Costa Concordia SINKING

[cruiserfanfromct]

Don't know if this was already posted but just in case it wasn't

 

From Reuters

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/22/us-italy-ship-idUSTRE80D08220120122

 

But in a sign of the growing confrontation between Schettino and the ship owners, the captain told investigating magistrates Costa had instructed him to do the salute, according to transcripts of his hearing published by Italian media.

"It was planned, we should have done it a week earlier but it was not possible because of bad weather," Schettino said.

"They insisted. They said: 'We do tourist navigation, we have to be seen, get publicity and greet the island'."

He also said that the black box on board had been broken for two weeks, and that he had asked for it to be repaired, in vain.

[luckybogey]

Has anyone heard or read anything that the VDR was not working and the Captain's PC is missing? Repubblica has another story that the VDR was not turned on and not working for the last 15 days. Any other sources besides Repubblica?

 

English Translation

 

The ' investigation. On the front of the investigations, as the details emerge on Commander Francis Scehttino said to gip di Grosseto during the interrogation of ' guarantee. Starting with the fact that, in his opinion, by two weeks the black box was no longer able to record communications between officers. Second Schettino, who would have to resolve the problem had been informed, but was not successful. If the statements made by the Commander of the Costa Concordia were true, the black box would be useful only to reconstruct the data. According to rumors, the pm of Grosseto are also looking for the laptop that Schettino led off the ship and entrusted to a blonde girl. When the computer has not yet been recovered, but prosecutors have identified the woman. According to what they have learned the woman would be a lawyer, although it is not clear whether Costa Cruises or a freelancer, whose relations with stakeholders are yet to be shown. Prosecutors want to examine your pc because, considering the haste with which it was ' changed hands ' speculate that may contain important data. By ' crew Meanwhile arrives a declaration in favour of Schettino by Katia Keyvanian, head of the Costa Concordia customer service: " I saw the Commander before me to 23:45 while he was helping passengers to climb into lifeboats on deck 3 bow ", said the ' used.

 

L'inchiesta. Sul fronte delle indagini, emergono particolari su quanto il comandante Francesco Scehttino ha dichiarato al gip di Grosseto durante l'interrogatorio di garanzia. A cominciare dal fatto che, a suo dire, da due settimane la scatola nera non era più in grado di registrare le comunicazioni tra gli ufficiali. Secondo Schettino, chi avrebbe dovuto risolvere il problema era stato informato, ma non era successo niente. Se quanto affermato dal comandante della Costa Concordia fosse vero, la scatola nera sarebbe utile solo per ricostruire i dati di viaggio. Stando alle indiscrezioni, i pm di Grosseto stanno inoltre cercando il pc portatile che Schettino portò fuori dalla nave e che affidò a una ragazza bionda. Al momento il computer non è stato ancora recuperato, ma i pm hanno identificato la donna. Secondo quanto appreso la donna sarebbe un avvocato, anche se non è chiaro se della Costa Crociere oppure se un libero professionista, i cui rapporti con le parti in causa sono ancora da appurare. I pm vogliono esaminare il pc anche perchè, considerando la fretta con cui è stato 'passato di mano' ipotizzano che possa contenere dati importanti.

Dall'equipaggio arriva intanto una dichiarazione a favore di Schettino da Katia Keyvanian, responsabile del servizio clienti della Costa Concordia: "Ho visto il comandante davanti a me alle 23:45 mentre stava aiutando alcuni passeggeri a salire sulle scialuppe di salvataggio sul ponte 3 a prua", ha dichiarato l'impiegata.

 

http://www.repubblica.it/cronaca/2012/01/22/news/costa_concordia_22_gennaio-28562859/

 

EDIT: Original posting contained the wrong Italian section from the article:

[Aplmac]

"But in a sign of the growing confrontation between Schettino and the ship owners,

the captain told investigating magistrates Costa had instructed him to do the salute,

according to transcripts of his hearing published by Italian media.

 

"It was planned, we should have done it a week earlier but it was not possible because of bad weather," Schettino said.

"They insisted. They said: 'We do tourist navigation, we have to be seen, get publicity and greet the island'."

 

He also said that the black box on board had been broken for two weeks,

and that he had asked for it to be repaired, in vain."

____________________

 

 

Ah...how the plot thickens. :)

Thieves fighting amongst themselves, twould seem..

 

 

This is going to make one heckuva movie

not to mention the multiple suits and counter-suits brought to Court!

 

It just keeps getting better and better

or is that worse and worse??

.

[gentlemancruiser]

Don't know if this was already posted but just in case it wasn't

 

From Reuters

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/22/us-italy-ship-idUSTRE80D08220120122

 

Does this idiot Captain not realize when making crazy accusations that facts can be easily checked. There would be navigational records of these events.....

[JJSMaine]

I really don't see the close sailing as a problem. Why not do it? It should have been such an easy thing to do.

 

Just plan it and execute it safely.

 

Here is a video of the Oasis and Allure together for the first time. Some would say they are sailing unnecessarily close.

 

Just looking at the navigational charts of Giglio, the water is very deep, very close to shore. Plenty of depth to sail fairly close with no problems.

 

Take a look at the Panama canal traffic. Dozens of ships packed into a small area. On the Pacific side, many ships the size of the Concordia pass each other in a river only a couple hundred meters wide.

 

The captain just has to know the ship is made for the water. You can't drive it up to the local Walmart and try to use the handicapped parking so you can run in and get a pair of socks.

 

 

Insert "at a speed of 15 knots" in each of the above and I think it changes the situation.. in the above examples, my guess is that speeds are much much lower and everyone is on their toes as to the other objects in their sphere of movement. This is a big difference, which to me, makes comparison not valid.

[cruiserfanfromct]

Does this idiot Captain not realize when making crazy accusations that facts can be easily checked. There would be navigational records of these events.....

Just like the recorded phone calls to disprove his initial statements to the press that he was the last to leave the ship, the navigational records will invalidate this claim as well. Could this captain be a descendant of Pinocchio? :rolleyes:

[Princess Patches]

Here's the google translation of the Italian article if you are interested.

 

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.repubblica.it%2Fcronaca%2F2012%2F01%2F22%2Fnews%2Fcosta_inchino-28555394%2F&act=url

 

Yes, thanks for that translation, but google translations are always so terrible. I wish we could get a good translation of the court testimony. From what I can make out here are some interesting points:

 

1. Schettino is adamant that these "buzz bys" were all corporate sanctioned and encouraged because it helped business (the thrill of it all I guess). This buzz by was first scheduled by corporate on the preceding cruise but weather was bad and it was cancelled. He also then testifies that the Captain of Costa's Luminosa had challenged him to do it.

 

2. Schettino testifies that Costa corporate was well aware that the ship was sinking as Schettino was in constant contact with them, but they were worried about paying out 40 million euros (10,000 euros per passenger) for an evacuation and ordered him to wait on the evacuation.

 

3. Costa Corporate ordered Schettino to download the voice data recorder, but Schettino warns that it may not be helpful because it had not been working for two weeks. He complained to corporate but they refused to fix it. I also read the Court Magistrate's decision. In her decision she talked about how the Prosecutor had accused Schettino of tampering with the voice data recorder.

 

4. Schettino refers to Roberto Bosio as his second in command. I also noted that the Court Magistrate in her decision referred to Roberto Bosio as the second in command. However, Bosio gave an interview in which he stated he is the Captain of the Serena and was just hitching a ride home. Maybe there is some maritime law or Costa policy that if another off duty captain is onboard during an emergency he automatically becomes second in command? Anyone know?

[Cuizer2]

The simulation guessed he turned back to port after hitting the rock in some kind of attempt to minimize damage. I tend to think not.

 

I believe the simulation is based on the actual tract of the ship.

[luckybogey]

I also read the Court Magistrate's decision. In her decision she talked about how the Prosecutor had accused Schettino of tampering with the voice data recorder.

 

Thanks. This confirms may original translation of the Repubblica articles. Do you have the original source/link for the Prosecutor's allegation of VDR tampering or is this only stated in the Court Magistrate's decision?

[Cuizer2]

I think a lot of folks were in shock over the decision to remand him to his house. Of course if factual information comes forth that he and the young lady were more than just co-workers, I am sure living at home with his wife could become quite a difficult situation...he may just prefer to be in the clink then.

 

According to the story in the link below, his wife is no longer in the house ...

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2090052/Costa-Concordia-captain-Francesco-Schettinos-dramatic-cruise-ship-struck-rocks.html

 

The comment about his wife leaving is at the end of the article.

[cruiserfanfromct]

yes, thanks for that translation, but google translations are always so terrible. I wish we could get a good translation of the court testimony. From what i can make out here are some interesting points:

 

1. Schettino is adamant that these "buzz bys" were all corporate sanctioned and encouraged because it helped business (the thrill of it all i guess). This buzz by was first scheduled by corporate on the preceding cruise but weather was bad and it was cancelled. He also then testifies that the captain of costa's luminosa had challenged him to do it. he was pretty buzzed alright.

2. Schettino testifies that costa corporate was well aware that the ship was sinking as schettino was in constant contact with them, but they were worried about paying out 40 million euros (10,000 euros per passenger) for an evacuation and ordered him to wait on the evacuation. plus 10,000 more for the stowaway - this was the deal breaker.

3. Costa corporate ordered schettino to download the voice data recorder, but schettino warns that it may not be helpful because it had not been working for two weeks. He complained to corporate but they refused to fix it. I also read the court magistrate's decision. In her decision she talked about how the prosecutor had accused schettino of tampering with the voice data recorder. don't they realize it was too dark to download data from a broken box. besides they are too busy translating orders to go back to the cabin in russian.

 

4. Schettino refers to roberto bosio as his second in command. I also noted that the court magistrate in her decision referred to roberto bosio as the second in command. However, bosio gave an interview in which he stated he is the captain of the serena and was just hitching a ride home. Maybe there is some maritime law or costa policy that if another off duty captain is onboard during an emergency he automatically becomes second in command? Anyone know?

bosio led the mutiny on the coastcordia.

[Milaandra]

 

4. Schettino refers to Roberto Bosio as his second in command. I also noted that the Court Magistrate in her decision referred to Roberto Bosio as the second in command. However, Bosio gave an interview in which he stated he is the Captain of the Serena and was just hitching a ride home. Maybe there is some maritime law or Costa policy that if another off duty captain is onboard during an emergency he automatically becomes second in command? Anyone know?

 

Precisely! And if Bosio was on the bridge and long enough for Schettino to get the information that it wasn't working on the dock (therefore on the bridge after the final phone call with the boss man and after Schettino left the bridge) how could he have been assisting passengers and anticipating the abandon ship 13 minutes before it was sounded!

 

Is it a common name in Italy? Is it at all possible that there could be two senior officers called Roberto Bosio working for the same cruise company?

[Milaandra]

The whole event was only about 60 minutes from impact to safety.

 

It sounds like a much better scenario entirely!

 

So how long from the collision until the tugboats showed up?

[dmwnc1959]

A short video showing underwater footage of Costa Concordia including a peak into a balcony stateroom and her propellers

 

 

http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/nyheter/utrikes/article14250705.ab

[Milaandra]

Does this idiot Captain not realize when making crazy accusations that facts can be easily checked. There would be navigational records of these events.....

 

Well, the idiot news agencies haven't figured that out yet...

[Krazy Kruizers]

A short video showing underwater footage of Costa Concordia including a peak into a balcony stateroom and her propellers

 

 

http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/nyheter/utrikes/article14250705.ab

 

Thank you for the link - I wasn't able to understand what they were saying.

[Cuizer2]

January 13 changed everything.

I disagree with you on this. It is one incident. One incident does not make a trend.

 

You can't just pick out ten years. We could pick out 100 years or one year. The overall safety record would change.

 

Let me get this straight. I can't use 10 years but you can pick out one day? You can compare the last five year to the five years before that and see what trends there might be. But you cannot FAIRLY analyze a forty year old company (Carnival began business in 1972) based on what happened on one day.

 

Changes need to be made.

This is the one thing you said that I agree with.

[Cuizer2]

Oh yes! This is the cruise industry's 9/11 ;)

.

 

The cruise industries 9/11 was April 15, 1912.

[Uniall]

This isn't about Domnica. This is about some Hungarians who allegedly contacted an Italian official saying that one of their relatives called them on the 13th, and hasn't been seen since the collision.

 

In terms of Domnica, she says she was a passenger with a cabin and a cabin card. Costa says she had a ticket and would give authorities the information about it. Domnica's parents are reported to have purchased her passage for her 25th birthday.

 

I haven't heard any evidence that any of this isn't true.

 

Would you please post the source of the parents purchase of the ticket?

 

The reports from the first night said that Donmica was not listed on the ship's manifest (as required by law if she was a passenger or crew member) and she had been a dancer/cruise rep on previous salings but not on this cruise but was not a crew member on this cruise.

 

John

PS

I don't know how Costa Cruise uses the term "dancer/cruise rep" term but last year on NCL (my primary cruise line) I encountered a similar use. When I boarded the ship and passed thru the officers' receiving line there was a tall leggy blond standing next to the Cruise Director. Every one else had introduced themselves with their position except for her. I asked what she did and she replied: "I'm a dancer". I responded with: "But of course you are." The Cruise Director then told me that the NCL production perfomers assist his department and the Latitudes department (frequent cruisers) when not performing.

[dmwnc1959]

Thank you for the link - I wasn't able to understand what they were saying.

 

The video pretty much speaks for itself....

[Cuizer2]

Hi Guys

 

I'm concerned with the expressed belief by some posters that items considered "On Topic" should be narrowly construed. Even taking into account that my primary Cruise Critic activity has been on Roll Calls, I believe some of the "On Topic" police have had a negative impact on Cruise Critic's underlying concept of amiable and amicable "Community." :eek:

 

I'll put my soap box away now and prepare another of my famous (infamous) posts in my "gallows humor" style. :o

 

With Goodwill,

John

 

I agree 100%.

[Milaandra]

According to the story in the link below, his wife is no longer in the house ...

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2090052/Costa-Concordia-captain-Francesco-Schettinos-dramatic-cruise-ship-struck-rocks.html

 

The comment about his wife leaving is at the end of the article.

 

Before the rumours start, let's just point out that the article says she left the house and drove off with a friend.

 

As written, she might be going shopping or visiting.

 

Let's wait and see if there is any additional information.

[Feelin' Nauti']

Because of the woeful management of the evacuation of the vessel, I wonder if Carnival will make changes in how they handle evacuations on main land.

[TheBestIsYetToCome]

According to the story in the link below, his wife is no longer in the house ...

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2090052/Costa-Concordia-captain-Francesco-Schettinos-dramatic-cruise-ship-struck-rocks.html

 

The comment about his wife leaving is at the end of the article.

 

Hard to say whether she "drove off with a friend" to do some shopping vs. leave her husband, but speaking for myself...I could never stay married to a man who had displayed such a fundamental level of disloyalty. (And I am not talking here about the accusations that he was involved with another woman.)

[foxesden1]

So about the black box.. I am behind again by about 30 pages.. Was it working?

 

Thanks!