LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The very public dispute between Captain Francesco Schettino and the owners of his stricken vessel is a symptom of lax regulation and supervision that can only add to pressure for the cruise line industry to be subjected to closer scrutiny.

The mudslinging over who decided the Costa Concordia should sail within 150 metres of the shoreline of an Italian island in a manoeuvre known as a “salute” to show the ship off has exposed wider concerns over how such vast ships should be controlled and how safe they really are.

“During the past two decades, cruise lines have maintained the best safety record in the travel industry,” the European Cruise Council reassured holidaymakers on January 14 in response to the capsizing of the Costa Concordia in which at least 16 people died.

Research by Reuters has revealed, however, that patchy safety data and poor accident reporting standards make it difficult to verify how safe the industry really is and impossible for members of the public to easily compare the relative safety standards of different operators.

The lack of a comprehensive, publicly available database of shipping accidents is just one symptom of a loosely regulated industry where international rules under the auspices of the United Nations are wide open to interpretation by national governments, operators and ship captains.

The reassurances given to cruise ship passengers in a second statement from the European Cruise Council on January 16 that “all our member lines are subject to the highest safety standards around the world according to international maritime requirements” may raise some eyebrows.

The blame game between the captain and ship operator Costa Cruises – a unit of U.S. giant Carnival (CCL.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (CCL.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) – over whose fault it was that he sailed so close to shore as to run aground and passenger criticism of emergency procedures have prompted questions over industry safety standards, particularly as there would have been many more casualties had the ship gone down on the high seas.

LONDON (Reuters) – Simple reforms would eliminate much of the risk of investing in poor countries, unleashing billions of dollars of pent up cash and providing a welcome boost to the world economy, a report to be presented at this week’s G20 summit will say.

Tidjane Thiam, charged with pulling together the report, believes world leaders will seize on a plan to spur infrastructure investment in developing countries that includes reform of The World Bank and its regional counterparts but does not tap crisis-weary taxpayers.

“We need growth. We’re not going to get out of this by just cutting deficits,” the Franco-African engineer who runs Britain’s biggest insurer Prudential Plc told Reuters before heading to the Cannes summit.

“At one point it was important to convince everybody we needed to cut deficits and we got there, and now everybody is really thinking ‘what’s the positive message and how do we get the public out of just thinking about cuts and cuts and cuts?’”

Thiam, a former Ivory Coast planning and development minister, says the G20 High Level Panel for Infrastructure Investment which he chairs has at least part of the answer.

The idea is a simple and symbiotic one.

Rich nations may not be generating much new wealth at the moment but they are sitting on trillions of dollars of accumulated wealth that is earning little in the way of returns and not doing very much to foster a global economic recovery.

LONDON (Reuters) – Thomas Cook (TCG.L: Quote, Profile, Research) has struck a deal with its banks, sending battered shares in the holiday group soaring after a string of profit warnings that cost the company its chief executive and shareholders their dividend.

Europe’s second biggest tour operator still has a lot to do after losing three quarters of its market value since mid-January, analysts cautioned, noting that it may yet have to tap shareholders for fresh funds.

Thomas Cook said on Friday it had amended the terms of existing bank facilities and agreed a new 100 million pounds short-term credit line to tide it over during December when trading is traditionally quiet.

“We are pleased to have the full support of our banking group in amending the financial covenants so as to provide greater financial flexibility, particularly around the seasonal cash low point at the end of December,” Chief Financial Officer Paul Hollingworth said in a statement.

Shares in the group were up 18 percent at 53.7 pence by 0905 GMT. The surge took the stock to levels last seen in mid-August but left it well short of a year high of 206.8 pence.

Peel Hunt analyst Nick Batram said the deal had allayed fears Thomas Cook would ask shareholders for fresh funds and described the group as “one of the most interesting turnaround prospects in the sector” but pointed to Britain’s weak consumer environment as a major hurdle still facing the group.

“Focus will now return to the job of improving profitability against a backdrop of deteriorating consumer confidence,” Batram wrote in a note to clients. “Definitely a positive step forward, but there is still a lot of hard work ahead.”

LONDON, Oct 4 (Reuters) – Heritage Oil has bought a 51 percent stake in Benghazi-based Sahara Oil Services Holdings Limited for $19.5 million, allowing the British oil explorer to play what it hopes will be a significant role in developing Libya’s oil and gas industry.

“SOS has the necessary long term permits and licences to provide onshore and offshore oil field services in Libya as well as the rights to own and operate oil and gas licences,” Heritage said in a statement on Tuesday. “Through this acquisition Heritage is exploring ways to gain access to key producing fields and other licence opportunities in Libya.”

Reuters reported last month that Heritage had recruited John Holmes, a highly decorated former SAS commando and retired British Army Major General, to help it win oil field security and maintenance work in return for a stake in Libya’s oil production.

The company, which had previously declined to comment, confirmed in Tuesday’s statement that it had established a base in Benghazi and that it had been in talks with senior members of Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC).

“The dialogue with these parties continues through SOS with Heritage exploring ways to assist the NTC and the state oil companies rehabilitate certain of their existing fields and recommence production,” Heritage said.

Heritage Oil’s Chief Executive and biggest shareholder Tony Buckingham has a long history in Africa, building a company valued at $1 billion that has been on the lookout for acquisitions since selling its stakes in Ugandan wells in a disputed $1.35 billion deal last year.

Buckingham, whose company also has operations in Iraq, previously worked for private military contracting firm Executive Outcomes, providing mercenary forces in Africa.

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain’s help in overthrowing Muammar Gaddafi will never be forgotten and British companies can expect to play an instrumental role in rebuilding Libya, a senior diplomat told executives on Tuesday.

“I would like to thank the British people and their government for their invaluable support,” Mahmud Nacua, a long-time Libyan exile and now charge d’affaires at the country’s embassy in London, told a private meeting of business people arranged by the British government.

“I can assure you that British businesses have a role to play and hope you will work with us to build the future Libya,” Nacua told the meeting, attended by about 100 executives and closed to media other than Reuters.

Stephen Green, a former head of bank HSBC and now Britain’s trade and investment minister, warned delegates they should take nothing for granted in their dealings with Libyans, however.

“They are not naive, they expect it to be profitable to us, but they’re not going to do us any favors. It will be competitive,” Green told delegates.

A white paper published by the Economist Intelligence Unit on Tuesday highlighted how stiff competition might be with South Korean, U.S., French and Italian firms all tipped as being well-placed if Libya can break with its past.

“If, as we expect, power is passed to an elected government staffed with able technocrats and supported by a wide range of interests … the opportunities will be substantial, and the business challenges confronting potential investors will be on a par with those commonly faced in fast-growing emerging markets,” the report concluded.

BENGHAZI/LONDON (Reuters) – Flanked by two colleagues, a 60-something Englishman quietly worked the lobby of Benghazi’s Tibesti Hotel last week, targeting people likely to be the power brokers in a new Libya.

Approached by a Reuters reporter, the man declined to give his name or even shake hands, describing himself as “a very private person.”

Evenings, he was at the bar, smoking cigars and talking to friends — not in short supply given the number of former British military currently in Benghazi, a rebel stronghold. The men are there, a few of them told Reuters, as fixers or “pathfinders.” Their mission is to gather intelligence and build relationships on behalf of UK companies in post-Gaddafi Libya.

His rivals said this man is a “super fixer.”

They identified him as John Holmes, a highly decorated former SAS commando and retired British army Major General. This was confirmed by a western diplomat and a member of Libya’s National Transitional Council (NTC) who has held talks with his client, British firm Heritage Oil.

Heritage declined to comment when asked about its activities in Libya and Holmes’ presence there. A representative of his own company, Mayfair-based Titon International, said only that he would pass on a message when told Holmes had been spotted in Benghazi. Reuters did not receive any response to that message.

Former members of the highly secretive Special Air Service (SAS), or “The Regiment” as it is also known, have a “frontiersman spirit” that makes them particularly well suited to this sort of work, says one person with detailed knowledge and experience of the inner workings of Britain’s special forces.