Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) will reimburse U.S for Triumph and Splendor

Boston, MA 04/16/2013 (wallstreetpr) – Jay Rockefeller the U.S Senator has being pressurizing the largest cruise-liner operator in the world, Carnival Corporation (NYSE:CCL) (Closed: $33.17, Down by 2.81%) to reimburse the United States for the costs that were related to the breakdowns of its cruise ships, Splendor and Triumph, while they were at sea. In an e-mailed statement, the Miami-based company said that though remuneration has been requested by ay agencies, Carnival has proactively decided to reimburse the federal government.

Two incidents

In a March 14 letter, Rockefeller who is a democrat in West Virginia and head of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation has asked Micky Arison, the Carnival Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, whether his company had intentions of reimbursing the U.S navy and Coast Guard for expenses that had been incurred by them. They had responded to the call for assistance in the engine-room fire that had erupted on the Triumph cruise liner as in another similar incident aboard the Splendor in 2010 November. The coast guard had spent $780,000 for the Triumph incident while an amount of $1.54 million had been spent in the Splendor one.

Safety of passengers paramount

In a later emailed statement he said that he was glad to note that Carnival had owned up to its bare minimum corporate responsibility by offering to reimburse the federal taxpayers for both these incidents. He said that every cruise-line company has to ensure that no untoward event occurs while the ships are at sea. These cruise liners are massive ones and have thousands of passengers aboard. Fire incidents can be hazardous and the lives of all the passengers are at put at risk when such incidents occur.

Rockefeller said that he is still committed to ensuring that the cruise-liner industry, which is a massive one, as a whole pays this fare share of taxes, adheres to the strictest of safety norms and prioritizes the safety of its passengers above its profitability. The Triumph had lost its main power source and had to eventually be towed into post in Mobile, Alabama. This had left 3,100 passengers with very limited food supplies and toilet services for numerous days.