It may not have been like the Titanic or the Poseidon but those on the Carnival Cruise Triumph may just as well have been from all indications of how a so called luxury cruise could turn into a nightmare in just a matter of minutes. With all the modern convinces and technology afforded today there is really no reason why this cruise line or any other cruise line for that matter doesn't equip it's fleet with standby generators and propulsion systems using alternative energy. With the new vessels being introduced now that manage to accommodate over 6000 passengers and crew it would make sense that these mega ships are equipped to handle every contingency like fire or any equipment failure. In the event of such an emergency would be rectified immediately using backup systems that are already in place.
To begin with when that fire broke out onboard the Triumph that caused the sanitation systems to fail, when there are over 4000 people on board poses a very considerable health risk for every one onboard. Now the situation has become life threatening when all those are stranded without proper sanitation using bags as makeshift toilets is just unthinkable. The biggest concern is the disposal of all this raw sewage. This in itself is placing crew members to be exposed to very real health risks. The passengers too are exposed to health hazards as well. Today's ships are supposed to be equipped to handle raw sewage and when they get into port they are supposed be pumped out into waiting waste water treatment facilities. Now the question arises how is Carnival going to dispose of all "this" raw sewage. Either way health hazards are bound to occur.
The cruise industry especially the lower end cruise lines like Carnival continue to bundle passengers in squeezing every dollar it can to maintain their profit margins without the slightest regard to their passengers and crew members who work round the clock most times. We see it every day right here in Tampa home to the Carnival Cruise industry, where these ships turn around time is way too short to do any real maintenance or cleaning before the next group of passengers come onboard. What happens now are ships that are not fully prepared to handle the safety and have the convinces that one expects when they put down their hard earned dollars for a cruise.
To say that Carnival will offer a mere pittance to the passengers that endured the unthinkable when that disaster was preventable just shows how they insensitive the management of Carnival Cruise Line have become. Whatever profits has to be rolled back into maintaining and outfitting their cruise vessels with the technology having the capabilities to immediately correct any contingency while carrying paid passengers. This should be a real wake up call for other cruise lines as well. If they already don't have systems in place to back up power and propulsion systems now is as good a time to start providing their ships with them so that another tragedy like what happened onboard the Triumph will never happen again.
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