The recent sinking of the Sea Diamond off the Island of Santorini raises many questions for even the most seasoned cruise traveller. An article found in Alanat News provides more insight on the subject.
According to research undertaken by the University of Newfoundland in Canada, since 1980 21 passenger ships have sunk around the world, a figure made up of cruise liners and the vessels of ferry operators. To put it another way, that’s roughly one a year. In the same period, a further 76 passenger ships ran aground and, in many cases, structural or equipment deficiencies have been to blame…
So how can you be sure your liner is safe? According to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), the body responsible for regulating the UK’s liner industry, the first thing to check is the age of your ship. “There is no tipping point in terms of what makes a safe or unsafe ship,” explains Prasad Panicker, of the MCA’s vessel survey branch. “However, if it’s more than 25 years old, you need to check its safety record…
In 1982, an agreement known as the Paris Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by the state organisations of 25 maritime nations, including all European coastal states and those of the North Atlantic basin.
When planning your next cruise make it a point to check out the MOU web site to help make your cruise ship decision a bit easier. Using the search feature on this site, you can see when your ship was last inspected. You can also check the “Detention List” – if your ship is on that list, that’s not a good thing. Fortunately, when we scanned the list, we didn’t see any ships from the major lines.