The boss of Costa Cruises’ parent company yesterday voiced his sadness at the rising death toll from the wreckage of Costa Concordia.
Carnival Corporation chairman and chief executive Micky Arison described the accident as “tragic and highly unusual”.
He said: “We are deeply saddened by the reports of additional deaths following the grounding of the Costa Concordia.
“On behalf of the entire Carnival Corporation team, I offer our heartfelt condolences to all of those families affected by this tragedy.”
Arison said the immediate priority “continues to be supporting rescue and recovery efforts and looking after our guests and crew members, along with securing the vessel to ensure there is no environmental impact”.
He added: “My senior management team and I have been in continuous contact with the Costa executive team in Italy and we have our senior-level technical experts on the ground to provide additional support for this tragic and highly unusual incident.
“While this is a terribly sad time for everyone involved, we want to recognise the tremendous efforts of Concordia’s crew, who along with the Italian Coast Guard and authorities, helped to evacuate more than 4,000 passengers and crew members from the ship in very difficult conditions.
“And we continue to offer our deep gratitude to the Italian authorities for their support and ongoing efforts.”