In a statement US law firm Eaves announced their court case against Carnival Corporation over the design of shipwrecked Costa Concordia. With win of this case, law firm is hoping that similar designed cruise ships will be declared as unseaworthy.

"This morning we filed a claim for punitive damages against Carnival and the architects who designed the Concordia, for purposefully ignoring safety to maximise profit," said lawyer John Arthur Eaves.
As a part of a collective of lawyers representing around 150 claimants from the liner, Eaves, said the ship's design was fatally flawed "because it was top-heavy and had a propensity to roll".
"The sad tragedy is the race to build the biggest ship with the shallowest hulls and room for the most passengers. When will it stop? We decided we must file this complaint to stop a race which is destroying safety," he said.
The law firm alleged that Carnival had major influence over the design of Costa Concordia to meet commercial needs at the coast of best marine practices.
It also brought legal proceedings against the architects, named simply as "John Does", for "designing the vessel to maximize passenger carrying capacity, but at the expense of seaworthiness, and passenger safety."
"The ship's shallow draught, the area below the waterline, made it unstable, so that it tilted quickly over and many lifeboats became useless," Eaves said.
"The problem at the moment is that the IMO's rules are just guidelines. There are no punitive consequences for those who flaunt the rules," he said.
The suit calls on the court to award plaintiffs "at least $10 milion and punitive damages" and Eaves said he expects a ruling within a year.
Should the court find the corporation guilty of using a dangerous design for the Concordia, the ruling may mean "a significant if not majority of the existing cruise fleet would be suspended," he said.
"We have filed this complaint with a great sense of urgency. As things stand at the moment, we're simply sending empty coffins out to sea, just waiting for tragedies to happen," he said.