You’ve seen the images. Horrendous photos and video tape of the capsized cruise liner, the Costa Concordia, that ran aground off the coast of Italy. Images of a seemingly modern day Titanic…except it’s 2012.
As Italian officials work to lead the rescue and search of the 3,200 passengers and 1,00 crew who were on board, and to thwart environmental pollution from the disaster, those of us living the disaster through the news media, can only ask, “How is this type of crisis not preventable today?” As the investigation continues into the Italian captain, Francesco Schettino, who is under house arrest for investigation of alleged manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship before all were evacuated, we are saddened for those lives recklessly and unnecessarily lost.
Peppered amongst the loss of life and emotional distress, we’re starting to see the range of impact from such a tragedy, including this look the fiscal damage to Carnival Cruises , which owns the Costa Concordia and the cruise industry. http://www.prdaily.com/Main/Articles/10593.aspx The article also touches on how the industry as a whole is addressing safety issues.
From a PR perspective, the tragedy points to the importance of companies having crisis plans in place and ready to activate at a moment’s notice. “…Successful crisis communication depends on crisis anticipation and thorough planning as well as open and honest policies with stakeholders and the news media,” says crisis communication expert Kathleen Fearn=Banks.
Every company will experience a crisis in their time. Some will tragically take lives. Others will damage reputations, brands or result in loss of market share. No matter the crisis, have a crisis management plan in place that will help your company anticipate, manage and survive anything that comes your way.
Companies are about people. People are human and flawed. What happened off the coast of Tuscany involved human decisions and choice. The result was disaster. Be prepared.
