeanne Gannard, Francia; Pierre Gregoire, Francia; Gabriele Grube, Germania; Guillermo Gual, Spagna, 68; Egon
Hoer, Germania; Giovanni Masia, Italia, 85; Thomas Alberto Costilla Mendoza, Peru, equipaggio; Jean-Pierre
Micheaud, Francia, 61; Erika Fani Soria Molina, Perù, 25, equipaggio; Inge Schall, Germania Francis Servil,
Francia, 71; Luisa Antonia Virzì, Italia, 50; 1 unidentified yet
LATEST LIST OF MISSING PEOPLE (16)
Dayana e Williams Arlotti, Italia; Elisabeth Bauer, Germania; Michael M. Blemand, Francia; Christina Mathi e Norbert
Josef Ganz, Germania; Giuseppe Girolamo, Italia, equipaggio; Barbara e Gerald Heil, Stati Uniti; Mylene Litzler,
Francia; Margarethe Neth, Germania; Russel Terence Rebello, India, equipaggio; Margrit Schroeter, Germania;
Siglinde Stumpf, Germania; Maria Grazia Trecarico, Italia; Brunhild Werp, Germania.