Costa Concordia SINKING

[caribill]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with you. From "live" and/or "first hand accounts" it sounds like the crew didn't have a clue as to what to do in a real life emergency, or, to be fair, any direction from the ship's officers. It also sounds as if a lot of the evacuation was driven by passengers. The crew takes its direction from the top officers. If the Captain had not yet authorized abondoning ship, lower level crew should not do what they have not been ordered to do. It is possible that much of the crew knew what to do in an emergency, but did not speak English in order to convey that to the relatively small number of passengers who only know English.

 

 

If the Captain indeed got off the ship (and I can't help but wonder how he got off in the first place!!) before all cabins had been searched, well...I have no words for that. According to this, the Captain would still be on the ship as all the cabins have yet to be searched.

 

 

See above in red.

 

The Captain may or may not have acted properly. It is too early to know.

[Lard Greystoke]

There were about 100 Russians on board the Concordia. According to Russian state TV Vesti, Concordia officers were seen drunk and partying before the accident by one of the Russian passengers.

 

This might explain why the Captain snuck off like a drunk driver before anyone could get a breathlyzer sample from him.

 

So? They're not all on watch 24/7. Officers and crew who were off duty could have been rolling around naked in jelly if they felt that way inclined, as long as they were compos mentis by the time they were on watch again.

 

I can't believe that transportation companies don't have rules regarding their employees' behavior 24/7. If your ship encounters an emergency - such as RUNNING INTO AN ISLAND - you had better be "compos mentis" in order to deal with the situation.

 

Which, from all accounts, many of this crew handled pretty poorly. If Costa permits crew members to get drunk on board the vessel - as opposed to on shore leave, where in fact their personal behavior makes no difference - it shows an unbelievable level of incomptetence.

[atush]

I agree that the dead and injured and missing take priority.

 

But given the little to no help Costa is giving survivors of the incident, I cannot be surprised at how they are treating other customers affected.

[Hoosiermama]

He looks kinda young and hormonal

I always thought Capts. were chosen due to "greys" -and well past their hormonal stage..

.

 

Okay..that's funny!

[gentlemancruiser]

It is very interesting to see and hear the reaction in the media from passengers on the Concordia and how different they are from another ship that have faced disaster.

In March 2006 the Star Princess suffered a major fire while at sea and the passengers had very high praise for the crew. Many commented about how the Captain and crew kept everyone calm.

 

This pure speculation on my part, but why didn't the Captain immediately give orders for passengers to get life jackets and go to their muster stations? Even if it was only as a precautionary measure?

 

This may have something to do with why he has been arrested.

[ggo85]

It's an axiom in military naval circles . . . and I'd expect in civilian maritime circles as well . . . that, when something happens to the ship, the CO/Captain is almost always at fault.

 

Either (a) he personally screwed up, or (b) he didn't properly train and/or supervise his crew and they screwed up.

 

Here, put aside whether the captain was personally responsible. That could well be the case but, even if not, he's in trouble b/c it seems clear that at least some of his crew screwed up. This could be due to the fact that he, or those under his supervision, didn't provide adequate or timely direction or that the crew was properly instructed but wasn't properly trained.

 

Any board of inquiry is likely to find that one of the above situations existed -- with respect to the navigation issues and/or with the evacuation itself.

 

The captain has ultimate responsibility for the ship and its crew/passengers. Fair or unfair, he knows that's the "rule" when he accepts the position.

[Topsham]

The Italian Press (probably no more, nor less reliable than anyone else's) are reporting that the Concordia is a Total Loss. I guess time will tell.....

 

 

 

Total Loss would be like TITANIC. CONCORDIA is a CONSTRUCTIVE TOTAL LOSS... ie the cost of salvage and repair would be greater than the value of the ship.

[sylmack]

We were booked on this cruise leaving Civitavechia on 1/27/12.

 

I have spent 4 hours on the phone and Costa has offered a refund and 30% off a future cruise.

 

Now we have had to make many alternative travel arrangements within a 2 week window and subject to higher fares.

 

What a poor offer, 30% off a future cruise?.

 

Poor you.

Thanks for your compassion for those that DIED !

[ChuckinSC]

I find it difficult to believe that some of the officers were seen drunk. I would think Costa, as well as other Carnival companies, has protocols including "behavior unbecoming an officer". But, there will be a lot of speculation and rumor until the facts become known.

[Grandprix]

The safest place on a Costa ship is right next to the captain.

[ghstudio]

I am anxiously waiting for them to find the rock formation the ship hit. According to the navigational locations, he did try to go between the rocks...not outside the rocks. If he did try to go between the large rocks, then he must have had a serious problem and was trying to stay in shallow water, perhaps trying to wedge the ship there....but that would have been one of the first things he said. Instead he said they were farther from shore which would mean he thought they were turning outside the rocks. There are some major facts missing here. The black box should pinpoint what happened and where. Was the ship disabled and they were unable to turn in time? Did they know where they were? Were they tracking with the paper charts (if they had them)? etc....

 

Then the next question has to be why was the ship there in the first place.

[kruzerci]

Total Loss would be like TITANIC. CONCORDIA is a CONSTRUCTIVE TOTAL LOSS... ie the cost of salvage and repair would be greater than the value of the ship.

 

He was posting what the media reported.

[littlesteelo]

I find it difficult to believe that some of the officers were seen drunk. I would think Costa, as well as other Carnival companies, has protocols including "behavior unbecoming an officer". But, there will be a lot of speculation and rumor until the facts become known.

 

That's because they weren't drunk. And if they were, it would be in the crew bar, not accessible to passengers. The tabloids will lie about anything, especially here in the UK.

 

And it doesn't matter whether the Captain was at a party earlier in the night. Most are. The media and others don't seem to understand that ships no longer have someone constantly at a giant wooden wheel with two guys in the crows nest with binoculars, and that ships have multiple shifts for officers.

[Davyjonesrugrat]

The latest as I understand it.....

 

5 Fatalities (2 elderly men recovered today)

Captain and 1st Officer arrested in accordance with Italian law

Vessel is still being searched by underwater teams (Stopped due to failing light)

11 Passengers and 6 crew believed to be missing still

Salvage team assigned (According to CC Member)

Vessel currently on starboard side, unknown damage as yet unconfirmed. However with each rising/ebbing tide further damage is likely to be caused some floatation still in vessel and tidal movements.

Vessel lying at angle therefore likely to be on rocks thus keeping it from resting flat on ground - additional stresses.

Intentions are to recover onboard fuel/oils to minimise any future pollution threat from fuel onboard ship (Eco area)

 

 

If I have missed any further updates/or new info pls add to the list its just to allow us a quick state on the recovery aspect of the missing passengers/crew and the ship

[deckofficer]

stick a fork in him because he is DONE!

 

And thank you for that link, helped prove a theory my colleagues came to that was of course belittled by some here. Check post #997, then #1061.

Here is a paste of part of Red Mini Stapler's link.......

 

Experts say crash may have been caused by engine failure triggered by 'harmonic interference'

 

How I wound up on this forum I explained awhile back, but was a month ago, long before this accident. The reason I have posted here to this thread (after my beginning jab at ships that operate under "flags of convenience") was to offer some insight to the cruise ship community, what I got in return was hostile treatment except for a few not in the industry but most within the industry was in agreement with me. I know believe it would have just been better for all here, that I just let you speculate along with members such as ObscureAllure. The username is fitting, your allure is most obscure.

[rubrrick]

Close, Masters, Mates & Pilots

 

 

Ah, the union!

 

Rick

[SanFranCruizer]

From the National Post:

 

In fact, the 114,500-tonne cruise ship was sailing too close to Giglio island as it observed an age-old Italian maritime tradition of saluting shore residents — so close that it struck rocks well known to the locals.

“Everyone knows where the rocks are!” a Giglio resident said. “I don’t know what happened. We pass it all the time in our boat. The captain must have made some mistake.”

 

Maybe this is why the satellite pics of the course show the ship heading toward the island before any accident occurred? It looks as if they left the shipping lane to perform this old custom and hit the rocks. It also explains the boulder sized rock embedded in the side of the ship, which would be unusual for a regular reef.

 

Article here: http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/15/timeline-the-costa-concordias-last-minutes/

[Canadian Karebear]

In my entire life I have never heard of any officer taking out an insurance policy on his license. And if you were found guilty of negligence why would Lloyds pay you anything?

 

Being in the insurance industry (I am an underwriter for a large company) we deal with Lloyds all the time. The wordings are called Manuscript wordings, but basically they are all the same. If there is criminal intent or activity involved, the insurance company walks away without paying a penny.

This is standard in all insurance policies to avoid pay outs for criminal activity.

Sorry to get so wordy, and I wasn't going to reply on the first post, but the question was asked, so I felt like I should answer.

 

If there are criminal charges and he is found guilty he will find himself

denied for any insurance claim.

 

Lloyds does write insurance for this type of risk though. Just to clarify. Usually it's part of the Cruise Line's insurance policy but sometimes it's on the person rather than the Line.

 

Just my two cents as an insurance professional.

[Vampire Parrot]

Concordia officers were seen drunk and partying before the accident by one of the Russian passengers.

 

I would hope not! If I remember correctly, a deck officer or an engineering officer with a British license may not have more than the legal limit of alchol in their blood for driving (80 mg alcohol per 100ml of blood) at any time they are on board, whether or not they are a that time on duty/watch. I've been to a number of on-board parties on British ships, and the most I've seen a deck or engineering officer drink is two fairly small glasses of wine during a three hour period.

 

VP

[JLC@SD]

Discussion on German prime TV station ARD revealed by their reporter on scene:

it is quite common for Costa ships to substantially deviate from normal course and sail very very close and parallel to the Giglio Island harbor town in order to pay homage to the families of some crew and a Costa commodore living on Giglio Island. The deviation about 4 miles from normal course start when they steer the ships left, directly towards Giglio and at a close range steer to the right and sail parallel to the harbor town. This video http://video.corriere.it/nave-concordia-al-giglio-/9dfa5ea6-3e9b-11e1-8b52-5f77182bc574

shows another Costa ship doing this "panorama-reverence/salutatory tour". It is said by a German eyewitness from onboard that first they realized a hard right maneuver and then heard the bang.

After they ripped off their left side during the last resort right-turn the ship either got a spin and ended up 180 degrees opposite the suggested course , or as also discussed completed a so called "Greek anchor maneuver" which is obviously a method to stop the ship fast by dropping the anchor and swinging 180 degrees.

So this theory suggests that the ship just hit the most outward of the 2 rocks. This does not exclude that the ship could also tried navigating in between the 2 rocks. Anyway the video shows such a criminal maneuver happened before.....

 

This was not "another" Costa ship...I can read Costa Concordia lit up, on the forward portion of the ship....;)

[Highlander0108]

I am anxiously waiting for them to find the rock formation the ship hit. According to the navigational locations, he did try to go between the rocks...not outside the rocks. If he did try to go between the large rocks, then he must have had a serious problem and was trying to stay in shallow water, perhaps trying to wedge the ship there....but that would have been one of the first things he said. Instead he said they were farther from shore which would mean he thought they were turning outside the rocks. There are some major facts missing here. The black box should pinpoint what happened and where. Was the ship disabled and they were unable to turn in time? Did they know where they were? Were they tracking with the paper charts (if they had them)? etc....

 

Then the next question has to be why was the ship there in the first place.

 

Black box telemetry will be the final word on the ships actual course, combined with the physical evidence. I hope some astute reporters in Italy are off in boats now, examining the rocky shore in question, to rule this out as an option. I still can't believe the course shown on the Turkish site is accurate, but the Marine AIA site has a huge gap in time, if you look at the time stamps on the data between a point at sea and her approximate final position.

 

Back when QE2 hit the shoals off Martha's Vinyard, they eventually located the outcropping along with antifouling paint on it. That rock embbedded in the hull of Concordia looks like it was very close to the surface of the water, possibly making locating the impact point easier for divers.

[Davyjonesrugrat]

Experts say crash may have been caused by engine failure triggered by 'harmonic interference'

As yet I have seen no one from the ships company, Coastguard, the Company state that there had been any engine failure, it is still members of CC guessing.

 

The only definate facts are that she hit a rock and that started this horrific event, the proof is the large rock embedded in the side of the ship. The second fact being electric power was lost, hence the lights went out

[deckofficer]

Ah, the union!

 

Rick

 

Yes Rick, they do try their best to keep are compensation in line with our experience.

[Highlander0108]

This was not "another" Costa ship...I can read Costa Concordia lit up, on the forward portion of the ship....;)

 

It wasn't shot Friday night though, correct?

[kirsty_r]

It wasn't shot Friday night though, correct?

No - it was a close sailing in August, but potentially shows a tradition of Costa ships sailing close to the island.

 

My EPIC cruise sailed the west side of the island when in that area... but speculation is all we have at the moment for why the ship was heading towards shore. It will all come out in the end.