The International Cruise Council of Australasia (ICCA) has urged consumers not to be put off cruising by the grounding of Costa Concordia at the weekend, labelling the tragedy "an extremely rare occurrence".
The liner hit a reef off the coast of Italy on Friday, killing at least three of the 4,234 passengers onboard, with dozens more still unaccounted for.
ICCA general manager Brett Jardine stated that the cruise body's members maintained a strong safety record, carrying a combined total of more than 17 million passengers each year on cruise holidays around the world.
"The ICCA believes consumers should continue to have confidence in the cruise industry, based on its strong track record," he said.
Australian shipping operations were subject to "rigorous maritime safety standards", he assured the Australian public, with 2012 set to be another bumper year for cruising down under.
Meanwhile, Costa Cruises said that it had been working "tirelessly" over the last 48 hours to account for all missing passengers and crew. The cruise line was also working to ensure that the disaster had no environmental impact.
However, it acknowledged that the fault for the disaster could lie with the ship's captain.
"While the investigation is ongoing, preliminary indications are that there may have been significant human error on the part of the ship's Master, Captain Francesco Schettino, which resulted in these grave consequences," a statement from the cruise line said.
It referred to its strong safety record, claiming that the safety of guests and crew was its "number one priority".
"Costa is committed to ensuring that no such incident ever occurs again," it said.
