According to Travel Weekly, a US-based personal-injury law firm has joined forces with Codacons, the Italian consumer-protection organization, in filing a class action against Costa Cruises.

The firm, Proner and Proner, have already initiated legal action against Francesco Schettino, the Costa Concordia's captain, in the Italian civil courts.

They are seeking at least $160,000 for each passenger who was on board during the incident.

They added that those who were “severely injured in the shipwreck, as well as the families of those who lost loved ones,” could expect hundreds of thousands of dollars on top of that amount.

There were 3,200 passengers and about 1,000 crew members on the ship when it hit a rocky reef and was evacuated.

The death toll stands at 16, with more than a dozen still missing.

Proner said that Costa, which is owned by Carnival Corp., “has gone on record as blaming the accident on the negligent actions of Schettino in an attempt to minimize its liability.”

“In typical cruise-ship accident cases, passengers are bound by the legal terms laid forth on the ticket,” said Proner. “For example, most cruise-ship tickets establish a much shorter time limit within which passengers may file claim against the cruise ship company than normally set by United States state and federal laws. In the case of Costa Concordia victims, litigation resulting from the accident would have to occur in the courts of Italy.”

Proner, however, said he is confident that U.S. courts will accept the case “in an effort to protect the rights of the 120 American citizens” who were onboard the Costa Concordia.

According to published reports, a second New York law firm, Napoli Bern Ripka Shkolnik, also will represent passengers in the class action. Codacons had announced last week it was planning a class action.