MOBILE, Ala. - Carnival Corp. wants U.S. taxpayers to pick up the tab for rescuing its Triumph cruise ship in February, saying in a letter to a U.S. senator that it won’t reimburse the government for responding to the incident.

U.S. Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, wrote to Miami-based Carnival in March, saying he was “deeply troubled” by reports about conditions on the Triumph prior to its arrival in Mobile on Feb. 14. Passengers spent five days on the ship without power in the Gulf of Mexico after a fire in its engine room.

Rockefeller described the incident as the latest in a long line of debacles for Carnival involving its cruise ships, and cited estimates that the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard incurred costs of $779,914 responding to the Triumph alone.

That followed more than $3.4 million in costs incurred by the Navy and Coast Guard in responding to a 2010 incident involving the Carnival Splendor.

“Given that you reportedly pay little or nothing in federal taxes, do you intend to reimburse the Coast Guard and the Navy for the cost of responding ?” Rockefeller wrote in a March 14 letter addressed to Mickey Arison, chairman and chief executive of the cruise line.

Carnival responded in a March 29 letter to Rockefeller that it did not intend to reimburse the government for either incident – nor for any future incidents involving its ships.

“Carnival’s policy is to honor maritime tradition that holds that the duty to render assistance at sea to those in need is a universal obligation of the entire maritime community,” wrote James Hunn, Carnival’s senior vice president for corporate maritime policy.

Hunn cited a March 25 incident when the Carnival Breeze assisted the Coast Guard with the evacuation of a pair of boaters who became ill while sailing near Elliott Key, Fla.

Arison said in a separate letter to Rockefeller that the questions he raised “seem to cover much of the same ground we discussed” at a 2012 meeting in Rockefeller’s office.

“I assure you, as I did during our discussions, that we remain committed to the safety and comfort of our guests and we are proud of our ability to provide millions of people with safe, fun and memorable vacation experiences,” Arison wrote.

Rockefeller, the chairman of the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, said he wasn’t pleased with Carnival’s responses.

"Carnival's response to my detailed inquiry is shameful," Rockefeller said in a statement to Skift.com. "It is indisputable that Carnival passengers deserve better emergency response measures than they experienced on the Triumph. I am considering all options to hold the industry to higher passenger safety standards."

Carnival is paying about $10,000 a day to the City of Mobile while the ship is docked at the Alabama Cruise Terminal. The ship was towed to the city-owned terminal after breaking free of its moorings at a shipyard operated by BAE Systems Inc. last week.

A Georgia congressman has said he wants to hold hearings regarding Carnival's handling of the Triumph incident.

to read a copy of Rockefeller's March 14 letter to Carnival.

to read a copy of Arison's response to Rockefeller.

to read a copy of Carnival's March 29 response to Rockefeller, or see a copy below.