After a fatal capsizing and two high-profile fires aboard ships, observers began wondering whether cruise lines were operating with minimal regulatory oversight. An engine-room fire that leaves a 2,750-passenger ship adrift at sea for days? In 2013?
That incident aboard the Carnival Triumph—beamed round the world for days courtesy of CNN’s saturation-coverage strategy—followed the 2012 grounding of a European ship in which 32 people died. Three months after the Triumph blaze, meanwhile, a fire damaged Royal Caribbean’s Grandeur of the Seas. The incidents deeply embarrassed the industry, decimated Carnival’s financial results, and prompted politicians and regulators to make noise about tougher oversight. Late last year the industry’s two largest companies, Carnival (CCL) and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCL), hired retired military admirals to oversee their sea operations.
Read more about how cruise lines are developing new concepts to operate more like airlines here.
