Cruise ship runs aground near Italy - Fatalities

Jim Rosenthal

Supporter
All the nav equipment in the world can't help if the captain and crew won't do their job the way they are supposed to. I read that the captain is in jail. Sounds like he deserves it.

These ships are very well built and very safe if they are operated as intended. They are not intended to be driven onto a reef and have the bottom ripped open. Evidently they had not done lifeboat drills, the crew delayed lowering them, the crew misadvised the passengers, etc. My guess is that some of the crew did what they were supposed to and got people off safely, others screwed up. Overall, it sounds like a real CEFU to me.
 

Pete McCluskey.

Lifetime Supporter
The captain has denied that he left the ship before the passengers and claims the rock he hit was not on the chart. I suspect they were cutting corners to save time. Cruise ships like this run to very tight schedules. What happened after they hit sounds like a total clusterf##ck.
 
LOL..those fellows sanked one of the nicest ship in the world.They are neither amateur sailors.No knowledge at all.

Shame (once again) for italian mariners.thanks god we are not all the same,but also this disaster increases the low reputation we have around.
sad cause too many of ours are too skilled really.

..and some of us went west in 1492...with ships payed by spain, LOL

for whos interested and understand italian language, here enclosed id the phone call between the coast guard and capitain,the FIRST one leaving his boat.
Tgcom24 - "Schettino coordini lo sbarco" - Video Mediaset

Coast guard officer says.."In name of GOD return on your vassel and help us in resque people!!".
But captain answer..nono..is dark..is cold..and he did not.
 

Randy V

Moderator-Admin
Staff member
Admin
Lifetime Supporter
That Captain will not sail anything other than a rubber duck in a bathtub again... And at that, he should be imprisoned for the rest of his life....

From other pictures I've seen of the route he was on, he was well off course deliberately to show off his ship to the islanders.. His pride cost many lives....
 

Charlie Farley

Supporter
It would appear that this is not the first time he took this risky manoeuvre.
It's reported that he came in that close before on more than one occasion, to blow the horns and waive to friends in the coastal town. What a vain dick!
 
it is too sad,and incredible how they could allow such fellows as "commander" of a so giant whale.They should use real sea wolfes,people loving and living in the sea.we all have too many ones in all the entire world.Why in hell give a so big responsability to someone unable neither to take the real basic decisions?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEVypPTXDxs

The talk between captain and coast guard officier is impressive.seems giving orders to a kid, that dont understand.

really sad for all people suffering in this mess,and I cant believe they can destroy 4000 yrs of italian marine experience this way.noway.

the real list of missing people is still to come,and will be quite long.

For me this kind of cruising is also hard to understand.many just make it as a vacation in a club med village,without any connection with the sea.Just shopping,dancing,flirting and casino.what is related with sea?

The real experience is the Sidney-hobart or the volvo ocean race,but thats another story...
 

Jim Rosenthal

Supporter
This captain appears to have been behaving like a stupid clown. That can happen in any country. So far the death toll is eleven, I believe, and people are still missing. He claims that the ship hit uncharted rocks. I think that is bullshit. This is a very well-charted area, a maritime sanctuary, and rocks don't just move around like sand does on the Outer Banks. I think this was a completely preventable event; if this idiot hadn't decided to "walk the dog" with a 900 foot cruise ship, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

And they don't have bathtubs in prison. What he needs to worry about is going to happen in the shower. House arrest is going to seem like a walk in the park when he goes to jail for this screwup.
 

Pete McCluskey.

Lifetime Supporter
This captain appears to have been behaving like a stupid clown. That can happen in any country. So far the death toll is eleven, I believe, and people are still missing. He claims that the ship hit uncharted rocks. I think that is bullshit. This is a very well-charted area, a maritime sanctuary, and rocks don't just move around like sand does on the Outer Banks. I think this was a completely preventable event; if this idiot hadn't decided to "walk the dog" with a 900 foot cruise ship, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

And they don't have bathtubs in prison. What he needs to worry about is going to happen in the shower. House arrest is going to seem like a walk in the park when he goes to jail for this screwup.

He originally claimed he was last to leave the ship, but the tape of his conversation with the Harbour Master telling him to get back on board and help with the rescue was four hours before the last passenger got off!
What a coward, what a shame. Apparently some of the men passengers behaved badly also, pushing women and children aside to rescue themselves.
So much for women and children first.
 
I have been on a Costa Cruise ship, the Costa Fortuna (no quips about the price) and they are VERY big ships! Over here they are comparing some of the failings to that of the Titanic (shouldn't have been able to fall over etc). I'm not sure how far into the cruise this was but the lifeboat drill is usually within 2 days of sailing. It is indeed a great tragedy and there will be many people affected by it for a long time. I would be suprised if Costa cruises survive it too.
 

Jim Craik

Lifetime Supporter
Chris, I have been on 15 to 20 cruises out of the US, the Carribean and Tahiti, we always did the lifeboat drill first thing after leaving port, well before dinner.

I have a couple of questions, perhaps someone can help me understand.

(1) The large hole with the rock jammed in it is shown in this photo, port, aft and out of the water. If that is the hole that sank the ship, why is it on the "high" side and out of the water? Wouldn't the ship heel towards the hole? Shouldn't the hole be under water?

(2) In this photo, forward of the hole, amidship the large stabalizing fin is deployed, well forward of the gash in the side. How could the ship hit those rocks yet the stabalisation fin is not damaged? I guess the fin could have been deployed after the collision, in an effort to counter the list, or perhaps the ship was making a hard turn to starbord in an effort to avoid the rocks, this would explain why the gash is so far aft, and not forward as you would expect.

costa-concordia.jpg
 
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Charlie Farley

Supporter
I'm surprised some enterprising local didn't take the opportunity to swim out, as it appears only 50 yards from shore and claim a multi, multi million pound salvage rights claim on the vessel. Would set up him and his extended family for life,if not the whole town! Reputed to have cost £ 380 million to build.
 
How is it that this guy was hired in the first place? Does not speak well for the management or the company. There have to be a few further up the food chain that share the blame as well.
 
Chris, I have been on 15 to 20 cruises out of the US, the Carribean and Tahiti, we always did the lifeboat drill first thing after leaving port, well before dinner.

I have a couple of questions, perhaps someone can help me understand.

(1) The large hole with the rock jammed in it is shown in this photo, port, aft and out of the water. If that is the hole that sank the ship, why is it on the "high" side and out of the water? Wouldn't the ship heel towards the hole? Shouldn't the hole be under water?

(2) In this photo, forward of the hole, amidship the large stabalizing fin is deployed, well forward of the gash in the side. How could the ship hit those rocks yet the stabalisation fin is not damaged? I guess the fin could have been deployed after the collision, in an effort to counter the list, or perhaps the ship was making a hard turn to starbord in an effort to avoid the rocks, this would explain why the gash is so far aft, and not forward as you would expect.

costa-concordia.jpg

Jim on #1 there could be a few possibilities. There could be other damage on the side as well or perhaps the contour of the bottom caused her to list over to the oposite side while she was settling. One other possibility is that the crew could have attempted to counter flood the balast tanks on the oposite side to try and bring her up on an even keel or even reduce the sea pressure on the gash.

#2 With aft rudders boats tend to pivot on a point forward I would wager he attempted a hard turn which swung the stern out and into the rock
 

Jim Craik

Lifetime Supporter
TimB

Those are good points, both are entirely possable. But you have to admit that just looking at the photos, things do seem a little odd, don't they?

It may turn out that counter flooding was started, and then the crew abandoned, in a hurry......................
 
Yes they do appear odd. One can only imagine the force required to tear a 180 foot gash and imbed a rock that size in the hull
 
the "costa crociere" company is owned by american Carnival.It is no longer italian since many years.we have to remember those people is NOT sailor and usually neither sea lovers.just turist.many of theme die cause unable to swim.I am looking a Tv program on our television reporting the last moments of life of many dead,including the phone calls.
Too sad,old french couple still in love huging till the last fatal jump.wife was unable to swim,husband will not leave her.they both are down in tirreno sea.Missing kids fallen down from hands of sick parents....honey moon couples dead 20 meters from the cliffs in too cold waters...
A real disaster,and the exstimated number of dead is 40 people,not 6 as they try say now.

Not so easy also to swim to rocks.The ship is 300 meters far from coast,but water is really cold and all were eating dinner in the restaurant.many dressed as for party evening.
Weird tales,and I am still convinced the captain was unuseful at all for the resques.
Captains of such monsters are COMMANDERS,cause when the ship is around the world he become the real god on earth deciding all for this giant city moving on the water.
I am just impressed how could they not check the personal they encharge for a so big responsability.I dont ask the german Kriegsmarine devotion to service, but god....try save the clients u are hosting!
the ship passed 250 meters from the giglio island coast,they shoud be 5 kmts far away.Seems such manuvering was a sort of "salute" to old workers on the island.

The cliff cutting the costa concordia is wellknown since 4000 years.also old rome's emperor battle ship passed there knew that point.

Too sad.
For sure the rest of life for captain schettino will not be easy at all.the shame will be always with him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSG50c9sl0U&feature=related

exactly now,22.40 GMT the sister ship Costa serena is near to giglio island on its route to mediterranean,barcellona and west africa.Onboard a fellow had an hear attack.They show it in tv,seems to see star trek when they find other starships.
290 meters of toy.How long was the USS Enterprise?
 
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Jim Rosenthal

Supporter
He now claims he fell into the lifeboat accidentally. The deck was tilted.

Indeed.

There seems to be some support for the idea that the ship had been this close to the shore on a previous trip- it's quite hard to believe, though, that such a well-traveled coast had uncharted rocks.
 
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