Cruise ship catastrophe off the coast of Italy

[dpic]

 

[disneyholic family]

Night vision footage of cruise ship rescue
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16591501

 

[disneyholic family]

Night vision footage of cruise ship rescue
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16591501

i can't believe it....i just heard on sky news that the captain was taken out of jail and put under house arrest!!
how can he just be under house arrest??

when you look at that night vision footage (in the link above) and think that all of those people were sitting out on the hull of the ship without the captain there to supervise their rescue....and meanwhile many people went missing or died or who knows what..

how could he just be under house arrest? maybe they're hoping he'll kill himself and save them the trouble of a trial?

i really find it hard to believe....but i doubt sky news got it wrong....if i were him, i'd be afraid to be out of jail...if he doesn't kill himself i'm sure there are many who would like to do it for him...

 

[disneyholic family]

Here is an article of survivor stories. Some of them brought tears to my eyes. I can't even imagine what horror these people went through.

absolutely heartbreaking!
and also outrageous - where were the ship's officers????
why did all these passengers have to save themselves?
why weren't the officers supervising it?
very brave and resourceful passengers!!

 

[chirurgeon]

I have been watching and reading about this tragedy. It is a miracle more people weren't killed. I have only sailed on 2 lines, DCL and Princess. Safety drills right after we boarded. At this point. I will be sticking with DCL. You can never fault Disney for their safety measures.

Kim

 

[k5jm]

Have you ever seen the movie, "Raise the Titanic?"


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/18/s...for-capsized-cruise-ship-costa-concordia.html

Ship Salvage Workers Roll Up Their Sleeves
By HENRY FOUNTAIN
A Dutch marine salvage company prepared on Tuesday to begin pumping half a million gallons of fuel from the stricken cruise ship Costa Concordia, the first step toward hauling the luxury liner away for a complete overhaul or cutting it up for scrap.

Workers from the company, Smit Salvage, expected to begin transferring the fuel, which weighs about 2,400 tons, to barges on Wednesday. About 200 tons of heavier oil also will have to be removed from the ship, which is on its side, half-submerged, off the Italian island of Giglio in the Mediterranean. The process is expected to take two to four weeks, depending on the weather.

The ship ran aground within a 30,000-square-mile zone that is designated a sanctuary for marine mammals, and Italian government officials and environmentalists are worried that rough seas may further damage the ship and cause a fuel leak. Company officials said that so far all of the ship’s 17 tanks are intact.

Mike Lacey, secretary general of the International Salvage Union, a trade group, said the salvage workers’ task would be a little easier because most of the fuel is diesel, which is relatively light and will not have to be warmed before pumping. “It’s not as bad as heavy fuel, but it can still make a mess,” he said.

Mr. Lacey said that crews had begun surveying the ship for damage, an initial step in determining whether repairs are feasible. “There’s damage you can see on the port side,” he said, referring to a large gash below the waterline where the ship struck rocks on Friday. “Maybe there’s similar damage on the starboard side. There’s certainly damage to the starboard structure of the ship, because she’s on the rock.”

Based in part on the salvage company’s report, the ship’s owners and insurers will have to decide whether to overhaul the ship, which cost $450 million when it was built in 2006.

“You can spend a lot of money repairing a ship like this,” said Mr. Lacey, who likened the situation to that faced by a driver and an insurance company when deciding whether to repair or total a luxury car that has been heavily damaged in an accident. “But the conclusion might very well be reached that it’s not worth it.”

If the decision is made to scrap the liner, it will be cut up in place and the pieces hauled away, he said.

But if the insurers decide on overhauling it, then the salvage workers will have to right the ship and refloat it. “It will be a very difficult operation,” Mr. Lacey said.

David DeVilbiss, a vice president of Global Diving and Salvage, a Seattle-based company that is not involved in the work, said the salvage company would work with naval architects and create a computer simulation of the flooded liner, “which is going to tell you if the ship is going to break in half when you try to right it.”

Workers would have to patch any holes in the hull first, Mr. DeVilbiss said. Then, given the weight of the 950-foot ship and the water within it, large-capacity cranes or other lifting equipment would be brought in. Mr. DeVilbiss said that workers would probably use air bags underneath the submerged portion of the ship to help right it.

They might also try to pump some of the water out of the ship to increase its internal buoyancy, although Mr. Lacey said that was not likely given the probability of heavy interior damage. “Unless you’ve patched up all the holes, all you are actually doing when you pump is circulating the Mediterranean through the ship,” he said.

Instead, once the ship is upright and much of it is above the waterline, the water could be pumped out and the ship refloated. But even that would not be simple, Mr. Lacey said.

“It’s more complicated being a passenger ship, with so many cabins and other small spaces,” he said. “It’s not like a cargo ship, where you have large open spaces.”

Once refloated, the ship would be towed to a shipyard for lengthy and expensive repairs.

 

[Joshua_me]

A promotional video of the Costa Concordia.


*sigh*

She was a lovely ship.

You know, just as with any ship that has a casino, there's a HUGE amount of currency in that "little room" no one wants you to see.

I wonder if anyone... Well, I guess that's inappropriate to think about right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=feCG-t_Um5I#!

 

[k5jm]

A promotional video of the Costa Concordia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=feCG-t_Um5I#!

Fun with a Steadycam!

 

[disneyholic family]

from sky news - regarding a second captain on the ship:

Another captain, Roberto Bosio, who was off duty when disaster struck, has been hailed a hero after giving the order to abandon ship.

Capt Bosio, 45, who was seen helping dozens of women and children into lifeboats, has broken his silence, saying: "Only a disgraceful man would have left all those passengers on board."

He added: "It was the most horrible experience of my life. A tragedy, a heartache that I will carry with me forever.

"We managed to avoid the worse and have the world crash down around us. I just want to rest and forget.

"Don't call me a hero. I just did my duty, the duty of a sea captain - actually the duty of a normal man. I and the others with me just did our duty. We looked each other in the eyes for a second and then we just got on with it."

 

[lugnut33]

Lots of photos, including creepy underwater photos.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/capture...rations-continue-on-the-costa-concordia/5193/

 

[disneyholic family]

Lots of photos, including creepy underwater photos.

http://blogs.denverpost.com/capture...rations-continue-on-the-costa-concordia/5193/

look at picture 38 - with the rescue worker climbing that ladder...
that was the ladder people had to go down to get into a boat waiting in the water...can you imagine trying to go down that ladder?
and then imagine it in the middle of the night?

i cannot begin to imagine the terror they must have felt!!!

 

[disneyholic family]

listen to this passenger - a honeymooner ...
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2012/01/14/bpr-smith-cruise-disaster.cnn

they were stranded on the side of the ship, holding onto a rope for 3 and a half hours until they were rescued...for 3.5 hours!!!! held onto a rope for 3.5 hours!
i'm incredulous....

 

[k5jm]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...c_n_1213038.html?ref=weird-news&ir=Weird+News

 

[mommy2allgirls]

Survivors will be on Dr Phil Friday

 

[WaltD4Me]

Anderson Cooper had a maritime lawyer on tonight. He had a copy of the cruise line's eight page contract that passengars sign before sailing. From what he explained because the cruise ship is based in Italy and did not go to a US port the only place the passengars can file a suit is in Genoa, Italy. If hitting the rock was a true accident, they could not sue at all, but because the accident was caused by an intentional act (cruising so near the coast line of that island) they can sue, but only in Genoa.

 

[mommy2allgirls]

Anderson Cooper had a maritime lawyer on tonight. He had a copy of the cruise line's eight page contract that passengars sign before sailing. From what he explained because the cruise ship is based in Italy and did not go to a US port the only place the passengars can file a suit is in Genoa, Italy. If hitting the rock was

a true accident, they could not sue at all, but because the accident
was caused by an intentional act
(cruising so near the coast line of
that island) they can sue, but only
in Genoa.

Also, on Anderson they showed video of the same ship coming even closer to shore back in the fall. That's just crazy

 

[lugnut33]

Anderson Cooper had a maritime lawyer on tonight. He had a copy of the cruise line's eight page contract that passengars sign before sailing. From what he explained because the cruise ship is based in Italy and did not go to a US port the only place the passengars can file a suit is in Genoa, Italy. If hitting the rock was a true accident, they could not sue at all, but because the accident was caused by an intentional act (cruising so near the coast line of that island) they can sue, but only in Genoa.

On NPR they were talking with a former Merchant Marine and he said that since Italy had signed on to the Athens Agreement, the maximum liability the cruise company has is $71,400 per dead passenger.

The US did not sign the Athens agreement.

 

[lugnut33]

This satellite photo is creepy:

 

[kaligal]

I do not recall any story ever upsetting me so much. Even with the horrors of war, it is war - it is supposed to be horrific. And it mixes with so much anger.

I'm not one of those people who cry all the time and are always bawling about everything they see on TV. But I couldn't help shedding a few tears.

It's all just so disturbingly sad.

I hope people aren't blaming the crew. I'm sure they did their best. Once the thing tips, half the lifeboats are under water and no good to anyone, anyway. And the others that were secured with gravity going one way now have to be pried out with gravity working against them. And strong men are pushing and shoving to get their loved ones (and for some, themselves, it has been reported) into the boats. It had to be a mess.

If the crew stayed and tried to help, I think they should be cut all the slack in the world.

You know, just as with any ship that has a casino, there's a HUGE amount of currency in that "little room" no one wants you to see.

I wonder if anyone... Well, I guess that's inappropriate to think about right now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=feCG-t_Um5I#!

It's not inappropriate.

I hadn't thought of it, but am glad you did. I hope someone got off with some (or all) of the money. It's kind of nice to think someone had something that was some good happen...that someone went to the hotel and counted money instead of (or in addition to) tears.

No reason the money should go down with the ship. Hell, the captain (who ought to be shot) didn't even do that.

 

[lugnut33]

Merchant Marine Capt. said today on NPR that the life boats are useless if the ship has more than a 15 degree list, hence the reason it's important to get people evacuated quickly. At 15 degrees, the life boats are too far away for people to into them on one side, and on the other side the boats are laying on the side of the ship. I'm amazed more people didn't perish, probably a good thing they drove it into shore after they hit the first reef.