Costa Concordia SINKING

[Milaandra]

1. Regardless of the failings of this particular Captain, what role and responsibilities did each of the senior officers have in an emergency? Reports of the absence of ANY bridge officer (outside of a "junior" officer, a doctor and a purser) during the height of the evacuation are highly troubling.

 

Weren't they on the bridge? There is a witness that said they were. If you're using the deputy mayor's account, remember that he said he spent around 20 minutes looking. Those of us who have travelled in these floating hotels know that you can't search much of the ship in 20 minutes, particularly with the elevators out.

[JJSMaine]

Am I right in assuming that you can't launch lifeboats when the ship is moving?

 

According to the timeline in the gCaptain video the ship was down to a drift speed for more than the last hour before it grounded on the reef.

 

So yes, the question is would it be, is it possible to launch life boast safely in those conditions?

 

I want to hear the debate on why waiting to get grounded was a better decision when that seemed to have put the ship at even greater risk... bahhh.. it's all to hard to hold in my head the way it is... there must be, hopefully some logical reason to have delayed launching... but I can't see it in hindsight... I hope they all have answers soon...

 

 

 

Wouldn't it be a bit silly to assume that the use of life craft would happen in fair conditions, so therefore they must have some designed ability to operate in less than fair conditions?? Right? or Wrong? I'm sure rough seas would present a serious problem, even with the ship stationary... which goes back to a comment I made pages ago about the crew having training that is realistic.. putt-putting about in a harbor under ideal conditions is great "intro to" training, but does little to develop a sense of competency that would be needed in a real emergency. Knowing now how it went down on one ship, make me nervous about how well it would go down on another, especially in rough seas. I believe it is not unreasonable to expect some of the crew to have real world training, so they will i fact have the confidence to deal with a situation. As unlikely as that situation may be perceived to be, we now know just how easy it is for it to happen... and on purpose mind you... what happens when we have some sort of T-Bone incident because of a true accident, where some hardware fails and the fog obscures.... perhaps we've been terribly fortunate that this has been avoided to date....

[Uniall]

Not necessarily true. For the restrictions to be lifted it would have to be determined that the company (not the captain) was grossly negligent and that will be a high bar to reach.

 

What you are seeing now are 'settlement suits'. The objective is not to go to trial but to get the company to make an offer to settle to avoid bad press and extensive legal costs.

 

The door to hold the company laible may already have been opened by the reports that this was not the first time that Captain Hook-Up manually changed the official course and steered for the "wave by". It's been reported that this was the 4 time and last year it was done WITH the company approval to coincide with an island fiesta.

 

The gross negligence or gross indifference of the Captain can be imputed to the company if they knew OR should have known his propensities from his past actions.

 

Also, If it turns out that his consumption of alcohol had impaired his faculties I think a case can be made (regardless of past customs and practice) that the company's immunity is breached because they allow officers to drink. But, that's not a sure bet and rests only with my legal advocacy training.

[rosadilla]

I keep reading that the captain was steering "by sight". That doesn't make any sense ... it was already dark.

[SomeBeach]

Fox News Reporting (FNC) will have a special on Tradegy at Sea at 9 p.m. (CST) tonight.

The host of the show is Geraldo. Who knows what this will be like. Can't be any worse than the ABC report.

To my knowledge, FNC does not own any cruise ships. :rolleyes:

[Feelin' Nauti']

Is it possible the captain was trying to first and foremost save the ship? When the Concordia was safely lodged against the rocks did he believe that was the end of his duty as Captain thus abandoning ship? IMHO this would explain his actions. :confused:

He was having his jollys :rolleyes:. Grand ol time. Then WAM! It all came to a halt!

He panicked, didn't know how to deal with the situation and made it perfectly clear he wasn't worthy of his "title".

[dwaynesworld]

To marine experts in this forum, can you tell us lay people how long this ship would have floundered and sunk but for the ship being beached? Take into account the hole size and location and how water would spread in and up the ship levels.

 

Had the ship been stuck in deep water what was the approximate sinking time and describe how the sinking would have looked to observers.

 

How many more lives might have been lost in a sinking scenario?

 

Thanks for any and all opinions on that part of the disaster scenario that did not play out that night.

while I'm loathe to give comfort to the enemy (the captain and his lawyers) I'm certain this is going to the cornerstone of their defense, that by beaching he saved more lives from capsizing out at sea.

 

doesn't account for hitting the rocks in the first place, of course.

[deckofficer]

 

For Deckofficer, I too also worked oilfield, way back in 1984 in North East Texas. Since 1995 I have been a concrete batch plant supervisor, and every day I yearn to take off, been working on some sort of viable cruise vessel, yeah I know that probably is blasphemy on these boards a real honest boat owner that would rather build his own than spend money to ride one.

 

Well if this comment gets deleted I won't post here anymore, its not right to be under that strict of rules.

 

For building and sailing your own boat, there is an excellent forum for you, I am very active on it but I won't break the rules here and post a link. I do wish for a PM function on this forum.

[Feelin' Nauti']

while I'm loathe to give comfort to the enemy (the captain and his lawyers) I'm certain this is going to the cornerstone of their defense, that by beaching he saved more lives from capsizing out at sea.

 

doesn't account for hitting the rocks in the first place, of course.

12 Dead

20 still missing

 

5 year old girl

 

 

There defense is what?!?!?! :cool:

[luckybogey]

I keep reading that the captain was steering "by sight". That doesn't make any sense ... it was already dark.

 

I have sailed on the Chesapeake Bay for years at night. I love sailing at night and I believe that I have better visual sense and land point awareness at night however I always watch my GPS track to verify my eyes are seeing the same. My wife does not necessarily agree with my visual abilities at night.

 

The Captain said he had done this before 3 or 4 times passing Giglio Island. Since this was in the winter, I have wondered if the crew and Captain did not mistake the lights in Giglio Port for the lights normally seen on the hill at the resort next to the reef. This would explain the late turn however it does not speak to the stupidity of using your GPS and radar.

[Cuizer2]

It was more of a hit piece on the cruise industry in general. Somehow, I recall seeing much of this sometime previous. Am I correct this was a rehash of another broadcast with a snippet of Concordia included?

 

That was my impression also. I believe that but for the sinking of the Concordia the segment would not have aired. Some, but not all, of the footage shown I have seen before.

 

That said, there is room for improvement, and if this show forces the cruise lines to make some adjustments then I see that as a good thing.

[jopocop]

I think this is open and shut that the Captain sees jail time. Sounds to me about 5 years. There may be more on his immediate team such as the first officer seeing some bars.

 

This looks like a plea bargain for less jail time.

 

To me this ship was maybe 1/2 hr to an hour before sinking fully. That hole was horrific and water must of been leaking up and up like the Titanic movie portrayal.

 

Thankfully those forward thrusters were operational.

[jjagiz]

Strange. The only child on the missing list is 5 years old. She is Italian, but she's definitely on the missing list at this point, not the list of the dead. I also haven't seen any reports of an Indonesian dying. The reports have identified all but three of the dead, and those three, according to the news, were found aboard the vessel.

 

Is it possible he saw people being taken away by ambulance and just assumed they were dead?

 

Honestly I'm not sure. He could have been in shock from the entire incident. It seems like the list of casualties is primarily compiled from those who died on the ship, rather than on shore from exposure, hypothermia, etc. I think I've read of other incidents where "later" deaths were not factored into the official death toll. Who knows? What he witnessed is still tragic, however, and I hope all the survivors (and the families of the bereaved) get adequate counseling.

[bobsig]

The Captain said he had done this before 3 or 4 times passing Giglio Island. Since this was in the winter, I have wondered if the crew and Captain did not mistake the lights in Giglio Port for the lights normally seen on the hill at the resort next to the reef. This would explain the late turn however it does not speak to the stupidity of using your GPS and radar.

 

If Captain Idiot did this 3 or 4 previous times, Costa may be guilty of gross negligence and the class actions will fly irrespective of what "waivers" were signed.

[jjagiz]

"But sources said Saturday that he had accepted some culpability in the disaster, telling his cruise ship chiefs that he 'messed up after hitting rocks.' Previously, he maintained that he did all he could in the aftermath of the disaster."

 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/01/21/captain-reportedly-tells-costa-concordia-bosses-messed-up/#ixzz1k7R8dcKC

 

Seriously? "Messed up"? I wish he would be an adult and take responsibility for his bone-headed action. Stop deflecting blame; it just makes him look worse.

[Milaandra]

He could have been in shock from the entire incident.

 

I think that must be it, because they reported a swimmer who allegedly died of a heart-attack in the death count.

 

I agree completely with your hope that all the survivors get crisis counselling. I have heard that early treatment can avoid much bigger problems further on.

[astrocruises]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9029856/Costa-Concordia-Im-going-to-stay-here-said-captain.html

The captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship promised that he would be the last one to leave the stricken vessel, new audio recordings with the Italian coast guard have revealed.

[cruiserfanfromct]

He was having his jollys :rolleyes:. Grand ol time. Then WAM! It all came to a halt!

He panicked' date=' didn't know how to deal with the situation and made it perfectly clear he wasn't worthy of his "title".[/quote']Agree - never has there been such a colossal display of reckless endangerment, cowardice and evasion of responsibility using the largest ship in the Mediterranean with 4,000 souls on board. :mad: And this all in the space of a few hours. :confused: Has he earn a spot in the Guinness World Record yet? :eek:

[Cuizer2]

I did, Cruizer2, which is why I have asked to to take one more look when you get home tonight at the 2011 version of both the Concordia and Splendor.

 

Thanks,

 

Rick

 

Okay, home again. By the way (FYI) I have this book going back to 2003 and will likely purchase the 2012 edition.

 

From the 2011 Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships by Douglas Ward:

 

The Carnival Splendor's propulsion is "diesel-electric (63,400kW)/2"

 

The Costa Concordia is "diesel-electric (34,000kW)/2 azimuthing pods"

 

 

[Milaandra]

"But sources said Saturday that he had accepted some culpability in the disaster, telling his cruise ship chiefs that he 'messed up after hitting rocks.' Previously, he maintained that he did all he could in the aftermath of the disaster."

 

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/01/21/captain-reportedly-tells-costa-concordia-bosses-messed-up/#ixzz1k7R8dcKC

 

Seriously? "Messed up"? I wish he would be an adult and take responsibility for his bone-headed action. Stop deflecting blame; it just makes him look worse.

 

Inaccurate reporting, again. That news story references this one:

 

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16153662

 

It says that in one of his phone calls with Costa before the abandon ship, he said "I messed up. We have touched the bottom."

 

That's a bit different than what the fox story says.

 

I was trying to figure out how he was contacting Costa when he's on house arrest and not allowed to contact anyone.

[bahrain_not_dubai!]

The book is wrong- Douglas Ward's book is great overall but does has it share of mistakes.

 

The Concordia has a traditional shaft and rudder arrangement.

[Milaandra]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9029856/Costa-Concordia-Im-going-to-stay-here-said-captain.html

 

Woah! The procecutors want them to empty the safe in the captain's cabin for documents that may help their case??

 

What could those possibly be?

 

The mind boggles! :eek:

[cruiserfanfromct]

Woah! The procecutors want them to empty the safe in the captain's cabin for documents that may help their case??

 

What could those possibly be?

 

The mind boggles! :eek:

 

There were already news reports at the beginning that the captain emptied the safe before abandoning ship. (Don't know how accurate that was)

[NormanW]

I had just remembered that. Must be getting old, as the earlier ships required tugs to maneuver into dock, then bow thrusters came along, and then stern thrusters, elimination the use of tugs.

 

Thanks

 

Rick

 

Tugs are often still required with challenging currents and tight spaces. The aft thrusters are nowhere near as powerful as a true azimuthing drive (azipod) which has full power available if needed.

 

Cheers,

 

Norman

[Bousker]

Great Info! Thanks!