Statement on MAIB Star Princess Report


We acknowledge the report issued today by the United Kingdom's Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAI regarding the fire aboard Star Princess which occurred on March 23, 2006, and can confirm that we have fully cooperated with the inquiry into the incident.

We remain, as from the first day, devastated that the fire occurred and we wish to again express our deepest sympathy to the family of the passenger who passed away, and to our other passengers and crew who were affected.

Immediately following the fire, and during the past seven months, we have striven to do everything in our power to ensure a similar incident could never happen again.

In our opinion, the report issued today provides a professional and balanced overview of the various aspects of the incident. It points out the many safeguards and procedures Princess had in place to protect passengers, and it confirms the professionalism demonstrated by our crew members, to whom we are very grateful.

However, we also acknowledge that the report shows there were lessons to be learned by us, and that some aspects of our response to the fire, and related training, needed to be addressed. We can confirm that we immediately took corrective action and implemented procedures which addressed the shortcomings detailed in the report. Today, there are no recommendations made by MAIB that Princess has not met.

The measures that are now in place across our fleet will enable us to prevent, quickly detect and extinguish any fire. These include specialized training of our crew, the removal of combustible material from our balconies, and the addition of suppression and detection systems on our balconies.

We want to assure our passengers that their safety, as well as that of our crew, is our first and most important priority, and we will continually evaluate all our procedures on an ongoing basis to ensure their well-being when they are on board our ships.