Italian Cruise Ship Disaster

[le harry]

Surprised I didn't see a thread about this already...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/16/uk-italy-ship-idUSLNE80F01020120116

http://images.smh.com.au/2012/01/15/2893977/vid-thumb-cruise-408x264.jpg

[xxMATTGxx]

Seems like the detour the ship took is the cause of this which is then human error.

[le harry]

Wasn't even a detour apparently. Just took a scenic route which wasn't approved by the company and went straight over a known reef. So incompetentlol.

[xxMATTGxx]

Wasn't even a detour apparently. Just took a scenic route which wasn't approved by the company and went straight over a known reef. So incompetentlol.

Bad move by the Captain of the ship then!

[Grig]

Yeh seems to be followed by another disaster where a ship was split in half and started gushing oil off the coast of New Zealand. However, this one sadly took human lives.

It's the captain fully at fault here.

[Mathew]

The Captain has been insistent that the reef wasn't shown on any maps, which sounds odd considering the amount of tools you can find on a cruise ship's navigation deck. He apparently abandoned ship before anyone else too, which is quite inappropriate.

What baffles me more than anything though, is the fact that they didn't hold a life boat drill before the ship even left port (apparently it was planned for the day after). I have been on 8 cruises around the Bahamas and the Caribbean (Disney and Royal Caribbean) and both have held a mandatory life boat drill at around 4pm, just an hour before the ship sets sail and leaves port. People must not use elevators and everyone must make their way to their designated meeting station (displayed on the back of your stateroom door). You used to have to wear life jackets too but we didn't the last time.

I would be very surprised if they get away with not holding the drill before leaving.

[scott]

The Captain has been insistent that the reef wasn't shown on any maps, which sounds odd considering the amount of tools you can find on a cruise ship's navigation deck. He apparently abandoned ship before anyone else too, which is quite inappropriate.

What baffles me more than anything though, is the fact that they didn't hold a life boat drill before the ship even left port (apparently it was planned for the day after). I have been on 8 cruises around the Bahamas and the Caribbean (Disney and Royal Caribbean) and both have held a mandatory life boat drill at around 4pm, just an hour before the ship sets sail and leaves port. People must not use elevators and everyone must make their way to their designated meeting station (displayed on the back of your stateroom door). You used to have to wear life jackets too but we didn't the last time.

I would be very surprised if they get away with not holding the drill before leaving.

That's what I was thinking, I was on a cruise 2 years ago and we had to go to the designated area with our life jacket to get a demonstration on how to wear them before the ship set sail. We were also made aware of how many whistles or whatever they would set off in certain situations. Apparently none of the passengers were told anything about that either, so when they set off the 8 whistles not many people knew what i meant.

Was very surprised to read that the captain left the ship before most of the passengers though.

[Shar]

That's ridiculous and really sad. I can't believe its all because of a stupid mistake made by the captain :|

[xxMATTGxx]

The Captain has been insistent that the reef wasn't shown on any maps, which sounds odd considering the amount of tools you can find on a cruise ship's navigation deck. He apparently abandoned ship before anyone else too, which is quite inappropriate.

What baffles me more than anything though, is the fact that they didn't hold a life boat drill before the ship even left port (apparently it was planned for the day after). I have been on 8 cruises around the Bahamas and the Caribbean (Disney and Royal Caribbean) and both have held a mandatory life boat drill at around 4pm, just an hour before the ship sets sail and leaves port. People must not use elevators and everyone must make their way to their designated meeting station (displayed on the back of your stateroom door). You used to have to wear life jackets too but we didn't the last time.

I would be very surprised if they get away with not holding the drill before leaving.

Yeah in terms of it not being shown up on the maps is a bit odd in my opinion as well. The ship took a detour so it could get closer to the island and wasn't the official course and was also not authorised to do so. So that starts sounding alarm bells right there even if it didn't hit anything.

Seems like the Captain is a bit dodgy!

[Mathew]

That's what I was thinking, I was on a cruise 2 years ago and we had to go to the designated area with our life jacket to get a demonstration on how to wear them before the ship set sail. We were also made aware of how many whistles or whatever they would set off in certain situations. Apparently none of the passengers were told anything about that either, so when they set off the 8 whistles not many people knew what i meant.

Oooo, I remember the safety demonstration and videos well... seven short blasts of the ships horn followed by one long blast. I always get shivered up my spine when I hear it! :P


Speaking of the fears the incident could turn into an environmental disaster, Giglio mayor Sergio Ortelli said: "I hope that the fuel can be taken off the ship soon and maybe the ship can be removed too because it is hampering navigation."
Not a big ask in the slightest! :P

[Chippiewill]

Captain's a bit of an idiot, claims it's not his fault that the ship sank because he went off course to somewhere where there aren't any rocks marked, but hasn't been checked nor was it sanctioned by the company the ship is run by and alarms would have come on from going off course as well. Full on ****** and the company has the grounds to sue him for the billions lost in clean-up and cost of the ship

[Teabags]

Wasn't he meant to have been "showing off" and just jumped ship when he crashed.
Not sure how 6 people died though? They are quite near land.. help please explain x

[Chippiewill]

Ship tilted so if you got stuck in rising waters because the exit to your room is the ceiling, well, you can see the problem.

[Jordan]

Wasn't he meant to have been "showing off" and just jumped ship when he crashed.
Not sure how 6 people died though? They are quite near land.. help please explain x

Not everyone can swim? :P

I agree with the others at it being the captains fault.

[FlyingJesus]

Definitely an arse of a captain, made a statement claiming that he was the last off the ship (as captains are supposed to be) yet at the time of the statement there were 17 missing persons. It's one thing being so incompetant that you actually cause loss of life with your unsanctioned decisions, and yet another on top of that to deny responsibility and lie about what happened

[xxMATTGxx]

Seems the media are now speaking about these type of cruise-liners in general and are they really safe in terms of how big they are and so on. Not sure what the real answer is but does make you think about it.

[Jordy]

Seems the media are now speaking about these type of cruise-liners in general and are they really safe in terms of how big they are and so on. Not sure what the real answer is but does make you think about it.Yeah it looks like there's been some complacency in the industry given how safe cruise ships are perceived to be and the rarity of things like this, I suspect they'll be some changes due to this accident in company policies and maybe maritime law. This incident has exposed the weakness in the international maritime law requiring a safety drill within 24 hours, it should be done before the ship leaves port (As many cruise companies do).

Personally I think the captain is being used as a bit of a scapegoat, I find it hard to believe that he really could be that bad and all of it's down to him, I think when the real facts emerge and not the blame game going on now it'll be very different.

[-:Undertaker:-]

A terrible event, one can only think of the horror of being trapped in a room with rising water. As terrible as it is, I have to post this. :P

A wish overturned

http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MlZwqjCsYgw/TxQMMAoZyQI/AAAAAAAAU-I/HvdcpGjNiy0/s1600/costaconcordia.jpg


The Costa Concordia was so named by its operators, Costa Cruises, as an expression of the wish for "continuing harmony, unity, and peace between European nations".

However, its prominent ring of stars (circled) sends rather a different message. Hitting the rocks and capsizing is such a neat metaphor for the euro and the European Union in general that one is tempted to remark that the Almighty has a wicked sense of humour.

[Jordy]

A terrible event, one can only think of the horror of being trapped in a room with rising water. As terrible as it is, I have to post this. :P

A wish overturned

http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MlZwqjCsYgw/TxQMMAoZyQI/AAAAAAAAU-I/HvdcpGjNiy0/s1600/costaconcordia.jpgIt's ridiculous and continual comments like that which undermine the entire euro-sceptic movement (and also yourself).

[GommeInc]

Seems the media are now speaking about these type of cruise-liners in general and are they really safe in terms of how big they are and so on. Not sure what the real answer is but does make you think about it.
Pffft, they will do. They do this when they're waiting for answers or more stories about the incident.

"Right, let's post some useful information. Done. What now? Let's just call all cruise-liners bad and back it up with odd research which ignores the fact hundreds (or thousands?) of cruise-liners travel around each day and it's rare for problems like this to occur, especially when it was an easy to avoid situation that caused this ridiculous discussion."

The industry does not need extra regulations. Incidents happen and to chuck more laws at the problem is a waste of time and money. The captain is clearly an idiot, but I can't help but think the same way as Jordy - that he may be treated as a scapegoat. Surely there are more staff on board other than the captain? The way the media is reporting this you would think the stewards, bar staff and those in the bridge are thickos - why did they not answer the alarm bells that must of been ringing when no safety drills were being done before leaving port?


It's ridiculous and continual comments like that which undermine the entire euro-sceptic movement (and also yourself).
It's a good metaphor, but it is a bit too soon when there are still people missing.

[Inseriousity.]

Hindsight's a wonderful thing and by thesounds of it, the Captain had pulled this stunt off before successfully so probably imagined it'd be the same again. He should hold his hands up and admit he was stupid but it seems unlikely. Ican not even begin to imagine what it must be like to be trapped in the middle ofsomething like that but I always appreciate thosespontaneous acts of human kindness (a 19 year old acting as a human ladder,for example) in admist the terror that is a reminder thatwhen the chips are down, it doesn't have to be 'every man for himself.' RIP :(

[Stephen]

"Italian rescuers have found five more bodies inside the stricken cruise ship Concordia, raising the confirmed death toll to 11.Earlier rescuers said 29 people were missing from the ship, which capsized after it hit rocks on Friday.
Judges are questioning the ship's captain, who has been blamed for steering the vessel on to the rocks.
Capt Francesco Schettino has been detained on suspicion of manslaughter, but denies any wrongdoing."

[geo]

It's an awful shame to hear that lives have been lost and such a big disaster has occurred just because of the stupidity of the captain! :(

[xxMATTGxx]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16599655

Recording between the Coast Guard and the Captain

[FlyingJesus]

Was gonna ask if anyone had heard that recording on the news, absolutely sickening tbh. Obviously we all want to survive and that situation would be terrifying but as captain you're supposed to be doing all you can to help everyone else involved not row off on your own

[Jssy]

What a ****. This has put me off ever going on a cruise tbh

[efq]

That captain sickened me. I'm glad the coastguard gave him a good ol bollocking.

Captain: Its dark in there
Coastguard: Oh its dark, do you want to go home?

I would of put a gun in the captains mouth and told him to return to the ship or get shot.

[J0SH]

April 14th 1912:
MAN: "Women and children first please."

25 years ago:
WOMAN: "Women want sex equality"

15 years ago:
WOMAN:"Women to fight sexism"

5 years ago:
WOMAN:"Women winning on sex equality"

3 days ago:
WOMAN: "It was unbelievable, men were trying to get into the lifeboats before women"

But to be serious it's a shame. You wouldn't expect that to happen to such a huge ship. R.I.P. to any lost lives and the captain is an idiot

[Jordy]

April 14th 1912:
MAN: "Women and children first please."

25 years ago:
WOMAN: "Women want sex equality"

15 years ago:
WOMAN:"Women to fight sexism"

5 years ago:
WOMAN:"Women winning on sex equality"

3 days ago:
WOMAN: "It was unbelievable, men were trying to get into the lifeboats before women"


I honestly believe if it was full of Brits that the "Women and children first" attitude would still be taken as out-dated as it may well be (Nothing wrong with a bit of etiquette, even in disasters). Instead it looks like it was a bunch of mad Italians panicking and pushing, if anything they did a fantastic job of living up to stereotypes.

[-:Undertaker:-]

It's ridiculous and continual comments like that which undermine the entire euro-sceptic movement (and also yourself).

Oh come on, its a little joke due to the fact Dr. North has been covering both topics as a researcher and he's just poking fun, as terrible as the event is (as he says himself).

[Chippiewill]

Apparently the ship had done a similar maneuver in August and came within tens of metres of where it struck the rock. It even came closer to the land later on.

Removes credibility from the companies story of it not being allowed.