Satellite image of the Costa Concordia taken on Jan. 17. Credit: Digital Globe

Most people assume they are safer on a cruise ship than on an airplane. Maybe. But when disaster strikes, as it did off the coast of Tuscany on Jan. 13, you (or your heirs) can collect more from a plane crash than from a shipwreck. Put another way, your family would be better off if you died in a commercial airplane last Friday in the water around the island of Giglio, Italy, than if your body was pulled from the wreckage of the Costa Concordia.

This cruel and ghoulish irony stems from a combination of federal law; a key international convention; and the very anti-consumer terms commonly found in cruise contracts. ( See my post, "Cruise Contracts Pose Barriers To Legal Claims.") Here are the key roadblocks built into the legal system.

U.S. limits on the type of damages heirs can recover if you die. Under a 1920 federal law, known as the Death on the High Seas Act, the spouse, child or dependent family member of someone killed in international waters can only recover what's called economic damages — which basically means the monetary support the victim provided to his or her family, says James P. Kreindler, an aviation and personal injury lawyer with Kreindler & Kreindler in New York.

You can't get damages for loss of consortium (sex),  loss of companionship, or grief, he adds. For example, if the person who died was not a wage earner -- say he or she was retired, or a child who died on a Disney cruise -- the family's recovery for the death would rarely be more than $500,000, he says.

This law used to be applied to airplane crashes over water, but was amended in 2000 after litigation that Kreindler handled involving the 1996 Trans World Airlines Flight 800 disaster. That flight was scheduled to go from New York to Rome, with a stopover in Paris, but the plane exploded 12 minutes after takeoff from New York's JFK airport and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 230 people on board. Since the Death on the High Seas Act was amended, families are no longer limited to recovering for economic loss in plane crashes, Kreindler says.

International caps on the total amount you can recover. Another bugaboo is a 1974 international treaty known as the Athens Convention Relating to the Carriage of Passengers and their Luggage by Sea (often referred to simply as The Athens Convention). It says that for cruise ship accidents you generally can't collect more than $71, 603 for personal injury or death.

One way or another, The Athens Convention applies to most cases of cruise line accidents where the ship does not call upon a U.S. port and is therefore decided under foreign law, says Paul Edelman, a lawyer with Kreindler & Kreindler in New York. Although the U.S. hasn’t adopted the convention, many other countries have. In addition, under U.S. law, a contract for an  international cruise can specify that The Athens Convention will cover any disputes that arise, as long as the ticket says so and explains the limitations.

In contrast, there are no limits to what you can recover in a lawsuit arising from an international plane crash, and jury awards can run to seven or eight figures, Kreindler says.

Where you must seek legal redress. For cases stemming from the crash of an international flight, you have the choice of where to sue, Kreindler says. You can bring the case where the airline is incorporated or has its principal place of business; the ultimate destination; where the ticket is issued; or in the principal and permanent residence of the passenger.

That's in sharp contrast to what happens with cruise ships. Cruise contracts often include what's called a forum selection clause. For example, the one for Carnival Cruise Lines says that cases must be brought in the United States Federal District Court in Miami, which happens to be where Carnival is headquartered.

Under the Costa contract, your itinerary determines where you can sue. If you depart from, return to, or visit a U.S. port, you can only bring a suit in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. (where you must arbitrate if your claim isn’t for physical harm). If you haven’t touched U.S. soil, you can only bring your case in Genoa, Italy, which makes it difficult for U.S. citizens to sue.