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Probably no one knows as much about the Sea Breeze as Bruce Nierenberg, who twice served as president of Premier Cruise Line. He tells the ship’s story from the beginning around 1956, when the Italian, family-owned Costa Line (now part of Carnival) originally designed the vessel, then named the Federico C. Nierenberg says the ship’s balance problems date to the launch of its hull, which promptly capsized and sank. The mishap caused great embarrassment in Italy, especially because the ship was the first built by Costa Line. Nierenberg believes the architect took his own life, although this cannot be verified. “The ship always had a weight and balance issue,” Nierenberg says. “It wasn’t the most stable vessel ever built, by any means.”
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Then the new owners took out a $20 million insurance policy on the vessel, according to Bruce Nierenberg, founder and former president and CEO of Premier Cruise Lines. The ship was worth maybe $5 or $6 million. The new owners hired a crew of foreigners and ordered the captain to brave the stormy seas and sail south. “My opinion is that the Sea Breeze was never destined to get to the Bahamas,” Nierenberg says by telephone. Emphasizing that his theory could never be proven, he adds, “If you and I were going to sink a ship, that [4,300-foot trench off the Virginia coast] was a pretty good place.”