Carnival Corporation & PLC (NYSE: CCL, LSE: CCL, and NYSE: CUK), is an American-British company, and the world's largest cruise ship operator. Comprising Carnival plc, which has its origins in the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company of the early 19th Century, the company has a claim to be the world's oldest established cruise ship operator, with P&O having introduced the world's first passenger ships in 1844.
Carnival Corporation & PLC is a dual listed company, with headquarters at Carnival Place in the Miami suburb of Doral, Florida, USA, and at Carnival House in Southampton, England, UK. The constituent corporation and plc are separate listed companies and have different shareholder bodies, but they jointly own all the operating companies in the group. Carnival Corporation owns the majority stake, however as a condition of the merger between Carnival Corporation and P&O Princess Cruises PLC in 2002, it was agreed that P&O Princess would be relisted as Carnival plc in London, remaining as a separate company with a predominantly British shareholder body and largely retaining the P&O Princess executive team.[5][6] Carnival Corporation and Carnival plc stocks are currently traded on the London Stock Exchange (LSE: CCL) and the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: CUK and NYSE: CCL)
Executive control of each brand is by geographical location, with Carnival Corporation controlling operations in North America, Carnival UK controlling operations in the United Kingdom and Costa Cruises Group controlling operations in the rest of Europe. P&O Cruises Australia is operated by Carnival UK as a sister company of P&O Cruises.
AIDA Cruises, Germany
Carnival Cruise Lines, United States
Costa Cruises, Italy
Cunard Line, United Kingdom
Holland America Line, United States
Ibero Cruises, Spain
P&O Cruises, United Kingdom
P&O Cruises Australia, Australia
Princess Cruises, United States
Seabourn Cruise Line, United States
Carnival Cruise Lines – Carnival Breeze, Carnival Conquest, Carnival Destiny, Carnival Dream, Carnival Ecstasy, Carnival Elation, Carnival Fantasy, Carnival Fascination, Carnival Freedom, Carnival Glory, Carnival Imagination, Carnival Inspiration, Carnival Legend, Carnival Liberty, Carnival Magic, Carnival Miracle, Carnival Paradise, Carnival Pride, Carnival Sensation, Carnival Spirit, Carnival Splendor, Carnival Triumph, Carnival Valor, Carnival Victory
Holland America Line – Amsterdam, Eurodam, Maasdam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Noordam, Oosterdam, Prinsendam, Rotterdam, Ryndam, Statendam, Veendam, Volendam, Westerdam, Zaandam, Zuiderdam
Princess Cruises – Caribbean Princess, Coral Princess, Crown Princess, Dawn Princess, Diamond Princess, Emerald Princess, Golden Princess, Grand Princess, Island Princess, Ocean Princess, Pacific Princess, Royal Princess, Ruby Princess, Sapphire Princess, Sea Princess, Star Princess, Sun Princess
Seabourn Cruise Line – Seabourn Legend, Seabourn Pride, Seabourn Spirit, Seabourn Odyssey, Seabourn Sojourn, Seabourn Quest
Prior to its acquisition by Carnival Corporation, Costa Cruises was one of the largest cruise ship operators in Europe. As part of the Carnival Corporation and plc, it is now one of the primary operating companies in the group, and is responsible for the group's operations in Europe. It has executive control of Costa Cruises in Italy, AIDA Cruises in Germany and Ibero Cruises in Spain. Control of AIDA Cruises was transferred to Costa following the merger of Carnival and P&O Princess Cruises, the company having previously been part of the P&O Princess portfolio. Ibero Cruises is a new cruise brand created by Carnival Corporation in 2007.
Costa Cruises – Costa Allegra, Costa Atlantica, Costa Classica, Costa Concordia, Costa Deliziosa, Costa Fascinosa, Costa Favolosa, Costa Fortuna, Costa Luminosa, Costa Magica, Costa Marina, Costa Mediterranea, Costa Pacifica, Costa Romantica, Costa Serena, Costa Victoria, Costa Voyager
AIDA Cruises – AIDAaura, AIDAbella, AIDAblu, AIDAcara, AIDAdiva, AIDAluna, AIDAsol, AIDAvita
Ibero Cruises – Grand Mistral, Grand Celebration, Grand Holiday
P&O Cruises – Adonia, Arcadia, Aurora, Azura, Oceana, Oriana, Ventura
P&O Cruises Australia – Pacific Dawn, Pacific Jewel, Pacific Sun, Pacific Pearl
Cunard Line – Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth
Ocean Village – Brand ceased trading October 2010
In 2007, Carnival sold Windstar to Ambassadors International Cruise Group and Swan Hellenic to Lord Sterling in 2007.
In 2009, Carnival UK announced that the Ocean Village brand will cease trading in 2010, with its two ships transferring to P&O Cruises Australia.
In 17 February 2010, Carnival and Fincantieri reached an agreement for the construction of a pair of cruise ships for its Princess Cruises brand. The contract was then finalized on 4 May 2010. These ships are expected to have a tonnage of 141,000-GT with a capacity for 3,600 passengers. These ships will be the largest ever built for Princess Cruises and the second largest build for Carnival; RMS Queen Mary 2 being the largest. These ships are expected to enter service in Spring 2013 and 2014 respectively.
October 2010, Ocean Village cruise line discontinued.
Carnival Corporation & plc have various notable ships as follows:
Queen Mary 2, the latest in a line of 'Cunard Queens', the prestigious transatlantic ocean liners (Cunard Line)
Carnival Destiny, the first cruise ship to be built over 100,000-GT (Carnival Cruise Lines)
Star Princess, received media attention when a large fire ripped through berths in March 2006 (Princess Cruises)
Caribbean Princess, the first cruise ship to have an outdoor movie theater (Princess Cruises)
Ventura, the largest cruise ship ever built for the British market (P&O Cruises)
Costa Concordia, received media attention when the ship ran aground off the coast of Isola del Giglio, Italy and capsized in January 2012 (Costa Cruises
Tags: Ship aground off Italy, Italy cruise ship, Giglio Italy, Eight deaths reported, Italy cruise ship Costa, Three dead, 40 missing, Costa Concordia, Costa Concordia disaster, Divers Search Costa Concordia, Third survivor heard, Cruise ship off Italy, Rescuers try to reach, Costa Concordia Cruise ship, Builders of the Costa Concordia, Captain left ship early, Francesco Schettino Costa Concordia Captain
The captain of a cruise liner that ran aground with 4,000 passengers on board has been detained along with his first mate on allegations of manslaughter and abandoning his ship.
Francesco Schettino was at least four miles off course when the Costa Concordia struck rocks off the island of Giglio, Tuscany, despite Italy's well-mapped sea lanes.
One passenger has accused the captain of drinking in one of the ship's bars on the night the vessel ran aground, before taking control after the crash.
Monique Maurek, 41, from the Netherlands, told The Sunday Telegraph: 'What scandalised me most was when I saw the captain spending much of the evening before we hit the rocks drinking in the bar with a beautiful woman on his arm.
'Most people didn't even have any idea of what the evacuation warning sound would be.
'It was only because some of us had already been on a cruise that we recognised that seven blasts of the horn was a signal to abandon ship.'
Phil Metcalf, whose daughter Rose was one of the last people off the ship, said she had revealed the captain allegedly abandoned ship in the early stages of the evacuation, leaving his staff onboard.
But witnesses claim that Schettino was allegedly inept in steering the boat through the rocky sandbar. Then, after the error occurred, Schettino is accused of failing to tell passengers of the deadly crash. At 8 pm during dinner time, passengers were informed merely that an electrical problem had erupted. But after a large thump, passengers looked outside and observed that the boat had a large void and was collecting water.
The captain is accused of failing to inform not just passengers but also local authorities about the trouble. “They didn’t send a mayday. The ship got in contact with us once the evacuation procedures were already ongoing” said Officer Emilio Del Santo of the Coastal Authorities of Livorno.
The trouble didn’t end there. Francesco Schettino is accused of abandoning ship and failing to take hours to evacuate passengers. Life boats were not ready. The death toll is being blamed, not just on the accident, but also the failure to take hours to evacuate the passengers properly.
“At the time of collision with a rock, the commander of the Costa Concordia was on the bridge,” said the director general of Costa Crociere President Gianni Onorato in a news briefing today. “It is incorrect to say that the ship was off course” said another official.
“Fear and panic are comprehensible in a ship long over 300 meters with over 4,000 passengers,” Del Santo said. “We can confirm that the ship has a breach on the hull of about 90 meters, and that the right side of it is completely under water.
Tags: Ship aground off Italy, Italy cruise ship, Giglio Italy, Eight deaths reported, Italy cruise ship Costa, Three dead, 40 missing, Costa Concordia, Costa Concordia disaster, Divers Search Costa Concordia, Third survivor heard, Cruise ship off Italy, Rescuers try to reach, Costa Concordia Cruise ship, Builders of the Costa Concordia, Captain left ship early, Owner of concordia
A crew member of a luxury liner that hit a reef off the Italian coast and toppled over was hoisted to safety by helicopter this morning, and a honeymooning couple was rescued from their cabin overnight, as officials scrambled to locate other missing people and threatened to charge the ship's captain with manslaughter.
Three people died when the Costa Concordia struck a reef and sank onto its side off of the small island of Giglio, Italy, early Saturday. The U.S. embassy in Rome said none of the 126 Americans on board the ship are among those who were seriously injured.
The latest rescue this morning was of an Italian who worked for the ship's cabin service and was hoisted off the ship with a broken leg approximately 36 hours after the accident, according to The Associated Press. It followed the rescue of South Korean newlyweds late Saturday after screams were heard coming from their cabin.
Authorities reduced to 17 from 40 the number of people still unaccounted for, with an Italian who worked in cabin service pulled from the wreckage of the Costa Concordia off the tiny island of Giglio. A South Korean couple on their honeymoon were rescued late Saturday in the unsubmerged part of the liner when firefighters heard their screams.
There are now six crew members and 11 passengers who haven't been located, Tuscany's regional president Enrico Rossi said. Two French tourists and a crew member from Peru died.
As confusion swirled over the cause of the dramatic accident, questions about ship safety, crew preparedness and evacuation procedures are roiling the waters of a booming industry that drew an estimated 16 million passengers last year. Italy's Costa, a mass-market line that caters to an international clientele, is owned by Miami-based Carnival Corporation, the world's largest cruise company.
The U.S. State Department says 125 Americans were on board, but there were no reports of injuries after the ship, in calm seas and good weather, struck an object and took on water from a 160-foot-long gash, causing the vessel to list and keel over.
We were crawling up a hallway, in the dark, with only the light from the life vest strobe flashing," her mother, Georgia Ananias, 61, said. "We could hear plates and dishes crashing, people slamming against walls."
She choked up as she recounted the moment when an Argentine couple handed her their 3-year-old daughter, unable to keep their balance as the ship lurched to the side and the family found themselves standing on a wall. "He said 'take my baby,'" Mrs. Ananias said, covering her mouth with her hand as she teared up. "I grabbed the baby. But then I was being pushed down. I didn't want the baby to fall down the stairs. I gave the baby back. I couldn't hold her.
"I thought that was the end and I thought they should be with their baby," she said.
"I wonder where they are," daughter Valerie whispered.
The family said they were some of the last off the ship, forced to shimmy along a rope down the exposed side of the ship to a waiting rescue vessel below.
Some 30 people were reported injured, most of them suffering only bruises, but at least two people were reported in grave condition. Some passengers, apparently in panic, had jumped off the boat into the sea, witnesses said.
The evacuees were taking refuge in schools, hotels, and a church on Giglio.
Officials say the captain appears to have taken the vessel close to shore in a dangerous manner, Reuters said.
"There was a dangerous close approach which very probably caused the accident, although it will be for the investigation to establish that fully," coast guard spokesman Luciano Nicastro told SkyTG24. He said the captain then attempted a safety maneuver, setting anchor and bringing the ship closer to the shore to facilitate a rescue.
A top official from an international maritime union representing 23,000 workers says the disaster signals a need for a review of all cruise ships because their enormous size raises concerns about their safety.
"In this, the centenary of the loss of the Titanic, major nostalgia industry is already in full flow, but it is essential that everyone recognizes that the Titanic offers lessons for today and that there are contemporary resonances that should not be lost," says Mark Dickinson, general secretary of Nautilus International based in Britain.
In particular, he cited concerns about the size of modern cruise ships and the need for better evacuation plans.
"Many ships are now effectively small towns at sea, and the sheer number of people on board raises serious questions about evacuation," Dickinson said. "The growth in the size of such ships has also raised questions about their water-tight integrity and fire-fighting protection."
Costa defended the actions of the crew and says it is cooperating with the investigation.
The Concordia had a previous accident in Italian waters. In 2008, when strong winds buffeted Palermo, the cruise ship banged against the Sicilian port's dock, and suffered damage but no one was injured, ANSA said. In February 2010, another Costa ship, the Europa, hit a pier in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, killing three crew members.
Tags: Ship aground off Italy, Italy cruise ship, Giglio Italy, Eight deaths reported, Italy cruise ship Costa, Three dead, 40 missing, Costa Concordia, Costa Concordia disaster, Divers Search Costa Concordia, Third survivor heard, Cruise ship off Italy, Rescuers try to reach, Costa Concordia Cruise ship, Builders of the Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino Costa Concordia Captain, Owner of concordia
Fincantieri - Cantieri Navali Italiani S.p.A., is a shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. It was formed in 1959 and is the largest shipbuilder in the Mediterranean, and one of the largest in Europe. The company has built both commercial and military vessels during its history.
It designs and builds merchant vessels, passenger ships, offshore, and naval vessels, and is also active in the conversion and ship repair sectors. The company also owned Grandi Motori Trieste, which constructed marine diesel engines, but this was sold to Wärtsilä in 1999.
Originally founded in 1959 as Società Finanziaria Cantieri Navali – Fincantieri S.p.A. as a State financial holding company, part of IRI, the company became a separate entity in 1984.
Today Fincantieri is one of Europe's largest shipbuilding groups and the largest in the Mediterranean.
In Italy, Fincantieri employs a staff of nearly 9,400 (rising to approximately 20,000 if the supply chain is included) working at eight shipyards, two design centres, one research centre and two production sites for mechanical components.
The shipyards of Monfalcone (Gorizia), Marghera (Venice), Sestri Ponente (Genoa), Ancona, Castellammare di Stabia (Naples) and Palermo report to the Merchant Ships Business Unit while the shipyards of Riva Trigoso (Genoa) and Muggiano (La Spezia) report to the Naval Vessel Business Unit.
Fincantieri successfully completed the acquisition of Manitowoc Marine Group from its parent company The Manitowoc Company, Inc. on Jan 1, 2009, which consisted of two shipyards in Wisconsin, including Marinette Marine, which built the first Freedom class littoral combat ship. Fincantieri also purchased from Manitowoc Marine Group a topside repair yard in Ohio and one production plant in Wisconsin making it one of the leading mid-sized shipbuilders in the United States for commercial and government customers, including the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard.
Tags: Ship aground off Italy, Italy cruise ship, Giglio Italy, Eight deaths reported, Italy cruise ship Costa, Three dead, 40 missing, Costa Concordia, Costa Concordia disaster, Divers Search Costa Concordia, Third survivor heard, Cruise ship off Italy, Rescuers try to reach, Costa Concordia Cruise ship, Captain left ship early, Francesco Schettino Costa Concordia Captain, Owner of concordia
Costa Concordia is a Concordia-class cruise ship owned and operated by Costa Cruises. She was built at Fincantieri's Sestri Ponente yards in Italy. The name Concordia was intended to express the wish for "continuing harmony, unity, and peace between European nations".
She is the first ship in the Concordia class, with sisters Costa Serena, Costa Pacifica, Costa Favolosa, Costa Fascinosa and Carnival Splendor built for Carnival Cruise Lines. Costa Concordia entered service in July 2006 and is the largest ship to be built in Italy, at 114,500 tons.
The ship garnered international attention in January 2012 when she ran aground off Isola del Giglio, Italy, resulting in the evacuation of over 4,000 people on board. At least 3 passengers died, 42 others were injured, and 41 are still unaccounted for.
The then-unnamed ship was ordered on 19 January 2004 in Fincantieri and built in the Sestri Ponente yard in Genoa, as yard number 6122. She was launched at Sestri Ponente on 2 September 2005,and at the time of her construction was the largest Italian cruise ship ever built. She was delivered to Costa on 30 June 2006.
Costa Concordia is 290.20 metres (952 ft 1 in) long, with a beam of 35.50 metres (116 ft 6 in) and a draught of 8.20 metres (26 ft 11 in). She is propelled by six Wärtsilä diesel engines of 75,600 kilowatts (101,400 hp), which can propel her at 19.6 knots (36.3 km/h).
Costa Concordia has 1,500 staterooms; 505 have private balconies and 55 have direct access to Samsara Spa; 58 suites have private balconies and 12 have direct access to the spa. Costa Concordia has one of the world's largest wellness centers at sea, the Samsara Spa, a two-level, 6,000 m (20,000 ft) wellness area, with gym, a thalassotherapy pool, sauna, Turkish bath and a solarium. The ship has four swimming pools, two with retractable covers, five spas, and a poolside screen on the pool deck.
There are five onboard restaurants, with Club Concordia and Samsara taking reservations-only dining. There are thirteen bars, including a cigar and cognac bar and a coffee and chocolate bar.
Entertainment options include a three-level theater, casino, and a discotheque. There is a children's area equipped with PlayStation products. The ship has a Grand Prix motor racing simulator and an Internet café.
Tags: Ship aground off Italy, Italy cruise ship, Giglio Italy, Eight deaths reported, Italy cruise ship Costa, Three dead, 40 missing, Costa Concordia disaster, Divers Search Costa Concordia, Third survivor heard, Cruise ship off Italy, Rescuers try to reach, Costa Concordia Cruise ship, Builders of the Costa Concordia, Captain left ship early, Francesco Schettino Costa Concordia Captain, Owner of concordia
Isola del Giglio, is an island and Italian comune situated in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Tuscany, part of the Province of Grosseto. The island is one of seven that form the Tuscan Archipelago. Though the name Giglio ('lily") would appear consonant with the insignia of Medici Florence, it derives from Aegilium or "Goat Island", the Latin transliteration of the Greek word for "goat" (Aegilion).
The island is separated by a 16 km stretch of sea from the promontory of Monte Argentario. Mainly mountainous, it consists almost entirely of granites culminating in the Poggio della Pagana (496 m). 90% of its surface is covered by Mediterranean vegetation alternated with large pine forests and numerous vineyards which allow the production of the local "Ansonaco" wine. The coast is 27 km long, made up of rocks, smooth cliffs and several bays: Arenella, Cannelle, Caldane and Campese, the biggest one with its small, same-named village.
The modern island was probably formed 4.5 to 5 million years ago, and has been inhabited since the Iron Age. Later it was probably an Etruscan military stronghold. Under the Roman domination Aegilium Insula or Igillia Insula was an important base in the Tyrrhenian Sea, cited briefly by Julius Caesar in his De Bello Gallico, by Pliny by Pomponius Mela and by the poet Rutilius Claudius Namatianus, who celebrated Igilium's successful repulse of the Getae and safe harbor for Romans, in a time when Igilium's slopes were still wooded:
Eminus Igilii silvosa cacumina miror
Quam fraudare nefas laudis honore suae.
In 805 it was donated by Charlemagne to the abbey of the Tre Fontane in Rome, and was later successively a possession of the Aldobrandeschi, Pannocchieschi, Caetani, and Orsini families, and of the municipality of Perugia. In 1241 the Sicilian fleet of Emperor Frederick II destroyed a Genoese fleet. From 1264 Isola del Giglio was a Pisae dominion, from which it passed to the Medici family. It suffered several Saracen attacks, which ended only in 1799.
Alongside its history the island was always renowned for its mineral ore: many columns and buildings in Rome were built with the Gigliese granite.
The island houses the remains of a Roman villa of Domitius Ahenobarbus (1st-2nd century), in the area of Giglio Porto (Giglio port). No traces of the once existing Diana Temple can be seen now. The church of San Pietro Apostolo in Giglio Castello (Giglio castle) has an ivory crucifix attributed to the sculptor Giambologna.
The island is also the site of an Etruscan shipwreck dating back to the early Iron age, c. 600 BC. The cargo of the ship included copper and lead ingots, iron spits, amphorae and a Corinthian helmet. Even a wooden writing tablet with stylus was preserved. The finds are almost completely lost now.
Isola del Giglio is connected to Tuscany by ferries Toremar and Maregiglio ("sea lily"), departing from Porto Santo Stefano.
On 13 January 2012, the cruise ship Costa Concordia ran hard aground on the coast of Giglio.
Tags: Ship aground off Italy, Italy cruise ship, Eight deaths reported, Italy cruise ship Costa, Three dead, 40 missing, Costa Concordia, Costa Concordia disaster, Divers Search Costa Concordia, Third survivor heard, Cruise ship off Italy, Rescuers try to reach, Costa Concordia Cruise ship, Builders of the Costa Concordia, Captain left ship early, Francesco Schettino Costa Concordia Captain, Owner of concordia
