Horrific Carnival Cruise Gets Washinton's Attention Kathryn A. Wolfe - POLITICO
go to original February 27, 2013

The cruise industry insists that its ships are one of the safest modes of transportation. (Associated Press)

The cruise ship industry’s latest travails have put it back in the hot seat with Democrats in Congress.

This time lawmakers are eyeing the less-than-triumphant voyage of Carnival Cruise Lines’ Triumph, which drifted for days in the Gulf of Mexico this month after a fire in the engine room knocked out power to vital systems. Power remained out while thousands of vacationers coped with overflowing sewage, fed on “ketchup sandwiches” and improvised sleeping quarters until the Coast Guard towed the ship to Alabama.

Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) says he’s read this book too many times.

In a statement released while the Triumph was still adrift, Rockefeller called the incident the “latest example in a long string of serious and troubling incidents involving cruise ships.” He indicated he might push out a fresh round of safeguards before he leaves the Senate in two years.

“It is time that the cruise line industry — which earns more than $25 billion a year — pays for the costs they impose on the government since it’s the Coast Guard that comes to the rescue every single time something goes wrong on a cruise ship,” Rockefeller said.

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