January 13, 2012

With the sinking of the Costa Concordia, isn’t it time to ask ourselves why tens of thousands of American cruise passengers are sailing on foreign-built, foreign-manned cruise ships instead of American-built, American-flagged vessels with highly trained American officers and crew?

World City America sent the following message to DOT Secretary, Hon. Raymond LaHood:

“The tragic event in Italy with the sinking of the Costa Concordia reminds us of why the United States should be building and operating cruise ships for American passengers, manned by highly trained American officers and crew. We look forward to meeting with you to demonstrate what World City has done, working with the United States Coast Guard and American Bureau of Shipping, to design a ship that would be its own lifeboat and return safely to port in any case. Our Chief Architect, Tage Wandborg, who pioneered most of the safety and other design innovations in this industry, over several decades, will be here in the States this month and we would be pleased to have him present America World City by means of our “talking ship model” that comes apart to explain every safety feature and innovation…”

Thanks to Hon. Helen Delich Bentley, longtime supporter of the Build America initiative, there will be a high level meeting at DOT in the coming days to see if we can break through the bureaucratic logjam that has been holding up this private-sector developed, contract ready, job-creating national project.