Carnival says former Costa Cruises CEO retiring

MIAMI (AP) -- Carnival Corp. said Tuesday that the former CEO of Costa Cruises, the company behind the Concordia disaster, is retiring.

Costa owns the Concordia cruise ship that capsized off the central Italian coast in early 2012. Pier Luigi Foschi was CEO at Costa Cruises when the Concordia slammed into a reef off the Tuscan island of Giglio with more than 4,000 people on board. Thirty-two people died.

Carnival said Tuesday that Foschi, 67, is retiring after 16 years with the company. Foschi retired as Costa Cruises CEO six months after the Concordia disaster. Parent company Carnival later named him head of its business in Asia.

Carnival said in a regulatory filing Tuesday that Foschi stopped working for the company in November and retired from its board Monday. He is getting a payment 1.25 million euros ($1.7 million) as part of a separation agreement.

Carnival Chairman Micky Arison said in a statement Tuesday that Foschi's efforts helped transform the company.