Agents have said they don’t feel the Thomson Cruises accident that killed five crewmembers will dent consumer confidence in cruising.
Simone Clark, managing director of Iglu Cruise which has five passengers on board the Thomson Majesty, said Thomson Cruises had been “prompt” in informing them of the situation, and that the situation on board the ship was “calm”.
“Tui were very prompt on the communication,” said Clark. “Unfortunately this is an awful accident.”
Stephen Bath, joint managing director of Bath Travel, said he didn’t think the accident would affect cruise sales, saying: “People’s memories are short. With the lifeboat, it will be completely forgotten.”
Five crew members died during a lifeboat safety drill on Sunday, injuring three other crew members. The incident occurred at Santa Cruz de la Palma in the Canary Islands. No passengers were affected.
The incident on Thomson Majesty occurred when the crew were practising the emergency deployment of lifeboats in order to ensure a safe evacuation were the order given to abandon ship.
A Thomson Cruises spokesman said investigations are ongoing and were continuing into yesterday evening, and added that it has advised passengers that it was unlikely that the ship would be sailing from La Palma on Monday night.
The cruise line said: “We continue to update our customers on a regular basis and will inform them of any developments as soon as we are able to do so.”