ms. duffy, you have a c-span audience here. what would you say to them, somebody, you got people now, they don't have a lot of money. they're trying to eek out a little vacation. they're probably planning right now for when the kids get out of school. what would you say to them about the cruise industry in light of all that we have heard? this is your moment. >> as i said, on behalf of the industry, that the concordia incident is a terrible tragedy, and the cruise industry does extend our condolences to everybody that was affected. i hope that you can see the industry has been very proactive and transparent in immediately calling for the operational safety review, and that we have already begun to proceed with policies that have been implemented already. the cruise industry remains one of the very safest recreational activities and travel options. if you look at the safety record of the industry over the past decade prior to this incident, and i think we heard from vice admiral salerno this morning, who also spoke to the strong

ms. duffy you are free to proceed. >> thank you, mr. chairman. members of the sub committee, thank you for inviting me to testify today -- i'm president and ceo of clea, sitting with me is any vice president. michael is a retired captain who served 24 years in the coast guard. bring begin my remarks, let me just state also that the cruise industry and clea work closely with and depend to coast guard and we wish to express our sympathies for their loss they had last evening. i would certainly prefer to be with you today on very different circumstances. the concardia incident has had a pro found impact on our entire industry and i speak for all of our cruise line members in expressing our deepest condo condollences to everyone effected by this accident. we are commitmenting to working to make sure that recommended measures are adopted. my remarks today will not focus on speculation over the causes of the concardia incident. there are on going investigation ises by italian maritime and law enforcement authorities and we hope to have their conclusion

ms. duffy, if we could turn to you, have you made or do you plan to make other policy changes in response to this accident? >> so as i stated that we've announced the operational safety review almost immediately following the concordia incident. we are working through a process with our member lines who are also conducting internal reviews, which is also required whenever there is an incident like this under the safety management code. so this review will have several different phases that it will go through, and there will be we anticipate other best practices and lessons learned that we will be able to implement and communicate, particularly as the italian authorities complete the ongoing investigation. >> does the association have a model policy on the abandoned ship policy? and if so, have you members adopted these policies? >> the association sits at the international maritime organization as the nongovernmental organization. and with all of our members, follows the regulations that are in

ms. duffy if we can turn it to you -- have been made or do you plan to make other policy changes in response to this accident? >> so, as i stated, we announced the operational safety review almost immediately following the concord yet incident -- incident. we're working through a process with our member lines are also conducting internal reviews, which is also required whenever there is an incident like this under the safety management code. so this review will have several different phases that it will go through, and there will be, we anticipate, other best practices and lessons-learned that we will be able to implement and communicate, particularly as the italian authorities completes the ongoing investigation. >> it does the association have a model policy on the abandoned ship policy, and if so, have your members adopted these policies? >> the association sits at the international maritime organization as the non- governmental organization, and with all of our members, follows the regulati