Costa Concordia sinking (merged threads)

[Sir PMP]

Just saw a report about this on Sky News and hear that the death count is now up to six. How very sad. Our thoughts and prayers are with all involved in this tragic event.

 

Latest from the Dutch radio is that 6 are dead and 4 are missing, some people jumped overboard, you better sit tight because this must have been a major impact hitting a sandbar at what kind of speed..

[ger_77]

One can only imagine how frightening it must have been for all those onboard - passengers and crew alike. Thoughts and prayers for everyone involved.

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[ariawoman]

I've read that the death toll is at 8; and then there's 1 person that says one news network just reported 30 deaths.....I'm hoping it's not true. :(

[world~citizen]

How could the reef not have been charted? Surely they knew it was there?

 

Stuff happens.

 

Remember a ship no less venerable than the QE2 ran aground off the US east coast. As that ship was built literally to go to war (though I am sure some CC maritime experts would disagree), as serious as the damage was, she didn't sink. The rocks she ran into were charted and we learned a lot of new hydrodynamics after that.

 

Sailing is serious business and something that happens more frequently than I would like (to HAL ships as well) is total engine failure. A ship is unbelievably, staggeringly vulnerable when she is dead in the water and when a company allows its vessels to get into that situation it is no small thing. People on these boards speak bravely about making an adventure of it and mock those who express alarm over it, but it is serious business especially if it happens in bad weather.

 

There will be an enquiry, maybe more than one and maybe something good will come of this.

 

What I like about HAL is that it seems to take the lifeboat drill much more seriously than other lines and you have a sense of a culture of safety on board. I hope so anyway.

 

Smooth sailing...

[SakeDad]

They are now reporting more than 30 deaths. I fear these are going to be MOSTLY crew! This is what I posted on the Costa board. I was a crew member on HAL and Disney and know that 90% sleep in the areas that would be immediatley flooded if there was a huge 165 foot gash made in the hull.

 

"This was my fear. The tear in the hull would have happened where the crew live and work. Any flooding would have happened immediately and they would have had no escape. It is good that it was the dinner hour so most passengers would have been in public areas on higher decks, but many of the crew would have been at dinner themselves in the crew areas or on breaks or sleeping between shifts. These would all have been on decks lower than what we have already seen underwater. I truly feel most of the casualties we are going to see will be crew members and may be days before we know the true counts."

 

And this is one of the latest pics from this morning....

[SakeDad]

We (most anyway) are all adults and know we should show up. That just wastes more time. If people don't go they only hurt (or worse) themselves.

 

This is NOT TRUE!!:mad: Those that don't go to muster/safety drills are the people who won't have any idea what to do in a real emergency and will waste the crew's valuable time as they panic and the crew has to deal with them as opposed to doing their regular safety duties. In other words...you miss drill, fire breaks out, instead of knowing where your liferaft is and calmly going you grab the first crew member you see with a lifevest on DEMANDING they help you (and ONLY you!) to get you and your family to the muster station you should have known about the first day of sailing! Meanwhile that crew mwmber can no longer be at the stairs to help direct the rest of the passengers or help the elderly or handicapped....all because someone was to SELFINVOLVED to go to muster....after all, it can't hurt anyone but themselves!!:mad::mad::mad:

While you personally may not miss drills I couldn't waste this opportunity to make sure EVERYONE reading these posts knows how extremely important it is for EVERYONE onboard to attend these drills.....EVERY TIME!!!:D Rant over..:rolleyes:..for now.

[English_in_Spain]

What concerns me is the speed at which this happened.

 

As has been said previously, when a ship lists so far on its side so quickly, the lifeboats cannot be launched. What happens then? No way can you use helicopters to rescue 4000 people.

 

Like everyone else, my thoughts are with the people who lost their lives and their families.

 

[QM2 Cruiser]

This is so shocking. My thoughts and prayers go out to everyone involved in this emergency. I never thought that something like this could happen in the 21st century. This is an awakening to to cruise industry; we're not invincible. I hope and pray for the best.

[Krazy Kruizers]

I just heard about this.

 

Very sad for everyone.

 

Prayers for the families of those who died.

[world~citizen]

What concerns me is the speed at which this happened.

 

As has been said previously, when a ship lists so far on its side so quickly, the lifeboats cannot be launched. What happens then? No way can you use helicopters to rescue 4000 people.

 

Like everyone else, my thoughts are with the people who lost their lives and their families.

 

 

Exactly.

 

The bigger the ship, the bigger the potential problems. As I have said numerous times on this board - sailing is serious business. People are so complacent with respect to safety that when PAX express their alarm over a ship they sailed on that went dead in the water, others point to alternative motives for their post such as to (frivolously) seek compensation.

 

Think about people with canes and walkers and wheelchairs and think about the lifeboats on one side of a ship disabled because of a list and think about the speed these things can happen. There has been progress. I was made to understand that technology had improved to allow lifeboats to be launched even with a list. The report that the boats couldn't be launched surprises me.

 

This is a sobering tragedy.

[kazu]

This is awful. What a tragedy. All our prayers are with everyone there.

I just heard about this and hope that there are no more deaths.

[hamrag]

Those that don't go to muster/safety drills are the people who won't have any idea what to do in a real emergency and will waste the crew's valuable time as they panic and the crew has to deal with them as opposed to doing their regular safety duties. In other words...you miss drill, fire breaks out, instead of knowing where your liferaft is and calmly going you grab the first crew member you see with a lifevest on DEMANDING they help you (and ONLY you!) to get you and your family to the muster station you should have known about the first day of sailing! Meanwhile that crew mwmber can no longer be at the stairs to help direct the rest of the passengers or help the elderly or handicapped....all because someone was to SELFINVOLVED to go to muster....after all, it can't hurt anyone but themselves!!:mad::mad::mad:

While you personally may not miss drills I couldn't waste this opportunity to make sure EVERYONE reading these posts knows how extremely important it is for EVERYONE onboard to attend these drills.....EVERY TIME!!!:D Rant over..:rolleyes:..for now.

 

Maritime laws (maybe only in Europe) state a muster drill must be held within 24 hours of sailing. For those who boarded in Civitavecchia, the muster drill was scheduled for today in Savona, therefore there was NO muster drill for many of the passengers aboard prior to this dreadful tragedy. My hunch is laws will be revisited, and cruiselines will now ensure muster drills before any boarding passengers sail!

 

The way Costa structure these cruises is that Savona is the main i.e. "home" port, but Civitavecchia has a huge catchment area and is the port for Rome. Depending on when you board, Civitavecchia is either the boarding port, or the final port destination. That is why the muster drill was scheduled for Savona at 5.00pm today when the vast majority of new passengers would have boarded.

[powderhorn]

Gripping video of the rescue in progress last night. The flashing lights on the hull are from life jackets as passengers descend a rope ladder down the hull to the rescue boat.

 

http://iltirreno.gelocal.it/foto-e-video/la-concordia-dall-elicottero-1.3065141

 

Harrowing experience and truly a sad event.

[MSH from Norway]

http://www.vg.no/bildespesial/spesial.php?id=8638

 

What a tragedy ;/

[powderhorn]

http://www.vg.no/bildespesial/spesial.php?id=8638

 

What a tragedy ;/

 

You can see a large piece of the reef sticking out of the gash!

[geocruiser]

My prayers are with all who were on board and their families back home.

May God be with them.

[RSWBADGER]

Another from CNN

[trvlcrzy]

Updated report... 3 bodies recovered from the water.

 

This link offers a series of pictures (19). If you click on the picture, it will enlarge for you, and you can still move among them using next and previous.

 

http://www.wral.com/news/national_world/world/story/10599307/

[Krazy Kruizers]

Saw it on the news this morning. They said that so far 3 are dead.

[IRL_Joanie]

I am absolutely speechless at this horrendous tragedy.

 

God bless everyone involved or associated with this. May the Good Lord keep everyone in his embrace and help those who've lost loved ones.

 

Joanie

[jettaleea]

Prayers for everyone on board and the families waiting to hear from loved ones. Everyone's worst nightmare when they're cruising.

 

God bless,

Lee Ann

[Pete Jackson]

You can see a large piece of the reef sticking out of the gash!

 

 

Wow, incredible photo! With such an enormous hole, it is clear that heading for the lighthouse was the only option to avoid a complete sinking. At least the embedded enormous rock might have slowed the rate of water ingress.

 

So far, the bridge has remained above water, so that records of why and how this happened should still be readable.

[Beyondthe7Seas]

This is so incredibly sad.

[jhannah]

So many questions to be answered. My heart aches for all those involved ... directly and indirectly.

[Caribbean Chris]

From news reports, it appears most of the passengers on this large vessel came from France, Spain and Germany. NBC Today show reported a few minutes ago that 129 on board were Americans, no statement about Canadians.

 

From a search on Vacations To Go, the ship was doing 7 day cruises year round, originating in Civitavecchia alternating with Barcelona etc.

 

This is a frightful tragedy on so many levels. It is of particular interest to me because I was a sales rep for Costa in the 1970s in Washington DC. I am grateful to those of you who posted images and video.

 

Our thoughts and prayers will be with all those whose lives and families are directly affected.