Costa Concordia – (Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images)

Over the years, we’ve noticed that whenever disaster strikes on a cruise ship, like the ill-fated Costa Concordia (pictured right), our social media channels light up with folks proclaiming that they will never again consider a future ocean cruise.

And while this response is understandable, it seems that time passes and the public again somehow feels safe to again step foot on a luxury cruise liner.

So, what can we learn from these horrid events, and what is the real issue?

This week, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB)  is holding a public forum in Washington, D.C. on cruise ship safety and operations.   Entitled Cruise Ships: Examining Safety, Operations, and Oversight, the forum started at 9:00 a.m. yesterday and concludes today.  Here’s a link to the event.

According to the NTSB, “For over three decades, NTSB accident investigations revealed in numerous cases that the cause of an accident was not the failure of the vessel but the lack of good safety practices that led to the loss of life and injuries. Safety and risk management is a key factor in passenger vessel operations. Being aware of your potential risks and knowing how to effectively control them is important for the safety of a vessel’s passengers and crew.

So, at the end of the day, the cruise industry needs to be better prepared for emergencies, have better onboard strategies to communicate safety information to passengers, and, passengers must pay attention and take personal responsibility to understand emergency procedures.

So, let me ask, do you feel safe on a cruise ship?

 
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