Almost a year after a nightmarish trip which had been the subject of 180 complaints filed last August, a judicial investigation targeting Costa Cruises was opened on February 19 in Paris for "aggravated deception", "injuries and manslaughter" , “Non-assistance to a person in danger” and “endangering the life of others”.
There was nothing magical about the dream cruise.
On March 6, 2020, the "Costa Magica" left the port of Pointe-à-Pitre (Guadeloupe) to sail in the blue waters of the Caribbean.
A circuit that quickly turned into a drama.
Today, Stéphanie Dubois, head of a group that brings together more than 900 victims of this trip, criticizes the company for managing the situation facing Covid-19: “This famous March 6, despite demonstrations that seek to prevent planes disembark their cruise passengers, 400 Italians board.
The next day, we set off for a week of wandering at sea, which will turn crescendo into hell.
"
"The passengers were deceived"
Because of the pandemic, the liner and its hundreds of passengers are refused to dock in most of the planned islands: Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, Barbados, Saint Lucia.
On board, the virus is circulating: 500 passengers are infected, 10 of them will die.
The chaotic adventure will end more than a week after departure.
However, Stéphanie had been assured by the company that they would be "safer on their ship than in the mainland".
Barrier measures non-existent, information silenced: “No health decision has been taken.
Instead of telling us that there was no more hydroalcoholic gel, to wash our hands well… They will voluntarily lie to us while ensuring that the situation on board is completely healthy, ”she regrets.
“They made decisions purely guided by an economic prism.
For the lawyer of the collective, Me Stéphane Courtois, there was indeed a deception.
“Costa already knew there was a problem and that they couldn't dock.
This shows that the passengers were deceived because they could not ensure this cruise but, at all costs, they maintained it.
"
"For us, it's too late but the industry must evolve"
Charge to an investigating judge to investigate now.
For passengers, the priority is to have answers.
"We do not want prison sentences, this is not what we are looking for, it is not the sanction that we want, we want to shed light on what went wrong", assures Stéphanie " We know that they didn't want to make us fall ill but we would like to identify those responsible so that no one ever has to go through it again.
For us, it's too late, but the cruise industry needs to change.
"
This is where the difficulty of the case lies: responsibility.
Who is at fault and for what?
The investigation will have to determine it.
"What the victims want is to understand why this cruise could have taken place," explains Me Courtois.
To these questions, Costa Cruises replied last August that "passengers have been permanently informed of the development of the situation in accordance with the instructions of the authorities" and that "the company has done everything possible to ensure the passenger handling ”.