Passengers affected by the Costa Concordia disaster last month will receive a slight reprieve, with the deadline for acceptance of the line’s compensation proposal extended to 31 March 2012.

The procedure to redeem the package and its terms remain unchanged and Costa insists that the extension will not affect the claims process.

Passengers who have returned home are eligible for the compensation package with the families of deceased and missing victims, along with guests who sustained injuries, covered under a separate proposal dependent on their individual circumstances.