Costa Ship grounded or sinking

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

BBC just played tapes,

 

 

 

Just heard the tapes between the captain and harbour master

 

never heard anything like it

 

a harbour master begging, demanding a captain returns to his ship to take charge of getting all passengers and crew off

 

a captain refusing to go back , take charge etc

 

it was his ship

 

he is the person all onboard turn to for leadership, instruction,

 

for him to run away and refuse to go back

 

is enough lock him up and throw away the key.

 

yours Shogun

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

Very sad that another 5 bodies have been found wearing life jackets and at a muster point , from BBC

 

 

saying that divers are checking muster points first in that they think thats wear bodies might be found.

 

 

yours Shogun

[Princess Patches]

Here is another transcript of the same conversation between the captain and the Port Authority commander I found on CNN. The captain at first states "all is well" and then just seconds later admits that the ship has keeled over.

 

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/17/port-authority-to-cruise-ship-captain-get-on-board-damn-it/?hpt=hptl

[SkinnyDennis]

Night vision video of evacuation from the Concordia:

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16591501

 

Note the long narrow dark area midships at the bottom of the hull. I wonder if this is one of the diesel engines? The footage was shot with an infrared camera, warm objects appear dark, cold objects light. There are also dark areas in the bow at the bottom, I wonder what's causing the warmth there?

 

Not that this has anything to do with what happened, just curious.

[Shogun]

Hi All

 

Anyone fnd it odd that we have not heard from the ships senior officers,

 

I do not see any reports of passengers saying an officer help us etc, its all crew etc

 

Like wise with folks being interviewed where is the 2nd the third a cadet etc.

 

the only one we here from is the pursar,

 

yours Shogun

[karatemom2]

Hi All

 

Anyone fnd it odd that we have not heard from the ships senior officers,

 

I do not see any reports of passengers saying an officer help us etc, its all crew etc

 

Like wise with folks being interviewed where is the 2nd the third a cadet etc.

 

the only one we here from is the pursar,

 

yours Shogun

 

I have noticed that too Shogun. All the reports I have been reading or seeing from those that escaped seem to indicate there were no officers around providing leadership or assistance. Most of the reports mention entertainers, kitchen crew and stewards as being on the front lines trying to help passengers. The only officer that appears to have stepped up and really done his job is the the purser that had to be airlifted off the ship. Besides him there seems to be not one story of an officer that actually stepped up and helped the passengers and crew. Even the crew who are talking say they had to take things in their own hands because there were no officers around to give directions. Pretty sad!

[oskidunker]

The first officer should have taken over command when the Captain left the ship but it appears he went with him. probably none of these officers has ever been in the military. An officer I talked to here is with Princess told me this would never happen on a ship with a British Crew.Not sure if the Bridge officers are still British. Maybe some.

[JanaJohn]

Hi All

 

Anyone fnd it odd that we have not heard from the ships senior officers, I do not see any reports of passengers saying an officer help us etc, its all crew etc

 

Like wise with folks being interviewed where is the 2nd the third a cadet etc. the only one we here from is the pursar,

 

It's "possible" that all the officers have been told to keep their mouths shut by Costa. Any statements made, even to the press, can be used against them if charges are filed on people other than the captain.

[CZEE]

The first officer should have taken over command when the Captain left the ship but it appears he went with him. probably none of these officers has ever been in the military. An officer I talked to here is with Princess told me this would never happen on a ship with a British Crew.Not sure if the Bridge officers are still British. Maybe some.

 

Well, my mother felt the same way. She avoided ships with certain nationalities in charge fearing she'd see the same thing that was reported with the Andrea Doria when she sank off the east coast of the US in the mid 50s (I think). Italian officers and crew off first, passengers left to fend for themselves and a pretty high loss of life. Of course that ship had a pretty big gash in her from the collision with another ship. So, she went down quickly.

[morriscats]

I have noticed that too Shogun. All the reports I have been reading or seeing from those that escaped seem to indicate there were no officers around providing leadership or assistance. Most of the reports mention entertainers, kitchen crew and stewards as being on the front lines trying to help passengers. The only officer that appears to have stepped up and really done his job is the the purser that had to be airlifted off the ship. Besides him there seems to be not one story of an officer that actually stepped up and helped the passengers and crew. Even the crew who are talking say they had to take things in their own hands because there were no officers around to give directions. Pretty sad!

 

I also heard this morning that the Doctor stayed.

[VOR]

I will not say that people from one place or another will act differently in a situation like this, but its certain that a military background and the training received there make a huge difference when all heck breaks loose.

[bdjam]

Cool interactive map - thanks for the link.

 

This seems to be a reasonable explanation...

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/interactive-graphics/9018076/Concordia-How-the-disaster-unfolded.html

[robgvic]

I think Carnival Corporation is also to blame. I'm sure they told Costa to add ships and paid for them. They went from very few ships to many more and wouldn't have had the officers in the system to promote and train as captains.

 

This is fascinating but even scarier

 

http://audioboo.fm/boos/627323-coastguard-tells-captain-to-return-to-ship#t=0m10s

[hcw80]

I will not say that people from one place or another will act differently in a situation like this, but its certain that a military background and the training received there make a huge difference when all heck breaks loose.

 

I've got to agree. People in the military are trained to react calmly. I'm not saying that when it hits the fan, all do. But acting quickly assess and react are drilled over and over again. Check list are available and a strong chain on command is mandated.

[6pack]

Here is another transcript of the same conversation between the captain and the Port Authority commander I found on CNN. The captain at first states "all is well" and then just seconds later admits that the ship has keeled over.

 

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/17/port-authority-to-cruise-ship-captain-get-on-board-damn-it/?hpt=hptl

 

After hearing this transcript, i feel sick. This is truly unbelievable. http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/17/world/europe/italy-ship-captain/index.html?hpt=hp_c1

[bdjam]

Was it every established whether or not the Captain did go back on board? I haven't seen any mention of that.

[Aussie Gal]

From what I have read, he caught a taxi and disappeared.

 

Jennie

[1 HappyCruiser]

Was it every established whether or not the Captain did go back on board? I haven't seen any mention of that.

 

They put him in custody.

[TorontoTL]

He's currently under house arrest.

[RickEk]

The first officer should have taken over command when the Captain left the ship but it appears he went with him. probably none of these officers has ever been in the military. An officer I talked to here is with Princess told me this would never happen on a ship with a British Crew.Not sure if the Bridge officers are still British. Maybe some.

 

On a bridge tour a couple of years ago on Sea Princess, the Captain was British, the first officer was Italian, the 3rd officer was British...

[Tedferg]

I have the impression that this Captain has done the Giglio Sail By before? Any truth? If so then Costa would have to know and so would have some responsibility.

[Cruise Junky]

I have the impression that this Captain has done the Giglio Sail By before? Any truth? If so then Costa would have to know and so would have some responsibility.

 

Way too much speculation right now. On this subject, I read it was a different captain, but who knows.

[RickEk]

I have the impression that this Captain has done the Giglio Sail By before? Any truth? If so then Costa would have to know and so would have some responsibility.

 

From what I read, that "sail by" was officially sanctioned by Costa last year to celebrate the patron saint of Giglio. There's video of it and you can see (and hear) the ship quite clearly as she sails by the harbor. This latest foray was apparently unsanctioned...

[Katelab]

One issue seems to be the training of the crew seems to be geared towards a "normal" disaster where the ship remains stable. The training does not seem rigorous enough for a "catastrophic" disaster where the ship lists and there is much more stress.

 

My hat is off to the brave crew men who helped people in spite of the listing and loss of power. They truly deserve our admiration.

 

Even with more rigorous disaster training some will buckle under the stress. So very rigorous training for officers to weed out the weak if possible should be done.

[Pam in CA]

Was it every established whether or not the Captain did go back on board? I haven't seen any mention of that.

No, but it's likely he didn't because he'd have been seen. No one saw him either on shore or on the ship, mostly because he and his second in command took a rescue boat (like a speed boat) off the ship and claimed he was coordinating the rescue from there.

 

The transcripts from the Italian Coast Guard indicate that he at first said he'd abandoned the ship. Then, he changed his tune and said he was catapulted into the sea (kind of hard to do if you're in the Bridge.) He doesn't explain how he happened to be in the rescue boat along with the other officer. The whole thing is mind-boggling.