Costa Concordia SINKING

[Jeff Stieglitz]

Previously, I wrote that safety rules are “written in blood” because sometimes they are created in response to fatalities.

But then I reviewed a document cited by a previous poster: The report of the grounding of RCL’s Monarch of the Seas. It might as well have been written about the Concordia. (With the critical exception that *after* the event, the evacuation of the Monarch was handled smoothly)

http://marinecasualty.com/documents/monarch.pdf is fascinating reading for people who are interested in detailed analysis of disaster situations.

In both cases, we had a crew who navigated a ship directly into the rocks.

Those of you who are calling for a type of “air traffic control” for ships may be interested in the recommendations of the report. They were, essentially, “follow the documented navigation procedures.” And “the crew should do its job.”

For what it’s worth, those trying to compare the Concordia event to the space program should note that the space events were caused by engineering oversights more than the human factors at play with the Concordia. I am somewhat familiar with the aviation flight planning system, and I can see there could be potential for submitting new navigation plans to some kind of centralized system prior to departing each port. The usual standardized route routinely traveled by cruise ships each week would be automatically approved, where exceptional cases such as “tourist navigation” would get a bit more scrutiny. Of course, as with aviation the captain has the last word, so it might not have helped at all in this case. It appears that using the proper maps in the proper fashion along with the available navigation equipment would have prevented this event.

IMHO, the system will be adjusted to require more double-checking on the bridge to reduce the likelihood of events related to bad judgments, a certain command climate, and distractions on the bridge.

Here is an excerpt from the Monarch report. Please ask yourself what would have happened if the Concordia crew followed this navigation procedure -- not only the captain, but those under him who were charged with navigation and plotting.

“There were myriad human performance deficiencies”

[RCL procedures require] the Master and his nautical officers will create a port passage plan for the ports representing passage under normal conditions. The plan must be based on experience from numerous arrival and departure operations and shall include:

- Courses

- Parallel index distances to dangerous areas

- Speed and major propulsion commands

- Turning points

- Turn radius and/or rate of turn or rudder angle to execute the turn.

The passage into or out of a port shall be carefully plotted in the radar. Any observed deviation from the passage plan shall be immediately reported to the Master by any member of the bridge

Paragraph 10, "Voyage Plan and Port Passage Plan", requiring voyage and port passage plans.

Paragraph 1 1, "Checklists", requiring checklist be completed to ensure voyage and port passage plans were complete and thorough.

Paragraph 14, "Fix Positions", requiring terrestrial navigational fixes as well as continuous GPS follow-up position checks.

“RCCL should establish a check and balance system whereby a designated officer, such as the safety officer or staff captain, shall independently verify and document compliance with ISM SMS guidelines, procedures and job aids.”

[G.M.T.]

It all comes down to Sex, Drugs and Rock & Roll.

 

Sex - employee on holiday on a cruise ship (busman's holiday)

Drugs - captain passed a drugs test.

Rock - photos speak for themselves

Roll - Roll call of all those poor souls that have perished or are still missing, may they rest in peace.

 

Ron

[Hebersgyll]

revenge-fixation

 

Nope. Simply, like many others, speculating upon what could be the explanation for unimaginable behaviour which defied all his training, experience and judgement in the absence of any suggestion of technical mafunction.

[SomeBeach]

Good post!

 

I agree and so would the fella, still in the hospital, that received a bill for over 45 MILIION $$ last week. ;)

 

In case people miss this story, here is the relevant section about the unregistered guest panic sparked by the report of a missing Hungarian woman:

 

Officials said 17 people were still missing and an earlier report that there may have been a Hungarian stowaway on board was denied by the Hungarian foreign ministry which said the woman in fact died three years ago.

"Based on officially confirmed information today it has become clear that claims about the missing woman were unfounded," the ministry said.

"The person who made the claim about the missing person turned out to be abusing the personal data of a person who had died three years ago."

 

Supposedly the call came from the woman's father.

In this day and age, the rush to get the story is more important that getting facts to support the story. Before inst-stories/reporting, the print and media folks use to have time to dig a little deeper.

 

a) He went for dinner but was told by COSTA to go close to the Island but maybe he wanted to do it and never got authority b) then ate with a Blonde c) He ate alone d) He never ate and went to his cabin e) He was at the controls but distracted by guests f) He ate dinner and waited for dessert g) he fell into a life boat h) He fell over board but swam to shore i) He never left the ship stay til the very end j) He ate dinner, met the blonde had dessert, never inspected the damage, went to his cabin, undid his safe, got off the ship like a rodent and is now sitting have a latte in his house, awaiting trial

 

It seems whatever the capt did or DD NOT do, he will be held for his actions, and hopefully all if the MISSING ANSWERS get resolved, asap.

 

It was "reported" that his suitcases were packed too.

Supposedly also removed when the divers removed the safe from his suite.

[IRL_Joanie]

I don't answer to you. When you say I am not listening you mean I have not changed my mind on your say. I and others are booking cruises and we have a right for them to be as safe as possible given the current level of knowledge and technology.

Then would you please answer to us, the other posters as to your qualifications for wishing to have such an Air Traffic Control System put into place for the Maritime?

 

Are you an Active/retired ATC? Are you an Active/retired Pilot?

 

I ask because you are so sure of what will work, but give no explanations as to why you know they will work.

 

My husband is a Technical writer 5. He wrote the directions for the Astronauts with the NASA Space Shuttle Programs to use the simple Sony Black and White Camera to use to inspect the tiles on the space shuttle (after the Columbia tragedy). While I highly respect him and what he does, I do not want him/nor trust him to write the directions for any Air/Ship Traffic Control systems usage.

 

Heck, I do not want him writing a description of how to put together a little red wagon, it would be so full of technical jargonese that 99.99% of us would throw the directions out and figuyre it out by ourselves.

 

His comments today are that to many technical experts (engineers) get their fingers in the pie and screw up what needs or should happen because they truly do not understand how to operate anything.

 

Joanie

[Immebsmom]

Previously, I wrote that safety rules are “written in blood” because sometimes they are created in response to fatalities.

But then I reviewed a document cited by a previous poster: The report of the grounding of RCL’s Monarch of the Seas. It might as well have been written about the Concordia. (With the critical exception that *after* the event, the evacuation of the Monarch was handled smoothly)

http://marinecasualty.com/documents/monarch.pdf is fascinating reading for people who are interested in detailed analysis of disaster situations.

In both cases, we had a crew who navigated a ship directly into the rocks.

Those of you who are calling for a type of “air traffic control” for ships may be interested in the recommendations of the report. They were, essentially, “follow the documented navigation procedures.” And “the crew should do its job.”

For what it’s worth, those trying to compare the Concordia event to the space program should note that the space events were caused by engineering oversights more than the human factors at play with the Concordia. I am somewhat familiar with the aviation flight planning system, and I can see there could be potential for submitting new navigation plans to some kind of centralized system prior to departing each port. The usual standardized route routinely traveled by cruise ships each week would be automatically approved, where exceptional cases such as “tourist navigation” would get a bit more scrutiny. Of course, as with aviation the captain has the last word, so it might not have helped at all in this case. It appears that using the proper maps in the proper fashion along with the available navigation equipment would have prevented this event.

IMHO, the system will be adjusted to require more double-checking on the bridge to reduce the likelihood of events related to bad judgments, a certain command climate, and distractions on the bridge.

Here is an excerpt from the Monarch report. Please ask yourself what would have happened if the Concordia crew followed this navigation procedure -- not only the captain, but those under him who were charged with navigation and plotting.

“There were myriad human performance deficiencies”

[RCL procedures require] the Master and his nautical officers will create a port passage plan for the ports representing passage under normal conditions. The plan must be based on experience from numerous arrival and departure operations and shall include:

- Courses

- Parallel index distances to dangerous areas

- Speed and major propulsion commands

- Turning points

- Turn radius and/or rate of turn or rudder angle to execute the turn.

The passage into or out of a port shall be carefully plotted in the radar. Any observed deviation from the passage plan shall be immediately reported to the Master by any member of the bridge

Paragraph 10, "Voyage Plan and Port Passage Plan", requiring voyage and port passage plans.

Paragraph 1 1, "Checklists", requiring checklist be completed to ensure voyage and port passage plans were complete and thorough.

Paragraph 14, "Fix Positions", requiring terrestrial navigational fixes as well as continuous GPS follow-up position checks.

“RCCL should establish a check and balance system whereby a designated officer, such as the safety officer or staff captain, shall independently verify and document compliance with ISM SMS guidelines, procedures and job aids.”

 

Wow, this write up was a bit dry, but in reading how the Captain and the officers handled the evacuation of the ship, it appears to be the complete opposite of what happened here. Yes, there were mistakes made, but this Captain kept his head on him and did a well organized evacuation.

[UMDCruiseProf]

<snipped the grumpy and mean spirited part> I and others are booking cruises and we have a right for them to be as safe as possible given the current level of knowledge and technology.

 

I agree... but I think the thrust of numerous posts is that many here feel it *is* as safe as possible given the current level of knowledge and technology. And as you noted, the statistics back that up. Many, including myself, have been to the bridge of a major cruise ship and seen the systems firsthand. Some here have actually been in the merchant marine. And while you may have been on many cruises, you might want to acknowledge that their familiarity with ship controls and safety trumps yours. That doesn't remove your right to have an opinion, it just makes it incumbent on you to make sure you have the depth to discuss these systems from an informed position or suffer the probing responses of those who are better informed.

 

Now as far as some sort of Sea Traffic Control system... many, including me, think that it is not only unworkable and ineffective but possibly LESS safe than the current situation (and I posted at length on that subject... but you didn't respond to any of the points I made... or did I miss it?). That is where the disconnect between you and others seems to be. You state that a traffic control system would increase safety... but I pointed out a bunch of air crashes that were impossible to stop within the confines of an expensive US Government operated and maintained air traffic control system (with a corresponding federal agency: FAA). When you choose to ignore points that discredit your assertion you make it seem more like you are trolling and less like you are debating.

 

With that said... and with all due respect... I do not think you've backed up your assertion that more onshore sea traffic controls would be safer. In fact, you haven't really addressed the many posters here (including myself) who have made cogent points about how the type of system you propose would be ineffective, expensive, and unworkable.

 

So I bounce the debate ball back to you. I think you'd reduce the friction you are feeling here if you made your case more clearly, with more detail, and responded to the many rebuttals to your concept.

[Uniall]

This is getting even more confusing. I thought many have said the Captain was at dinner with the blonde. :confused:

 

The captain of the Costa Concordia was distracted by guests on the bridge when he hit the Italian island of Giglio, according to a witness who claimed Francesco Schettino then played no role in guiding the holed cruise ship into shallow water, instead panicking and going to his cabin.

 

It's really feeling like there are more sightings of this Captain than of Elvis. :rolleyes:

 

A news brief I just heard says Tues morning will begin the fuel removal if another boat for that purpose arrival tonight, as it is expected to.

 

Joanie, yes, I think DO has contributed a few good posts. I also think he really wants to discuss sailing as opposed to (for lack of a better word) traditional cruising and Concordia.

From his Floataway thread, I have directed him to the Windstar forum of CC. He may garner more interest with his posts on the young sailor lady.

 

Geraldo Rivera interviewed the Ship's waiter assigned to the Captain's table. The waiter said the Captain was with the blond woman and insisted on orddering another bottle of wine and serving the ordered dessert before going to the bridge. The waiter said this occured while word of mouth had already spread thru the crew that they'd have to abandon ship.

[Milaandra]

Pop an energiser,Milaandra! Come on, fairly simple is it not? Calm seas, excellent visibility, newish ship with state of the art navigation equipment, no suggestion (even by Schetttino) of any technical malfunction, a well-experienced skipper who, by all accounts, has demonstrated his high technical competence in manoevering the ship on countless occasions........

 

and you find it hard to belive that (let down by his psychological dispositions) he might have been distracted by this femme fatale, who seems to have dogged his every step, when he made his misjudgement and cruised aground at high speed?

 

Well, I'll happily wait for the outcome of the investigation. Maybe the moon shifted in its gravitational orbit and that swung the ship against the reef, or there is some other explanation

 

 

"many, many passengers' reports"...um...no. One woman reported seeing Shettino with a blonde in a bar. One couple reported seeing him (and another man) eating dinner with a blonde. One server said the same, and also the cook, whose testimony is highly suspect. That's three passengers. If you know of more, please tell me. Now, you might possibly push that to mean "many" but it can't possibly be considered "many, many" ;)

 

According to the lady in question, she says she dined with senior officers and Schettino stopped by her table. No once has questioned the reports of people like Bosio. Why should we question Cemortan?

 

So. The captain is friendly with someone who used to work in his crew and is now on vacation celebrating a birthday. And? Where does the leap originate that he must be having sex with her or actively trying to have sex with her or trying to impress her to the exclusion of all others on the ship?

 

Because she's young, attractive and female? Does that mean that every man you know who has been friendly with a young, attractive female coworker was trying to get off with her? That's just sad!

 

We also have no indication he ever had affairs.

 

But so what? What if he was having it on with her. Or trying to.

 

Here's the kicker. If men were incapable of performing their work duties just because there was a sexually attractive woman in the vicinity, there would be bus crashes, car crashes, more plane crashes (ooh, those cute flight attendants!), industrial accidents, collapsed business ventures...

 

But strangely enough, there are new generations of PYTs constantly coming into puberty, and yet the world continues to function.

 

I guess that means it really is just a joke that men don't have enough blood left for their brains!

 

Now. What I find truly frightening is that people blame her for the crash, without a speck of evidence. Why? Because she's young, pretty and female. There's no indication she did anything illegal. She wasn't in charge of anything. And whether she has done anything immoral or not, she is being punished. Why? Because she's young, pretty and female.

 

She is a "femme fatale", a "deadly woman", a siren dragging a man to his doom. And how does she accomplish this malevolent manipulation? Oh yeah. Simply by being young, pretty and female.

 

It isn't actually sexist. I'm not sure what the term is, because you can be female and not a "femme fatale" as long as you are past your prime or look like the back end of a bus.

 

Otherwise you are, as Jenny Fields in _The World According To Garp_ would say, a sexual suspect.

[Milaandra]

My reference to "miles off course" referred to the previous week's cruise, in response to an officer's claim that the previous week the ship had also done a "salute."

 

Oops! Sorry!

[Milaandra]

Nope. Simply, like many others, speculating upon what could be the explanation for unimaginable behaviour which defied all his training, experience and judgement in the absence of any suggestion of technical mafunction.

 

But why her?

[SomeBeach]

Geraldo Rivera interviewed the Ship's waiter assigned to the Captain's table. The waiter said the Captain was with the blond woman and insisted on orddering another bottle of wine and serving the ordered dessert before going to the bridge. The waiter said this occured while word of mouth had already spread thru the crew that they'd have to abandon ship.

 

I understand that but based on a link Milaandra posted, there is a different story.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/23/costa-concordia-captain-distracted-guests

 

First paragraph has him on the Bridge.

(Not saying the picture they used is from that evening.)

It goes back to what I implied earlier, that there's a lot of stories but what are the facts. I've heard info is being "leaked" but are they accurate pieces of actual facts.

[jopocop]

Celebrity Cruises Just Emailed this to me.

 

What do you think, was this in good taste or just pushing to sell tickets, or what?

 

 

To ensure proper delivery of future Celebrity Cruises Inc. emails, please click Here

 

 

Dear Sir:

 

Like you, all of us at Celebrity Cruises, both shipboard and shoreside, are deeply saddened by the events surrounding the tragic Costa Concordia accident. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by the incident.

 

I debated about writing to you, as I wanted to be respectful of the investigation process and avoid adding to the speculation as to the cause or related failures. However, the concerns that have been raised about the safety of cruise ships compelled me to take the opportunity to share what an intense focus we have always placed on safety, and how rigorously we put that focus into practice every day.

 

Since Celebrity Cruises’ founding more than 20 years ago, the safety of our guests and crew has always been our highest priority. The measures we take in the interest of safety are many, often exceeding regulatory requirements. It’s a critical part of our ongoing commitment to innovation and continuous improvement in every aspect of our business.

 

Our guests see just a portion of our safety practices through the mandatory muster drills we conduct at the outset of every sailing. But our safety practices encompass so much more. In light of the Costa Concordia accident, we chose to post a summary of our safety practices on our web site. Simply go to, http://www.CelebrityCruises.com/Safety, and click on the tab labeled "Safety and Security". I encourage you to take a look, and to share the information with your family and friends.

 

Above and beyond what we’ve communicated there, you also may be interested to know that the leader of Celebrity Cruises’ Captains is a highly experienced former officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, Greg Purdy. As the head of our Marine Operations Department, Greg’s highest priority is to guide and monitor the safety of our fleet. His own experience at sea, including serving as Captain of a Coast Guard vessel, combined with his depth of knowledge of cruise ship safety, ensures that he and the entire Celebrity Marine team continue to build on our strong safety culture.

 

Our Captains across the Celebrity fleet hold degrees from some of the world’s finest maritime institutions. You also may be surprised to know that, along with the Captain, every one of our ships has at least two other officers who hold the level of license required to serve as Captain of a cruise ship. Essentially, we have three people onboard every Celebrity ship who qualify as a Captain.

 

On average, each of Celebrity Cruises’ Captains has 25 years of seagoing experience. Besides the training and drills we conduct onboard, our Captains and their bridge teams also participate in navigation simulator courses and other training. One of the cornerstones of our training is that everyone is expected to speak up if they detect something wrong, regardless of their rank. Our shipboard officers and our shoreside team spend a considerable amount of time focused on how we can continually improve our safety procedures.

 

Along with our vast in-house expertise, we also rely on a group of experts known as our Maritime Safety Advisory Board. The group was established in 2006 to help guide our safety program and provide critical thinking from the world’s leading marine safety experts. The group includes former senior officials from the US and UK Coast Guards, as well as leadership from the academic world.

 

Our Chairman Richard Fain has said there’s no such thing as perfect safety, but there is such a thing as perfect dedication to safety. And that’s what we strive for daily.

 

Whether you’re a longtime cruiser, or have yet to sail with Celebrity, I hope you’ll help us reinforce the fact that cruising continues to maintain the best safety record of any industry in the travel business.

 

Our highly skilled and dedicated crew members look forward to welcoming you onboard soon to provide you with an outstanding vacation experience. Meanwhile, I thank you for your continued support of our brand and our business.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Dan Hanrahan President & CEO

 

 

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[Uniall]

I understand that but based on a link Milaandra posted, there is a different story.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/23/costa-concordia-captain-distracted-guests

 

First paragraph has him on the Bridge.

(Not saying the picture they used is from that evening.)

 

It goes back to what I implied earlier, that there's a lot of stories but what are the facts. I've heard info is being "leaked" but are they accurate pieces of actual facts.

 

Micky

Everything you say is true. It's just that in my professional experience I think the ship's waiter assigned to the Captain's dinner table is the "best" witness as to who was with him and when he was there.

 

Of course it could turn out that the waiter has a vendetta against the Captain but based upon everything I've seen, he's the best evidence so far.

 

John

[frediver]

Is this all going to boil down to a few issues.

Was the Capt.s place on the Bridge

a. maybe for close pass by events?

b. should the Capt. always be on the bridge, ie no Capt table dinner etc. possibly?

The Capt. was not on the bridge but did he approve the charted course?

Was the Concordia above or below the charted course track?

If so who's responsibility was it to keep on track?

And for those that recommend a committee run the boat I don't see how it would have made a difference in this event. If a safe course has been charted yet the bridge see's rocks blocking the way they turn the boat regardless of following the Committee's course.

 

I doubt the Capt actually charted that course but he likely had to approve it. If the charted course indicated adequate depth and the

course was approved because it was safe as charted who owns the

problem now? Personally as someone who has never been on a bridge

I would never have approved the track using the charts I have seen posted here.

[HelloHelloHola]

Celebrity Cruises Just Emailed this to me.

 

What do you think, was this in good taste or just pushing to sell tickets, or what?

 

Thanks for posting the message. As this message was sent to you as an email, it most likely means that you are/were a Celebrity customer. It appears that their 1st order of business is to communicate and regain confidence with existing customers. I also think this particular message was very well written. Better than the ones from other cruise lines.

[King of Cool]

Training and Safety

 

Back a bit there was some discussion on no matter what you do and what sort of control you exercise, audits and CRM training etc did not prevent this accident or that accident – and conclusion? - It is therefore a waste of time?

 

If that is the point, I respectfully disagree. But at long as humans are involved together with the intricacies of personal relationships and individual traits you will never ever obtain a ZERO accident rate – even though you can aim for one.

 

And it is the rate that counts not the number. What is remarkable in the airline industry is the staggering increase of hours being flown around the world every day. In 2010 according to ICAO, airlines carried 2.5 BILLION passengers all over the world. And this increase in the desire to travel has steadily skyrocketed since Wilbur and Orville got off the ground and there is no sign of it decelerating.

 

So it is inevitable you are going to read about more accidents. But is that a true picture of what is really happening? At the present time WE HAVE THE LOWEST AIRLINE ACCIDENT RATE IN HISTORY. Yes, it is the rate that counts, not the raw numbers.

 

So is this by chance? Or is it learning from our past mistakes and better training for crews and engineers or improved technology or what? I suspect a bit of everything of the latter. And what sort of rate is acceptable? Zero? Or as low as possible within the financial limitations that make an operation viable?

 

I could not agree more that shuffling paperwork and ticking boxes does not stop accidents but what about EFFECTIVE training? We will never know how many accidents CRM has prevented because nearly all accidents have a series of events that link up like a chain and that chain can be broken by just one simple defensive mechanism which may be just a few spoken words like “Captain, I think we should use the radar.”

Cruise ship accidents are rare but like airlines, ships are increasing in numbers and carrying more and more passengers so inevitably we will see more mishaps. To try and prevent another Costa Concordia the cruise industry is going to have to look at every link in the chain that caused it. Whilst I believe that Captain Schettino deserves all he gets I do not consider a legal magistrate is the right person to properly assess what should be done to prevent further Concordias.

 

What is needed is an independent fully qualified accident investigation board that can properly assess what happened at every level of this accident including crew experience and training, operational control, crew communication, adequacy of systems, emergency response etc, etc so that all other operators can at least try to stop it happening again by appropriate defensive mechanisms so the holes in the layers of Swiss cheese can never line up. If this is happening – good. In Concordia I believe crew resource management and training played a major role and it will be to their detriment if cruise companies ignore it.

[gentlemancruiser]

Celebrity Cruises Just Emailed this to me.

 

What do you think, was this in good taste or just pushing to sell tickets, or what?

 

 

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Dear Sir:

 

Like you, all of us at Celebrity Cruises, both shipboard and shoreside, are deeply saddened by the events surrounding the tragic Costa Concordia accident. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by the incident.

 

I debated about writing to you, as I wanted to be respectful of the investigation process and avoid adding to the speculation as to the cause or related failures. However, the concerns that have been raised about the safety of cruise ships compelled me to take the opportunity to share what an intense focus we have always placed on safety, and how rigorously we put that focus into practice ev

 

Since Celebrity Cruises’ founding more than 20 years ago, the safety of our guests and crew has always been our highest priority. The measures we take in the interest of safety are many, often exceeding regulatory requirements. It’s a critical part of our ongoing commitment to innovation and continuous improvement in every aspect of our business.

 

Our guests see just a portion of our safety practices through the mandatory muster drills we conduct at the outset of every sailing. But our safety practices encompass so much more. In light of the Costa Concordia accident, we chose to post a summary of our safety practices on our web site.

 

Privacy Policy

I think he is just trying to answer questions and clam fears. I would imagine many first time cruisers are somewhat hesitant right now. I have always like the way Dan approaches guest relations. That is one strength of X.

[deckofficer]

Celebrity Cruises Just Emailed this to me.

 

What do you think, was this in good taste or just pushing to sell tickets, or what?

 

 

To ensure proper delivery of future Celebrity Cruises Inc. emails, please click Here

 

 

Dear Sir:

 

Like you, all of us at Celebrity Cruises, both shipboard and shoreside, are deeply saddened by the events surrounding the tragic Costa Concordia accident. Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by the incident.

 

I debated about writing to you, as I wanted to be respectful of the investigation process and avoid adding to the speculation as to the cause or related failures. However, the concerns that have been raised about the safety of cruise ships compelled me to take the opportunity to share what an intense focus we have always placed on safety, and how rigorously we put that focus into practice every day.

 

Since Celebrity Cruises’ founding more than 20 years ago, the safety of our guests and crew has always been our highest priority. The measures we take in the interest of safety are many, often exceeding regulatory requirements. It’s a critical part of our ongoing commitment to innovation and continuous improvement in every aspect of our business.

 

Our guests see just a portion of our safety practices through the mandatory muster drills we conduct at the outset of every sailing. But our safety practices encompass so much more. In light of the Costa Concordia accident, we chose to post a summary of our safety practices on our web site. Simply go to, http://www.CelebrityCruises.com/Safety, and click on the tab labeled "Safety and Security". I encourage you to take a look, and to share the information with your family and friends.

 

Above and beyond what we’ve communicated there, you also may be interested to know that the leader of Celebrity Cruises’ Captains is a highly experienced former officer in the U.S. Coast Guard, Greg Purdy. As the head of our Marine Operations Department, Greg’s highest priority is to guide and monitor the safety of our fleet. His own experience at sea, including serving as Captain of a Coast Guard vessel, combined with his depth of knowledge of cruise ship safety, ensures that he and the entire Celebrity Marine team continue to build on our strong safety culture.

 

Our Captains across the Celebrity fleet hold degrees from some of the world’s finest maritime institutions. You also may be surprised to know that, along with the Captain, every one of our ships has at least two other officers who hold the level of license required to serve as Captain of a cruise ship. Essentially, we have three people onboard every Celebrity ship who qualify as a Captain.

 

On average, each of Celebrity Cruises’ Captains has 25 years of seagoing experience. Besides the training and drills we conduct onboard, our Captains and their bridge teams also participate in navigation simulator courses and other training. One of the cornerstones of our training is that everyone is expected to speak up if they detect something wrong, regardless of their rank. Our shipboard officers and our shoreside team spend a considerable amount of time focused on how we can continually improve our safety procedures.

 

Along with our vast in-house expertise, we also rely on a group of experts known as our Maritime Safety Advisory Board. The group was established in 2006 to help guide our safety program and provide critical thinking from the world’s leading marine safety experts. The group includes former senior officials from the US and UK Coast Guards, as well as leadership from the academic world.

 

Our Chairman Richard Fain has said there’s no such thing as perfect safety, but there is such a thing as perfect dedication to safety. And that’s what we strive for daily.

 

Whether you’re a longtime cruiser, or have yet to sail with Celebrity, I hope you’ll help us reinforce the fact that cruising continues to maintain the best safety record of any industry in the travel business.

 

Our highly skilled and dedicated crew members look forward to welcoming you onboard soon to provide you with an outstanding vacation experience. Meanwhile, I thank you for your continued support of our brand and our business.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Dan Hanrahan President & CEO

 

 

If you wish to change your preferences or opt to be excluded from future commercial emails from Celebrity Cruises, click here or visit: Celebrity.com

 

We hope you enjoyed this email from:

Celebrity Cruises Inc.

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Although this sounds impressive, it is in fact the way it is for all shipping companies and cruise lines. After graduation from a maritime academy and passing (for the US) of (4) 8 hour days of testing, you are a freshly minted 3rd Mate, Unlimited Tonnage Open Ocean. After two years as a 3rd you can sit for the 2nd's test and so one. Since MM&P will allow companies to chose their captains for straight assignment to a given ship, and in turn will allow that captain to chose his 1st, you will always have a lot of deck officers that even though sailing as say the 2nd, is in fact licensed as a captain.

[Ozcruiser1]

If This forum was a cruise ship and I was the Mitre'd trying to assign all you posters in a common dining room to make for an enjoyable cruise I would encounter some problems.

I thought Daveyjonesrugrat and charles would be a problem at a table for two. Daveyjonesrugrat thought last night that it would be alright with a liberal amount of drink. It would appear that at breakfast both he and Charlie are at it again.

Deckofficer is trying to find a nice table but it appears that he can put his table mates offside pretty quick. I thought he and IRL Joanie would do ok together at a table for two, but Charles was moved fro Daveyjones's table to join them , this upset IRL Joanie. I moved Deckoffice to join Evil Jeremy's table but that created all sorts of problems time and time again.

Uniall is a bit difficult to assign to a table with any woman wearing black and he easily offends some of but not all of them, but loves a drink and likes Aussies.

Milaandra makes for a nice table companion but loves reading every newspaper and asks for Sarnialo to help her with the translations.

 

I didnt realize how important the Maitre'd was to make for an enjoyable cruise... I must make sure I tip him well on my next cruise....ooops those darn Russian have beaten me to the best table..:(

[jopocop]

I think he is just trying to answer questions and clam fears. I would imagine many first time cruisers are somewhat hesitant right now. I have always like the way Dan approaches guest relations. That is one strength of X.

 

Yes, my take is that Celebrity is trying to be pleasant and reasonable with this, but, in some ways, I am wondering if this happened because they have dropped off sales or they got tons of inquiries about their captains, etc.

 

They could have left well enough alone, but, then, maybe they would be criticized for being silent on this whole subject.

 

I have to be realistic and the fact that Captains are highly trained and work their way up the ladder based on merit, the bottom line is that to be human is to error and even with the best of qualifications, there can be at sea first of kind emergencies.

 

I think they run a good cruise and really care however and I would pick them again to travel.

[IRL_Joanie]

If This forum was a cruise ship and I was the Mitre'd trying to assign all you posters in a common dining room to make for an enjoyable cruise I would encounter some problems.

I thought Daveyjonesrugrat and charles would be a problem at a table for two. Daveyjonesrugrat thought last night that it would be alright with a liberal amount of drink. It would appear that at breakfast both he and Charlie are at it again.

Deckofficer is trying to find a nice table but it appears that he can put his table mates offside pretty quick. I thought he and IRL Joanie would do ok together at a table for two, but Charles was moved fro Daveyjones's table to join them , this upset IRL Joanie. I moved Deckoffice to join Evil Jeremy's table but that created all sorts of problems time and time again.

Uniall is a bit difficult to assign to a table with any woman wearing black and he easily offends some of but not all of them, but loves a drink and likes Aussies.

Milaandra makes for a nice table companion but loves reading every newspaper and asks for Sarnialo to help her with the translations.

 

I didnt realize how important the Maitre'd was to make for an enjoyable cruise... I must make sure I tip him well on my next cruise....ooops those darn Russian have beaten me to the best table..:(

I Love it!!! But then the possibility of me offending anyone, even dressed in a slinky black dress might offend everyone, were I to wear it as a sleeveless... (ex-fat, old age arms and wrinkles *Grin*)

 

Actually, I think we'd all do quite well as tabe mates because we are all vocal enough to speak our minds, mostly in clear and concise wording. Also because of the fact that while we may come across at times as overbearing bores and or loud, and or obnoxious, 99.99% of the time face to face we can SEE that what we say in an online forum, and is read by the same, is totally different than what we are trying to say.

 

Joanie

[Davyjonesrugrat]

If This forum was a cruise ship and I was the Mitre'd trying to assign all you posters in a common dining room to make for an enjoyable cruise I would encounter some problems.

I thought Daveyjonesrugrat and charles would be a problem at a table for two. Daveyjonesrugrat thought last night that it would be alright with a liberal amount of drink. It would appear that at breakfast both he and Charlie are at it again.

Deckofficer is trying to find a nice table but it appears that he can put his table mates offside pretty quick. I thought he and IRL Joanie would do ok together at a table for two, but Charles was moved fro Daveyjones's table to join them , this upset IRL Joanie. I moved Deckoffice to join Evil Jeremy's table but that created all sorts of problems time and time again.

Uniall is a bit difficult to assign to a table with any woman wearing black and he easily offends some of but not all of them, but loves a drink and likes Aussies.

Milaandra makes for a nice table companion but loves reading every newspaper and asks for Sarnialo to help her with the translations.

 

I didnt realize how important the Maitre'd was to make for an enjoyable cruise... I must make sure I tip him well on my next cruise....ooops those darn Russian have beaten me to the best table..:(

Its a shame that due to the current table arrangements there is no seating for Ozcruiser1, therefore he has been put in the brig with the 'All Black' rugby team. It was further reported that he was seen as a 'bubbling wreck' when advised of the new arrangements.

 

Bon appetit

 

:):D

[Jeff Stieglitz]

If This forum was a cruise ship and I was the Mitre'd trying to assign all you posters in a common dining room to make for an enjoyable cruise I would encounter some problems.

...

Milaandra makes for a nice table companion but loves reading every newspaper and asks for Sarnialo to help her with the translations.

 

Maiter'd, please accept my apology for being a no-show. On my way down to the dining room, some of the ship's dancers were walking by, and for reasons I can't understand, I bumped into a pole and blacked out.

 

When I came to, Milaandra was nearby asking the staff to place padding around the hazardous obstacle.:)

[Hebersgyll]

H

"many, many passengers' reports"...um...no. One woman reported seeing Shettino with a blonde in a bar. One couple reported seeing him (and another man) eating dinner with a blonde. One server said the same, and also the cook, whose testimony is highly suspect. That's three passengers. If you know of more, please tell me.

 

Fine... I've seen lots of others, not all on this forum Just one eg for now. Have you read the testimony of the mother of Rose, the dancer? Along the lines of.."I wasn't worried he'd sink the ship - more that he would come on at Rose!" (Oh, she was there, met him, we didn't!)

 

According to the lady in question,

Ummm, well, yes, sort of what you might expect, eh?!

 

she says she dined with senior officers and Schettino stopped by her table. No once has questioned the reports of people like Bosio. Why should we question Cemortan?

 

I assume there will be forensic scrutiny of all witness testimony!

 

So. The captain is friendly with someone who used to work in his crew and is now on vacation celebrating a birthday. And? Where does the leap originate that he must be having sex with her or actively trying to have sex with her or trying to impress her to the exclusion of all others on the ship?

 

No idea, Milaandra....I think I suggested there is evidence he may have spent a lot of time around her & may well have been distracted by her presence & have been showing off to her. Nothing like your lurid suggestions!

 

Because she's young, attractive and female? Does that mean that every man you know who has been friendly with a young, attractive female coworker was trying to get off with her? That's just sad!

 

A kind of preposterous (Spelling may need to b excused) suggestion I never made! But it just kind of happens sometimes, as well-evidenced in history and literature. Did Mr David Blunkett not lose his cabinet job due to his infatuation with the publisher wife of another man, to the extent that he even claimed (wrongly) that her unborn child was his? And he was blind so the physical appearance of the lady in question doesn't need to be that relevant! At least David Blunkett only sank his own careeer & caused severe embarrassment to others. He didn't imperil 4000 lives.

 

We also have no indication he ever had affairs.

So who said he did? I think I suggested he might have been distracted!

 

But so what? What if he was having it on with her. Or trying to.

Here's the kicker. If men were incapable of performing their work duties just because there was a sexually attractive woman in the vicinity, there would be bus crashes, car crashes, more plane crashes (ooh, those cute flight attendants!), industrial accidents, collapsed business ventures...

 

Yep, there are well-documented examples of all of those!... but what a poor leap of logical inference, to suggest that because it happens occasionally that no men "were capable of performing, etc. etc. etc"!!

 

I guess that means it really is just a joke that men don't have enough blood left for their brains!

 

Is that what you think Milaandra? As you might expect, I don't share that belief!

 

Now. What I find truly frightening is that people blame her for the crash, without a speck of evidence.

Certainly not me! I (& most others, I guess) blame Schettino!

 

Why? Because she's young, pretty and female. There's no indication she did anything illegal. She wasn't in charge of anything.

 

Exactly so! She is not being blamed by anyone that I know. If Schettino allowed his judgement and behavoiur to be adversely influenced due to the distraction ofher presence HE is the one to blame!! (but, and if so, factually she will have been his 'femme fatal' ?)

 

And whether she has done anything immoral or not, she is being punished.

 

I don't know anywhere that she has beeen accused of being 'immoral'. Nor have I seen any suggestion that SHE should be punished if her presence on the ship was in any way illegal. (Lots more to find out about all that?) So, for now, her only 'punishment' is media attention?

 

 

We don't seem to see quite eye to eye, Milaandra, and, in my opinion,your anxiety about 'sexism' or poliical correctness generally sends you around tilting at all sorts of funny windmills! Maybe change your brand of biscuits?