Cruise ship catastrophe off the coast of Italy

[dpic]

Survivors from a luxury cruise ship that ran aground and tipped over, leaving at least three dead and 69 people still unaccounted for, described Saturday a chaotic evacuation, as plates and glasses crashed and they crawled along upended hallways trying to reach safety...Three bodies were recovered from the sea after the Costa Concordia ran aground off the tiny island of Giglio near the coast of Tuscany late Friday, tearing a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in its hull and sending in a rush of water.

NYTimes

 

[Cyrano]

Saw this on Sky News this morning. Thoughts for everyone involved.

More details here.

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16148897

Three people have died and at least 50 more are missing after a cruise ship carrying thousands of passengers, including British holidaymakers, ran aground off Italy's coast.

One of the victims was a man aged in his 70s who reportedly died of a heart attack caused by the shock of the icy water when he dove in during the chaos.
The Foreign Office said 24 British nationals were onboard - but it could not confirm whether any of them were among the dead or injured.
A major rescue operation was launched after the Costa Concordia began sinking near the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast, late on Friday - just two hours after it began its voyage.
It was just like something out of the Titanic. You could tell straight away that the ship had hit something and no way was it an electrical fault.
Passenger Mara Parmegiani
Five helicopters and nearby ships plucked people to safety after they became trapped on the ship when it listed so badly they could not launch lifeboats.
Divers were also called in to search the 290m-long sinking ship for missing passengers.
Officials confirmed three bodies had been retrieved from the sea and warned the death toll could rise.
Fire services spokesman Luca Cari said rescue efforts were continuing as 69 of the 4,234 people on the ship at the time still unaccounted for.
"We have about 40 men at work and we're expecting specialist diving teams to arrive to check all the interior spaces of the ship," he said.
"We don't rule out the possibility that more people will be lost."
SKYSTRATOR: EXPLAINING THE CRUISE SHIP TRAGEDY

A further 14 people were injured, mostly suffering bruises, authorities said.
The ship's captain is reportedly being questioned by authorities.
A harbour master said the ship started taking on water after it "hit an obstacle" - rumoured to be a rocky reef - "ripping a gash 50m (160ft) across" on the left side.
Coastguard official Cmdr Francesco Paolillo said the cruise liner's captain responded by trying to steer the ship toward shallow waters near Giglio's small port to make the evacuation easier.
As the ship began to list heavily to one side, coastguards were immediately dispatched to the scene while terrified passengers were ordered to put on life vests and man lifeboats.
Some people reportedly jumped into the cold waters in the scramble to escape.
It was easier for people to jump into the sea because we were on the same level as that water so some people pretty much just decided to swim as they were not able to get on the lifeboats.
Read survivors' stories
Passenger Luciano Castro told Italian media of the horror that unfolded when the ship ran aground.
''We were having dinner when all of a sudden the lights went out," he said. "It seemed as if the ship struck something and then we heard a load bang and everything fell to the floor.
''The captain immediately came on the tannoy and said that there had been an electrical fault but it seemed very strange as the ship almost immediately began to list to one side. The glasses just slid off the table.
''We were then told to put on our life vests and head to the lifeboats just to be safe but there was a real panic onboard you could see it in the faces of the people especially those with young families.
''Then a few minutes later there were seven whistles which meant everyone had to get in the lifeboats.''
SHIP EMPLOYEE'S DAD TELLS OF DAUGHTER'S RESCUE

Another passenger Mara Parmegiani said: ''It was just like something out of the Titanic. You could tell straight away that the ship had hit something and no way was it an electrical fault."
The Costa Concordia had left the port of Civitavecchia at 7pm local time on Friday and was sailing to Savona, its first port of call, when disaster struck at around 9pm.
Costa Cruises confirmed that about 3,200 passengers - 52 reportedly children under the age of six - were onboard along with around 1,000 crew members.
A webcam on the company's website showed the position of the ship with a caption reading: ''Data transmission is temporarily suspended.''
Officials initially said the liner was listing at an angle of 20 degrees but it was not in danger of sinking. Hours later and it was on an 80 degree angle, with half the ship submerged under water.

 

[Castaway Kev]

Here is the link to another article, with lots of photos:

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4061067/Fears-for-Brits-on-stricken-cruise-ship-the-Costa-Concordia.html

It's interesting to note that the ship entered service in 2006, and was the largest ship produced in Italy at the time (Built by Fincantieri). This is the same company that built the Magic and the Wonder.

My thoughts and prayers go out to those involved.

 

[sayhello]

How totally horrible! Reading some of the articles, it was such a combination of horrid factors. They hadn't had their muster drill yet (it was scheduled for 5pm the following day). The crew refused to release the lifeboats for quite a while, telling everyone it was only a minor problem. Just awful!

Horrid, horrid, horrid. Thank heavens more people didn't perish! So horrid for those who did, and the large number still missing.

Sayhello

 

[auroralark]

How awful. I can't even imagine how terrifying this whole thing must be for everyone involved. Thinking of everyone affected.

 

[disneyholic family]

How totally horrible! Reading some of the articles, it was such a combination of horrid factors. They hadn't had their muster drill yet (it was scheduled for 5pm the following day). The crew refused to release the lifeboats for quite a while, telling everyone it was only a minor problem. Just awful!

Horrid, horrid, horrid. Thank heavens more people didn't perish! So horrid for those who did, and the large number still missing.

Sayhello

it's a circular route ship - people board at almost every port, so apparently they only do muster drills every other port...
there were poeple who had boarded at civatavecchia, so they had just begun their cruise, but for others, it was the last leg of their cruise or the middle of their cruise (and they had all had the muster at an earlier point in the cruise)..

some reports i've heard said they were filling watertight rooms on the opposite side of the ship from the original list, in an attempt to right the ship, but then they overflooded and it listed to the opposite side (the side where it eventually ended up)......

this is worrisome to the entire cruise industry - this is one of the generation of modern cruise ships that one would think shouldn't have such a catastrophic outcome (how did they manage to run aground to begin with??? - don't they have the most advanced sonar or whatever it's called?).

costa has several ships that are identical to this one..
and they very closely resemble the carnival ships (when costa was purchased by carnival, they began following the carnival ship design)...

anyway, it's extremely disturbing all around....
and to think about what the people on that ship went through.....at night...in the cold....the ship sharply listing to the side, making it difficult to move around..
and remember that many of the cruisers are elderly....

i can't even imagine the terror they must all have felt...

 

[DeltaDiamond001]

I'm afraid my Facebook status about this incident may just be too snarky and too soon, so I'll just say that this ship just looks scary... And I can't imagine it looking any better upright...

Joking aside, I sincerely hope everyone missing is found and gets out safely and quickly. My thoughts go out to the families of those who lost their lives.

 

[204charity]

Read this devastating quote this morning in the Winnipeg Free Press:

"Have you seen 'Titanic?' That's exactly what it was," said Valerie Ananias, 31, a schoolteacher from Los Angeles who was travelling with her sister and parents on the first of two cruises around the Mediterranean. They all bore dark red bruises on their knees from the desperate crawl they endured along nearly vertical hallways and stairwells, trying to reach rescue boats.

"We were crawling up a hallway, in the dark, with only the light from the life vest strobe flashing," her mother, Georgia Ananias, 61 said. "We could hear plates and dishes crashing, people slamming against walls."

She choked up as she recounted the moment when an Argentine couple handed her their 3-year-old daughter, unable to keep their balance as the ship lurched to the side and the family found themselves standing on a wall. "He said 'take my baby,'" Mrs. Ananias said, covering her mouth with her hand as she teared up. "I grabbed the baby. But then I was being pushed down. I didn't want the baby to fall down the stairs. I gave the baby back. I couldn't hold her.

"I thought that was the end and I thought they should be with their baby," she said.

"I wonder where they are," daughter Valerie whispered.



I broke down in tears reading that to my mother this morning. Those poor people. My heart breaks for the survivors as the lost.

 

[Cyrano]

The news media are reporting that the Captain of the ship has been arrested along with the first officer.
He abandoned the ship at 11.30pm while passengers were still being rescued at 3.00am

 

[disneyholic family]

i know a woman who was on the ship....she's already back home...
she said she was with 3 other people on the cruise...
the 4 of them were eating in the dining room when it happened...
there was the big noise and then there was an announcement that it's nothing to worry about,that there's just an electrical problem, but she and her friends didn't believe it and immediately went back to their cabins, changed into warm clothes (they had been in evening clothes for dinner), took all their money and passports out of their safe, and went to their muster station..

at the muster station the crew was saying go back to your room, there's nothing wrong, but they wouldn't leave....they waited and were on the first lifeboat off the ship....

 

[204charity]

i know a woman who was on the ship....she's already back home...
she said she was with 3 other people on the cruise...
the 4 of them were eating in the dining room when it happened...
there was the big noise and then there was an announcement that it's nothing to worry about,that there's just an electrical problem, but she and her friends didn't believe it and immediately went back to their cabins, changed into warm clothes (they had been in evening clothes for dinner), took all their money and passports out of their safe, and went to their muster station..

at the muster station the crew was saying go back to your room, there's nothing wrong, but they wouldn't leave....they waited and were on the first lifeboat off the ship....

Oh my Gosh! Wow. What an ordeal. Thank God they were smart enough to trust their instincts or their vacation could have ended very differently. How is she holding up otherwise? Mentally I can't imagine this would be a very easy thing to move on from.....reading those stories of those who suffered, and wondering if they made it just makes ME upset and I wasn't even there!

 

[sayhello]

Does anyone else look at pictures like this and think "This doesn't even look real"? It's just so unbelievable.

Sayhello

 

[disneyholic family]

Oh my Gosh! Wow. What an ordeal. Thank God they were smart enough to trust their instincts or their vacation could have ended very differently. How is she holding up otherwise? Mentally I can't imagine this would be a very easy thing to move on from.....reading those stories of those who suffered, and wondering if they made it just makes ME upset and I wasn't even there!

they're very shook up, but so very thankful to be alive...
and they say that looking back on it now, they're amazed to be alive..
they said the lifeboat itself was terrifying....
as the lifeboat was lowered down the side of the ship, it kept bumping into the ship and it scared them half to death...or more than half....
she said the lifeboat being lowered down was beyond terrifying....
and she can't swim, so despite the lifevest, she was freaking out....she was very happy to come back home....

Does anyone else look at pictures like this and think "This doesn't even look real"? It's just so unbelievable.

Sayhello

none of the pictures look real...it all looks like a grade B disaster picture....but i'm sure it was very very real to the people....or maybe surreal....it's such a sudden shocking change from a carefree cruise vacation....
and with the lack of instructions from the crew and the complete disorganization...i don't know how i would have reacted...

 

[204charity]

they're very shook up, but so very thankful to be alive...
and they say that looking back on it now, they're amazed to be alive..
they said the lifeboat itself was terrifying....
as the lifeboat was lowered down the side of the ship, it kept bumping into the ship and it scared them half to death...or more than half....
she said the lifeboat being lowered down was beyond terrifying....
and she can't swim, so despite the lifevest, she was freaking out....she was very happy to come back home....
QUOTE]

Were their lifevests in the lifeboats for everyone? My mom was saying that when you cruise your lifevests are kept in your cabin, and that she isn't sure where more are kept. I was like How could you not know this mother?!? Good luck getting me on a boat without telling me where ALL the lifevests are!!!!

 

[disneyholic family]

Were their lifevests in the lifeboats for everyone? My mom was saying that when you cruise your lifevests are kept in your cabin, and that she isn't sure where more are kept. I was like How could you not know this mother?!? Good luck getting me on a boat without telling me where ALL the lifevests are!!!!

i think they took their lifevests from their room, but from what i understand, ships also have lifevests at all the muster stations and maybe in the lifeboats as well...

it's interesting....there were 7 people on the ship from where i live ....
(i live in israel)....there was the group of 4 i know, and 3 other people - a 21 year old and her parents (i think they were on the cruise as a birthday present for the 21 year old)..

anyway, they just showed an interview with the 3 (the parents and daughter)..
they were in the theater when the ship hit the rocks...
there was an announcement in english that everything was ok - that it was just electrical....
but the 21 year old immediately said to her parents that everything wasn't ok no matter what they were being told and they should go back to their cabin and get ready to abandon ship....
when they were in the cabin the girl told her parents to put on many layers of clothing to be sure they would be warm, they took their money and passports out of the safe and their lifevests and headed to the muster stations..
and they were also on the first lifeboat off...

i found that really interesting that the 2 groups, who don't know each other, both did the same thing immediately....assumed it was worse than they were being told and got ready to leave right away......

 

[204charity]

i think they took their lifevests from their room, but from what i understand, ships also have lifevests at all the muster stations and maybe in the lifeboats as well...

it's interesting....there were 7 people on the ship from where i live ....
(i live in israel)....there was the group of 4 i know, and 3 other people - a 21 year old and her parents (i think they were on the cruise as a birthday present for the 21 year old)..

anyway, they just showed an interview with the 3 (the parents and daughter)..
they were in the theater when the ship hit the rocks...
there was an announcement in english that everything was ok - that it was just electrical....
but the 21 year old immediately said to her parents that everything wasn't ok no matter what they were being told and they should go back to their cabin and get ready to abandon ship....
when they were in the cabin the girl told her parents to put on many layers of clothing to be sure they would be warm, they took their money and passports out of the safe and their lifevests and headed to the muster stations..
and they were also on the first lifeboat off...

i found that really interesting that the 2 groups, who don't know each other, both did the same thing immediately....assumed it was worse than they were being told and got ready to leave right away......

Trust your instincts always, hey?

 

[disneyholic family]

Trust your instincts always, hey?

in the case of this ship, pretty much everything was done wrong...
they seemed to be sailing in the wrong place, the captain didn't issue a mayday call immediately, the captain didn't issue the muster call immediately..

had those people started mustering immediately and then abandoning ship shortly thereafter, perhaps everyone would have made it out alive..

Costa cruises just put out a statement that the captain made "serious errors"...yah think?

by the way, i remember when the disney magic had the funnel fire a number of years back - the captain immediately put out a mayday call so that the other cruise ships in the area moved into position just in case they would be needed.....and everyone was called to their muster stations - even though it was the middle of the night...all the passengers spent several hours with their lifevests on at their muster stations until the all clear was given and they were allowed to go back to their cabins...
you just don't take chances....perhaps it will be a false alarm, but in the event it's a real emergency, everyone is in position and ready.....

 

[204charity]

in the case of this ship, pretty much everything was done wrong...
they seemed to be sailing in the wrong place, the captain didn't issue a mayday call immediately, the captain didn't issue the muster call immediately..

had those people started mustering immediately and then abandoning ship shortly thereafter, perhaps everyone would have made it out alive..

Costa cruises just put out a statement that the captain made "serious errors"...yah think?

by the way, i remember when the disney magic had the funnel fire a number of years back - the captain immediately put out a mayday call so that the other cruise ships in the area moved into position just in case they would be needed.....and everyone was called to their muster stations - even though it was the middle of the night...all the passengers spent several hours with their lifevests on at their muster stations until the all clear was given and they were allowed to go back to their cabins...
you just don't take chances....perhaps it will be a false alarm, but in the event it's a real emergency, everyone is in position and ready.....

Now THAT is the way to handle a potentially fatal emergency!

 

[*NikkiBell*]

This is definitely not something I needed to see before going on my very first cruise (3.0).

 

[204charity]

This is definitely not something I needed to see before going on my very first cruise (3.0).

Well, did you read the post a couple before your's? You should. I think it'll help you feel better. It's a perfect example of how an emergency should be handled and was on a Disney Cruise Line. And if you think you've got it bad, imagine how I feel?!? My parents are going on a Mediterranean Cruise and are supposed to go through this very location in September!!! EEK!!!!!!