Carnival Cruise (CCL) and its CEO Micky Arison are getting blasted online for responding as poorly to the Concordia’s tragic disaster as Captain Schettino is for abandoning ship.
Here’s an online post written by the daughter of a survivor: ‘My mother and her boyfriend were on this ship. I am so thankful they were able to get out alive. So hard to get information now from the states. Waiting until the morning breaks in Italy to begin calling again. I will never go on a large ship like this. Thanks for giving out information that Carnival owns these ships. Arison sounds like a total coward, hiding out in Miami…’
Perhaps Arison, who recently hired public relations firm Burson-Marsteller to help spin media reports, should listen to the disgruntled online reports and go to the scene of the accident. Arison has yet to set foot in Italy. Rather he is “overseeing” the response from Carnival’s corporate office in Miami approximately 5,000 miles away from the island of Giglio where the wreckage still sits.
It is a perfect public relations ploy.
While the world is fixated on placing the blame on Capt Schettino, Carnival sits back and watches. They’re there, but they’re not. And if no one sees them, maybe no one will blame them. Right?
On Thursday, January 19th six full days after the tragedy Carnival finally “suspended” Schettino.
If the captain is to be fully blamed, then he should have been given the boot when he was arrested. But, that didn't happen. For all we know Schettino’s attorney may very well be getting paid by Carnival.
After all in an unregulated industry where profit is the only game and scapegoats can be easily bought the scenario is entirely plausible. Carnival may have actually convinced Schettino to take the fall for the greater good of the company. So is the man a coward for abandoning ship or is he a corporate hero?
Remember Schettino has been with Carnival Corp (CCL) for 11 years. In 2002 he was hired by Costa as a safety officer. He then served as a staff captain and was appointed captain in 2006. That’s a long time to develop feelings of loyalty for his employer.
Earlier today CNN reported that Schettino called Carnival in Miami right after the ship’s hull was torn open. Which indicates that Schettino, an experience seaman, was already alarmed. We all know he didn’t follow protocol, but the real question is why?
Schettino wasn’t a novice skipper. Some 30 years ago he attended the respected Nino Bixio Nautical Institute in Piano di Sorrento, in Naples.
Did the big boys at the top tell him to do certain things during that phone call?
So far the public has responded with rage at Schettino’s actions. But what if those actions were really instructions?
When Schettino had the conversation with his bosses, he probably already knew water was gushing in and was aware that if he stayed on course the ship would sink like the Titanic did some 100 years ago.
Instead he turns the ship and heads closer to shore. By doing so he probably did save the lives of thousands of people.
Look, I am not trying to make a case for Schettino. What I am trying to do is look behind why someone with his experience would fail to place a Mayday call of distress?
The answer may be more complex than one would initially surmise.
2012 Copyright Kirby Sommers
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Order your copy of 'Carnival Cruise: The Definitive History of the Company and the men behind the doomed Costa Concordia,' by Kirby Sommers
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