Carnival spending $300 million to boost cruise ship reliability

{mosads}Carnival CEO Gary Cahill said the upgrades were not an admission that his company needs more oversight. Several lawmakers called for increased regulation of the cruise ship industry after passengers who were stranded on board the Triumph complained about squalid conditions after the ship lost power.

“All of Carnival Cruise Lines’ ships operate safely today,” Cahill said in a statement. “Each vessel already has effective systems in place to prevent, detect and respond to emergency situations, and we meet or exceed all regulatory requirements.”

Cahill said Carnival was using the money it announced on Wednesday to prevent a repeat of the Triumph’s disabling. 

“By applying lessons learned through our fleet-wide operational review after the Carnival Triumph fire and by taking advantage of new technologies, we have identified areas for enhancement across our operations,” he said. “These initiatives reflect our commitment to safe and reliable operations and an enjoyable cruising experience for the nearly 4.5 million guests who sail with Carnival Cruise Lines each year.” 

Carnival said the upgrades will increase the emergency power capabilities of ships that lose their primary power source. The company also said it will add more onboard hotel services that would be available to passengers in the event of future incidents.