MEGLIO AFFIDARSI ALLE INDAGINI PENALI DELLA MAGISTRATURA CHE ALLA “SPAGHETTI” CLASS ACTION DI CODACONS CON PRONER & PRONER
Le indagini della Procura in merito all’affondamento della Costa Concordia proseguono, e dopo la analisi della scatola nera si cerca di ricostruire le disposizioni ricevute dal comandante Schettino nelle molte telefonate che sono state effettuate con il direttore della Costa Crociere che gestisce le emergenze .
Il quadro di una responsabilità esclusiva di Schettino nel ritardo inaccettabile nelle operazioni di evacuazione dopo l’urto con lo scoglio non è infatti convincente, anzi. Emerge con sempre maggiore chiarezza che sia nel ponte di comando che alla sala emergenze della Costa, la gravità assoluta della situazione fosse molto chiara: risulterebbe infatti che pochi secondi dopo lo squarcio aperto sul fianco immerso dello scafo, gli strumenti e le videocameere di sorveglianza erano in grado di mostrare che ben due comparti della sala macchine erano allagati al 75%, e le prime due persone (equipaggio) avevano presumibilmente perso immediatamente la vita.
Si ripropone quindi la ipotesi di una scelta cosciente della compagnia Costa nel grave ritardo all’ordine di sbarco dei passeggeri, allo scopo di effettuare un tentativo di riparazione tramite una propria squadra di sommozzatori e saldatori, fatti subito partire su uno scafo veloce da Livorno. In effetti la Costa gettò le ancore al largo del Giglio, con 70 mt. di fondale, ed il provvidenziale spiaggiamento della nave è dovuto solo alla deriva da correnti ed onde, a motori già fermi da ore.
Se le indagini penali, quindi, accerteranno in modo chiaro che il comandante mise al corrente della grave situazione in cui versava la nave, le responsabilità per gli incidenti e disagi avuti nelle operazioni di sbarco, con una pendenza dello scafo che non ha consentito l’uso delle scialuppe sul lato basso, si estenderanno anche alla Costa Crociera, sia da un punto di vista civile che penale, sia per l’omissione di soccorso, omicidio colposo e mancata osservanza delle norme di sicurezza, ed inadeguatezza del personale a bordo.
Tutti i passeggeri hanno infatti lamentato che gli uomini in divisa erano pochissimi e in stato confusionale, mentre l’equipaggio addetto ai servizi di ristorazione etc. non era affatto preparato e non parlava neppure in inglese. Inoltre un gruppo di 7 passeggeri da Bologna ha presentato querela per l’atteggiamento tenuto dal personale della Costa Concordia durante la tragedia dello scorso 13 gennaio. In particolare due di loro sarebbero stati respinti alle scialuppe di salvataggio da alcuni membri del personale che avrebbero privilegiato l’evacuazione di colleghi e colleghe dell’equipaggio.
Anche un altro corposo gruppo di passeggeri italiano ha proposta già querela, onde poter usufruire della attività di indagine della magistratura, oltre che per accertare le responsabilità penali, anche ai fini del futuro risarcimento del danno.
Infatti oltre alla dinamica dell’incidente in se stesso, si chiede ai giudici di verificare se la nave della Costa fosse stata costruita con pieno rispetto degli standard di sicurezza e, quando comunque ciò risulti, di indagare se alla partenza della crociera nel Mediteranneo i dispositivi a bordo fossero in piena efficienza e non ci fossero invece delle anomalie nel funzionamento. Anche il fatto che la esercitazione fosse programmata solo per il giorno successivo potrebbe evidenziare una scelta nell’orario di partenza quanto mai inopportuna.
Spetta inoltre agli inquirenti anche di accertare quali siano state le direttive impartite dall’armatore e quali le disposizioni date ai natanti dall’Autorità marittima “in ordine alla navigazione cosiddetta turistica sottocosta“, al fine di evidenziare se la pratica dell’”inchino” fosse stata pianificata ed approvata in precedenza. Tra Schettino, Costa Crociere e le autorità portuali del Giglio.
In questo quadro pertanto, valutiamo che la miglior posizione per i nostri assistititi, resti a tutt’oggi la seguente:
AI FINI DELLA CORRETTA E COMPLETA RICHIESTA DANNI VI CHIEDIAMO DISPONIBILITA’ AD UN COLLOQUIO IN VIDEOCONFERENZA SKYPE/MSN CON UNO DEI NS. AVVOCATI, O TRAMITE LA NS. PIATTAFORMA INFORMATICA (no software required)
BETTER TO RELY ON THE MAGISTRACY CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION THAN FOLLOW THE “SPAGHETTI” CLASS ACTION WITH CODACONS AND PRONER & PRONER
The Grosseto Prosecutor’s investigation on the sinking of the Costa Concordia continues, and after the analysis of the black box, they are attempting to trace the instructions received by commander Schettino in the several calls carried out with the Director of Costa Cruises managing emergencies.
The framework of an exclusive responsibility of Schettino in the unacceptable delay on evacuation after the collisionwith the scola rock it is not convincing, indeed. It is emerging with ever greater clarity that both in the bridge that at the emergency room of the Coasta Cruise offices, the absolute gravity of the situation was very clear: it is a fact that few seconds after the gash opened on the side of the submerged hull, tools and surveillance cameras were able to show with no doubt that two segmentsof the engine room were flooded at 75%, and the first two people (crew) had presumably lost their lives immediately.
We have therefore once again the hypothesis of a conscious choice by the Costa company in the significant delay order to disembark of passengers, in attempt to carry out an emergency repair through his own team of divers and welders, immediately launched on a fast boat from Livorno. In fact, Costa Concordia dropped anchor off the coast of Giglio, with 70 mt. of the sea bottom, and the providential stranding of the ship is due only to drift by currents and waves, with engines already shut for hours.
If criminal investigations, therefore, will ensure that the commander shared the severe situation in which the ship was at the time, the liability for accidents and inconveniences occurred on landing operations, with a slope of the hull that has not allowed the use of boats on the low side, we will also see in court the Costa Cruise management line, both from civil and criminal responsibility, in the wrongful, negligent homicide and failure to follow safety rules, and inadequate personnel on board.
All passengers have complained that they saw very few men in uniform and in confusion, while the crew assigned to food services, etc.. was not prepared and do not even speak English. A group of seven passengers from Bologna lawsuit filed because of the attitude taken by the staff of the Costa Concordia during the tragedy of last January 13. In particular, two of them were turned away at the lifeboats by some staff members who have favored the evacuation of the crew and female colleagues.Another group of several Italian passengers has already proposed a lawsuit in order to take advantage of the investigative activities of the judiciary, as well as to determine the criminal liability, including for purposes of future damages. In fact, in addition to dynamics of the accident itself, judges are being asked to to verify whether the Costa ship had been built with the full compliance with safety standards and, when this is, however, to investigate whether at departure of the Mediterranean cruise, devices on board were in full efficiency and there were not instead of the anomalies in the functioning or manual disabled ones. Also the fact that the passenger’s training was programmed only for the next day, could highlight a choice in the timetable of departure as never inopportune.
It also enables investigators to ensure what were the directions given by the owner and what the directives given by the maritime vessels “in order at the so-called tourist inshore navigation”, in order to highlight whether the practice of “bow” was been planned and approved previously among Schettino, Costa Cruises and port authorities of Giglio.
– CRIME PROSECUTION: as we predicted the prosecution could provide the most effective tool to overcome the limits of compensation that exist in the travel contract and maritime law. And in fact, almost all law firms are depositing the various lawsuits, yet too quickly in our vision, as the care more about visibility than accuracy. We are rather interested in the best result for our customers! We believe & strongly advise to wait, because the time limit for bringing the lawsuit is 90 days. (3/15/2012), but rumors that emerge daily from surveys may soon be a decisive elements for a more effective choice.
– MEDIATION: we should wait in this profile too, after virtually no passenger has accepted the offer of 11 + 3 thousand euros in compensation for damages agreed from Costa with some associations (which have then shamelessly backtrack!); The offer, as we told, is insufficient and inadequate to do justice in individual cases, especially concerning the goods lost, suffering post traumatic stress & existential damage, as for damages by ruined vacations. For us, however, this will be the BASE of compensation, recognized to the date at all passengers, adding anything that is demonstrable. From March 2012 also, the transition to civil and commercial mediation will be definitely required in Italy, even for the matter of sailing boats accidents, offering additional possibilities for negotiation through this fast and extrajudicial process, in which our office and our lawyers have been already and specifically authorized by the Ministry of Justice.
– MIAMI CIVIL CLASS ACTION: we judge it nothing more than a theatrical media operation to collect more clients: Codacons consumer’s association has “sold out” their compensation practices to Proner & Proner law firm from New York, dealing to share out 40% of the settlements, and they “shot” really large, with the action against Carnival, we believe that the request for 10 million in damages and 450million dollars as a “punitive damages” is destined to make a spectacular hole in the water, because of lack of territorial jurisdiction and the lack of entitlement to institute the parent company of Coast in the case, but we will hold to see what comes out of from this “spaghetti” class action, in order to eventually use at our advantage any future results (positive or negative).In this context, therefore, we consider that the best position for our clients, will be to this day as follows:
OUR OFFICE HAS ALREADY FULL ARRANGED A LAWSUIT COMPLAINT IN FAVOR OF ALL OUR CUSTOMERS, AS WE SHOULD JUST WAIT FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF OTHER ACTIONS IN PROGRESS AND CUSTOMIZING WITH INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS FOR EACH INDIVIDUAL CASE, AS THE DAMAGE FROM EACH ONE SURE NEED TO EVALUATE HIS CASE, AS IT WOULD NEVER BE WITH THE CLASS ACTION!
FOR THE CORRECT AND COMPLETE REQUEST WE ASK YOUR WILLINGNESS TO SCHEDULE FOR AN INTERVIEW IN VIDEO CONFERENCE WITH ONE OF OUR LAWYERS, ON SKYPE / MSN OR THROUGH OUR WEB PLATFORM (no software required)
If i join is the case on a success basis fee,if so what percentage? is there a guarantee there will be no charges, fees of any kind.
What is the anticipated minimum claim for a person with no injuries,just the normal luggage, air fares etc.
What is the estimated time span for a payout.
thank you R Imray
Dear Sir,
we believe that the more cautious condition to ensure the best result is to await the developments of the investigations in progress (one of the judiciary, one of the harbor authorities and a parliament one). In fact, there are several legislative and contractual limits to the amount of damages recoverable in case of accidents at sea, but through the demonstration of a contributory negligence responsibility of Costa Cruises, however, these limits would certainly not apply. The deadline for the closure of investigations is 6 months from the facts.
It is way too early to say what will be the amount that each passenger will get as a basis for compensation: the proposal of Costa Cruises is 14,000.00 euros for each person on board is unacceptable, the demand for 10 million in the first class action filed is just ridiculous; we would say cautiously that the right is in the middle. Consider that most of the lost goods will be compensated on an acceptable presumption of credibility, given that not all purchases are documented, and some goods often have a high sentimental value for people. Consider also that all passengers have been damaged on a personal injury side, even if not apparent, resulting from post-traumatic stress and existential damage, such as the cruises lovers, honeymoon couples, people that planned this as the vacation of a lifetime etc.
Please have confidence in the correctness of our modus operandi, considering that:
– Some media events such as the Miami Class action is actually a way to monopolize practices of passengers, in a sell-off by some large American law firms as Proner & Proner, consumer’s associations, and by them to Italian law firms, dividing between them the 40% of the sums obtained; the choice to deposit the action in Miami is linked in fact to the maximum percentage revenue possible in favor of lawyers in the United States; some of our customers have realized this commodification and have turned to us for a more serious approach.
– If You want to file a lawsuit, you will need to operate directly trough an italian lawyer, so if you have a law firm in Your country this will duplicate costs unnecessarily.
– we operate on a regulated and fixed percentage of the results obtained, the faster and greater the compensation for the benefit of our customers, and the higher our fees, please consider that our office takes care of all administrative charges, in both civil and criminal cases, for investigations, inquiries at the prosecutors, for questions to the authorities, for the preliminaries with insurance etc.., no down payment charged to customers; You should just have to take care of medical and psychological reports as needed.
We are confident of our work because this is what we do every day.
We will need a copy of your boarding tickets, and also to know if you have already sent the letter requesting damages, at what time you landed from the ship, and which bridge from.