There has been a spate of engine fires aboard passenger ships around the world in recent years.

CNN: Spate of fires poses problems for cruise industry

The International Maritime Organization, which is tasked with the international supervision of passenger ships, has also been under fire in the wake of the disaster.

CNN: July 8, 2012 -- Updated 1911 GMT (0311 HKT)

At the congressional hearings in March, he told the Senate committee there were more than a dozen incidents of passenger ships sinking and 99 ships running aground between 1973 and 2011.

CNN: July 8, 2012 -- Updated 1911 GMT (0311 HKT)

Long ago, in the days before passenger ships featured climbing walls, ice rinks, on-board zip lines and nonstop gastronomic gorging sessions, stately ocean liners plied the transatlantic route between London and New York.

FORBES: Captain Bernanke At The Helm Of The QE2 Hopes To Avoid A Titanic Outcome

"We should seriously consider the lessons to be learnt and, if necessary, re-examine the regulations on the safety of large passenger ships in the light of the findings of the casualty investigation, " Koji Sekimizu, secretary-general of the U.N. agency, said in a statement Monday.

WSJ: Cruise Operators See Shares Fall, Defend Safety

The yard, based on the River Torridge, has built more than 350 ships, including naval fishery protection vessels, trawlers, passenger-vehicle ferries, dredgers and bulk carriers.

BBC: NEWS | UK | England | Devon | Financial help 'floods' into shipyard

The contaminated ships have since been disinfected but with only mixed success, perhaps because a sick passenger (or one who is incubating the virus) can board and infect others.

FORBES: Magazine Article