Costa Concordia Runs Aground / Deaths Reported

[TDC Nala]

I heard reports from a crew member that because the Concordia began listing so quickly, only half the lifetboats could be launched.

They were able to launch lifeboats from both the port and starboard sides, but not ALL lifeboats from each side.

 

[Deb in IA]

Schettino has been released.

House arrest is reasonable.

After all, I don't think Schettino is a violent, dangerous man.
Arrogant, stupid, reckless - yes.

 

[MRAven]

Here is the other side of the coin:

http://gcaptain.com/shame-you-costa-concordias/?37697

 

[justmestace]

Here is the other side of the coin:

http://gcaptain.com/shame-you-costa-concordias/?37697

That's interesting. And even though they say they can't verify the validity of the letter, what is said in there is true. They DID get a LOT of people off that ship, in a short amount of time.

Some people were saying that they thought a language barrier may have added to the problem, but I saw an amateur video taken while they were evacuating, and the announcements are given in several different languages. (That was just a side note)

 

[justmestace]

House arrest is reasonable.

After all, I don't think Schettino is a violent, dangerous man.
Arrogant, stupid, reckless - yes.

Not dangerous, but he could make a run for it.

 

[pxlbarrel]

Not dangerous, but he could make a run for it.

I think he's probably one of the most recognizable people in Italy right now. He could make a run for it but I don't think he'd get pretty far.

 

[TLSnell1981]

I think he's probably one of the most recognizable people in Italy right now. He could make a run for it but I don't think he'd get pretty far.

Also, probably... the most hated man in Italy. I think, I'd rather be behind bars. I would feel safer.

**edited** Holy crap! I just heard the audio (being ordered back on ship) Wow..Unbelievable!!

 

[ge0rgette2]

Such a shame....

 

[Rogillio]

Heard some disconcerting news tonight on the evening news. It took 14 hrs to evacuate the ship!

Sopposedly the requirementis to get everyone off the ship in 30 minutes. Not sure this is doable even in perfect conditions (boat not listing).

4000 people / 20 boat stations = 800 people per station. If you put 80 people per boat, you have lauch 10 boats or inflatable from each boat station. 10 boats loaded and lauched in 30 minutes allows for 3 minutes to load 80 people. OK, just using ballpark estimates but 30 minutes to offload 4,000 people is never gonna happen.

Here's another problem, you can't put 4,000 poeple out on the boat deck at the same time so you have various muster stations inside the ship. When the ship is listing, not many people want to stay on the inside of the ship!

I heard too that some people jumped OUT OF THE LIFEBOAT as it was hanging from the listing side of the ship. They said the throught the ship was about to roll over on top of them and did not want to sit there and wait for the boat to be lauched.

I also heard that at least 4 of the dead recovered from inside the ship were wearing a life vest. This is troublesome because it means they were alive and well enough to put on life vest but did not have the means or wherewithall to go up (or down) to the boat deck and get out of the ship. Also means the delay in the evac order cost lives.

The water was about 57 degrees and they were only about 300 yds off shore so it was a relatively easy swim to shore. I've not yet heard how many people swam vs how many went in the lifeboats and rafts.

CBS news inteviewed a salvage company about how the'd recover the ship. They said they would pump out the fuel, patch the holes, pumper out the water and she would right herself. They also said they tought the ship would be able to return to service.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Also, probably... the most hated man in Italy. I think, I'd rather be behind bars. I would feel safer.

**edited** Holy crap! I just heard the audio (being ordered back on ship) Wow..Unbelievable!!

I think the whole world at this point. It's because of men like him that the "P" word still exists.

 

[rosermama]

http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_n...ntial-fuel-leak-a-concern-for-costa-concordia

Closer to the bottom of the page there is a map that shows how close they really were in Italy.

 

[bsusanmb]

This is just a horrifying trajedy. All I can think of is how my 4 and 6 year old were in the Kid's Club on the Dream until midnight, and didn't want to leave. Those pooe people. There was a young couple honeymooning on this ship from Lancaster PA who survived. They are home now, can you just imagine living with that image? I never even questioned the safety of the DCL.

 

[taswira]

I don't know if this has been mentioned here on the Dis or if anyone is interested, but a bit of trivia - -

The movie Film Socialisme was filmed aboard the Costa Concordia. It is in French, English subtitles.

And here is another link to some info about it.

 

[Seahunt]

I found this negative review that was posted about the Concordia on cruisecritic back on 7/09 - this partial portion of the review shows this poster had ESP about emergency readiness, huh:

When I got off the boat I was relieved to be away from the chaos. If you are paying for a relaxing trip in this tough economy, then pay for another cruise ship. DO NOT take this ship I warn you. Oh yah they didn't do any safety drills till the second last day of the cruise. It is not reassuring and if noone can help you with day to day matters and an emergency happens, expect chaos.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=57426

 

[justmestace]

I found this negative review that was posted about the Concordia on cruisecritic back on 7/09 - this partial portion of the review shows this poster had ESP about emergency readiness, huh:

When I got off the boat I was relieved to be away from the chaos. If you are paying for a relaxing trip in this tough economy, then pay for another cruise ship. DO NOT take this ship I warn you. Oh yah they didn't do any safety drills till the second last day of the cruise. It is not reassuring and if noone can help you with day to day matters and an emergency happens, expect chaos.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=57426

If you search even just a little, you'll find bad reviews about Disney, too.

The reason they don't do the drills when some people first get onboard is because they do open-ended cruises. They pick people up and others get off, at different ports. If they did a drill each time, people would complain about that, too.

I think in the grand scheme of things, the crew on the ship did a great job. Out of almost 4000 people....only a very, very small handful did not make it off safely. Everyone seems to be overlooking that fact.

 

[justmestace]

Heard some disconcerting news tonight on the evening news. It took 14 hrs to evacuate the ship!

I looked up a timeline of the events, and within 2.5 hours of starting the evacuation, they had all but 200+ people off the ship. Within 5 hours, they had all that they could find until a rescue effort could start.

We'd all heard about it on the news within that 14 hour time span that you're talking about, and everyone (except the sad few) was off already.


Granted....it should never have happened at all.

But since it did, I think they did a good job of evacuating, once they got started.

No one can say if any other cruise line would have done a better job of it.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Schettino says, he didn't "intentionally" leave the ship...he slipped and fell into a life boat.

Really, that's the best he can do? Especially, since we have an audio?

 

[Octoberbride03]

If you search even just a little, you'll find bad reviews about Disney, too.

The reason they don't do the drills when some people first get onboard is because they do open-ended cruises. They pick people up and others get off, at different ports. If they did a drill each time, people would complain about that, too.

I think in the grand scheme of things, the crew on the ship did a great job. Out of almost 4000 people....only a very, very small handful did not make it off safely. Everyone seems to be overlooking that fact.

We understand that, but the practice of this particular ship was to have the drill every 15 days. That means 2 weeks and God knows how many cruisers spent their entire vacations without ever having a muster drill. I think Costa may see fit reevaluate this practice.

A "handful" equals 5. The last update on counts I saw was 11 confirmed dead and 20 something still missing. That is several handfuls. And considering the year is 2012 and NOT 1912 when the Titanic sunk this is an unacceptable number. All the Captain had to do was stick to the programmed course and it would have been the vacation of a lifetime. Not the stuff that will haunt these cruisers in their sleep.

 

[pxlbarrel]

I read earlier today that one of the missing turned up in Germany. When she found out she was listed as missing, she reported in.

Also read, in the same article that one of the dead was a violinist. He had a lifejacket on and went back to his cabin to get his violin. He wasn't seen again but his body was the first of the dead to be identified. The pianist he works with said that before he went back to his cabin, the man helped put lifejackets on two crying children.

And of course, there's the story of the survivor they airlifted out of the wreckage on Saturday. He was a senior officer (Cabin Services Manager I think). He stayed behind helping passengers to evacuate but got trapped when he fell and broke his leg. Maybe he should be the next Captain in the Costa fleet.

I think, as stories emerge, we will find more instances of people helping other people amongst the stories of panic, chaos and cowardice. At least I'm hoping for that ...

 

[NWmom]

They seem to have had very poor record keeping for who was and was not on board.

I keep hoping the missing people missed the ship and are just out of touch as they chose to go do something else and are out of tv range.