[By NBC-1TV H. J Yook]Carnival Corp., the parent of Costa Cruises, whose captain sailed its Costa Concordia into a reef – capsizing the ship, killing at least 15 passengers and injuring others – should establish a billion dollar victim's fund to ensure its passengers are duly compensated for their pain, suffering and losses. “The move is especially important given the difficult and complicated jurisdictional maze Americans and foreign nationals alike face in making claims for this tragedy. At present, the Costa Concordia victims are relegated, thanks to the small print in their ticket, to Italian courts and to limited damages,” said David W. Singer, a Hollywood, Fla., attorney focusing on maritime and cruise injury cases.

“It‘s beyond burdensome and unfair for a billion dollar cruise line that markets to the world to force claimants to litigate exclusively in Italian courts. The ’choice of forum‘ selected by these multinational corporations stack the odds against passengers,” Singer said. “I take Carnival Chairman Micky Arison at his word when he says, ’I give my personal assurance that we will take care of each and every one of our guests, crew and their families affected by this tragic event.' This is why it would be prudent and just for Carnival Corp. to establish a fund to compensate the passengers harmed on its ship, monitored by an independent panel of preeminent experts.”

The program Singer is suggesting would be modeled on the $20 billion fund established by British Petroleum following the 2011 Gulf oil spill. The money has been used to compensate families and businesses harmed or devastated by the spill. Similarly, Costa is facing lawsuits and hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation, by some estimates. “I maintain the fund models a legitimate response to this tragic situation,” Singer said.

“This is a significant issue faced by millions of cruise ship passengers every year, but never really considered until a tragedy occurs,” Singer explained. “You can only hide behind a ‘choice of forum’ clause in a passenger document's fine print for so long before the moral and true legal obligation becomes clear. People will need compensation. Carnival Corp. must do the right thing.”

Serving the legal community for more than 32 years, attorney David W. Singer is the managing partner of David W. Singer & Associates, P.A., one of South Florida's largest personal injury and wrongful death law firms.