Technician work at pumping out 2,380 tons of fuel from the stricken cruise liner Costa Concordia lying aground in front of the Isola del Giglio (Giglio island) on January 26, 2012 after hitting underwater rocks on January 13. Rescue workers searching the site of the Italian cruise wreck for missing people said the same day that the time had come to accept that there was no chance of finding survivors. (Photo credit: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images)
Reporting Tim Kephart
South Florida Crime
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A Florida federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by Italian businesses against Carnival Corporation, based in Miami, over the deadly capsizing of the cruise ship Costa Concordia.
U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenbaum agreed with Carnival Corp that the lawsuit would have to be filed in Italy, not the United States. Nearly 1,000 businesses on the island where the Costa Concordia capsized wanted to sue Carnival in U.S. courts because it is Costa’s parent company.
While that lawsuit has been dismissed, there are still several lawsuits filed on behalf of hundreds of passengers on the Concordia in U.S. courts. The January 13 capsizing killed 32 people and resulted in a criminal investigation in Italy of the ship’s captain.
Carnival wants all passenger cases shifted to Italy as well. Motions have been filed to consolidate the passenger cases into a single case before a U.S. judge.
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