Costa Concordia, what went wrong?

[oceanbluesail09]

I came across this post on Sailing Anarchy
wondering what went wrong....
strange that the captain claims it was not marked on the charts...whats the general opinion?



A risky practice by cruise ships of close-passing the island of Giglio in a foghorn-blasting salute to the local population appears to have contributed to the Costa Concordia disaster, officials and witnesses said on Sunday.

The 114,500 tonne monster cruise liner sank after hitting a reef only 300 metres (985 feet) from shore late Friday as it passed much too close to the shore of the Tuscan island on its route to Savona in northern Italy.

Defence Minister Giampaolo Di Paola, a former Italian navy admiral, blamed "gross human error" for the disaster in comments to Rai3 television on Sunday.

"Ships of such dimensions cannot sail so close to a coastline where one knows there are rocks," the minister said.

Some witnesses said the ship was indulging the local population with a spectacular parade past the island in what is known locally as an "inchino" or reverent bow, with its upper decks ablaze with light as many of the passengers sat down to dinner.

Adding weight to the theory, the daily La Stampa on Sunday published a letter dated last August in which Giglio's mayor Sergio Ortelli thanked the Concordia's captain for the "incredible spectacle" of a previous close pass.

The mayor told journalists on the island on Saturday that the normal route for cruise ships heading north from the port of Civitavecchia near Rome takes them to within three to five kilometres (1.8 to 3.1 miles) of Giglio. "Many of them pass close to Giglio to salute the local population with blasts from their sirens."

"It's a very nice show to see, the ship all lit up when you see it from the land. This time round it went wrong," said the mayor.

On Sunday however, Ortelli denied that it was a regular practice to come so close to the island.

"It's not the practice, or in any way a programmed salute but always in safe conditions," he said.

Ortelli said some skippers of Costa cruise liners liked to "pay tribute" to former colleagues who have retired to the island but that this always occurred in "safe conditions".

Francesco Verusio, the Tuscany region's chief prosecutor, said the ship's captain "should not have been sailing so close to the island" and had him arrested for multiple homicide and abandoning his ship before all the passengers were off.

He said that the captain had "approached Giglio in a very awkward manner", which led the ship to "hit a rock that became embedded in its left side, causing it to list and take in an enormous amount of water in the space of two or three minutes".

Enrico Rossi, the president of the Tuscany region, visited the island on Sunday to see the rescue effort at first hand. He said he would ask the environment ministry on Monday to ensure that cruise ships adhere strictly to navigation rules in future.

"It's shocking to learn that a ship of this size can navigate so close to the coast," Rossi told AFP, adding that it should be possible to balance the need to entertain passengers with the safety of the ship.


http://www.emirates2...-01-15-1.437735

[marisca]

What went wrong? I would have thought that was obvious!

[oceanbluesail09]

its obvious that it was obvious...
but what went wrong ?
why would a modern cruise ship hit a rock?

i quote from
http://travel.usatoday.com/alliance/cru ... p/603877/1


has taken me 24 hours to write about the Costa Concordia’s disastrous cruise from Rome which resulted in five deaths and the latest estimate of 17 missing passengers because I’ve been covering the cruise industry for almost two decades. I know that Carnival Corporation, which owns Costa Cruises, is a leader in terms of building vessels that meet the highest safety specifications. (Photo: Solaro/AFP/Getty Images)

It was astonishing to see photos of a five year old 115,000 -ton cruise ship lying on its side roughly 600 feet from shore, hearing the harrowing tales of passengers swimming to shore, the utter pandemonium and panic of abandoning a dark listing ship. Not only is it the 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic but some of the details are scarily similar: a 950-foot gash in the ship’s hull that looks like someone tried to open it with a can opener coupled with people jumping in the water, the crew unable to launch many of the ship’s lifeboats and utter panic.

I attended this ship’s splashy Italian christening in 2006, toured half-built ships in dozens of visits to European shipyard, spent a great deal of time over the years interviewing ship builders and cruise line execs about cruise ship safety. I’ve written that the only threat to a modern cruise ship is fire.

So, how could this happen to cruise ship in the 21st century?

The answer is that we won’t know for sure until Costa Concordia’s little black box reveals moment-by-moment sequence of events that resulted in the 4,000-passenger vessel crashing on rocks of Isola del Giglio on the Italian Riviera. At present the ship’s master, Captain Francesco Schettino, has been arrested, charged with multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship. In an interview, the visibly distraught Captain said the “rocks not detected” on the navigational chart. Three people trapped inside the ship have been rescued as the search for 17 missing people continues.

The Details

On January 13, Costa Concordia had set sail from Civitavecchia (port of Rome) on a seven day cruise at 4:00 p.m. with scheduled port calls in Savonna, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Cagliari and Palermo. Seas were calm and the Italian officers certainly knew this itinerary well since Concordia sails on this fixed itinerary each week. On board the vessels were 3200 passengers and a crew of 1000. International maritime laws stipulate that a mandatory lifeboat drill must take place within 24 hours of departing the port of embarkation and, as is quite common in this industry, Concordia’s was scheduled the following morning.

Shortly before 10:00 p.m. there was a sudden “boom and crash” followed by loss of electricity as water began spilling into the ship. Costa Concordia immediately started to list and passengers in the main dining room report that dishes and glasses crashed to the floor. An announcement from the bridge told passengers not to panic, that everything was under control.

But passengers and crew did panic There are reports of people being shoved down stairways as people raced to their staterooms to don life jackets. After 45 minutes the order to abandon ship created more chaos since passengers didn’t know where to go. In an interview one passenger said he was unable to board a lifeboat and swam to shore while a video taken on board a lifeboat illustrates how terrified its passengers were. Because the ship was listing many lifeboats couldn’t be launched.

While it may be true that the only real threat to a cruise ship is fire, there are clearly two other factors which can turn a cruise into a disaster: technical problems and human error. An example of the first is Carnival Splendor, which lost power in 2010 off the coast of Mexico. While the ship sat in the ocean for days there was nothing remotely frightening or dangerous about the experience. As for human error, we’ve seen that since the first human went to sea.

Again, nobody knows what caused this terrible accident. But several maritime experts interviewed about Costa Concordia expressed the a concern — ships carrying thousands of people have become too large to evacuate everyone safely.

For further information……….

BBC has the most comprehensive information and video interviews.

I was very dismayed to read that ships in Costa Cruises (headquartered in Rome) fleet have had a larger than normal number of mishaps. See the report in the Daily Mirror (UK)

[Booby Trapper]

For further information……….

BBC has the most comprehensive information and video interviews.

Are you kidding, well into Saturday the BBC were still reporting it hit a sandbank. And then all they seemed to be able to do was drag out some supposed industry experts stating the bleeding obvious.

[Gardenshed]

What went wrong?
The numpty driving the boat wanted to show off his fine large one to his pals in the village. No amount of automation can overcome the deliberate ignoring of warnings and alerts. After they hit the rock, they were living in hope that the damage wasn't too bad so didn't abandon ship until it had listed so badly that it was difficult to use the lifeboats. ALL the officers of the watch should be held accountable.

What's amazing from the pictures is how flat-bottomed the ship is. it looks horribly top heavy. Does anyone have an idea what the angle of vanishing stability is for one of these?

[ubergeekian]

These modern cruise ships all look grossly unstable to me: multistorey car parks built on punts. I suppose they must meet stability criteria, but I wonder how much these depend on the use of stabilisers. This one seems to have gone over fast once a bit of water got in.

See also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etwtyzWssYA

[jim.r]

Bit akin to a jumbo jet doing a flypast and clipping an electricity pylon, you'll never legislate for idiocy.

[Silkie]

Have you seen this one of the ex-Calmac Suilven in Cook Strait?

[youtube]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=e7NB-bN-ns4[/youtube]

To my untrained eye however, neither of these two designs are anything like as extreme as the Concordia.

[Silkie]

This is very difficult to interpret in any light favourable to Captain Schettino.

[youtube]http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wM9sam2u_Tk[/youtube]

I'm sure the translation I heard on R4 this evening featured a section with the CG directly asking Schettino if he was refusing to go back aboard.

[Booby Trapper]

These modern cruise ships all look grossly unstable to me: multistorey car parks built on punts. I suppose they must meet stability criteria, but I wonder how much these depend on the use of stabilisers. This one seems to have gone over fast once a bit of water got in.

See also: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etwtyzWssYA

They do look it but so does the Arran ferry when you see her rounding the lighthouse at Ardrossan harbour. I'm sure there's plenty of Iron down there just like ours.

[oceanbluesail09]

Just saw this....
guess a bit of a slap in the face for passengers, but guess Costa Concordia will get away with the mess it seems...



Costa Concordia passengers face legal obstacle course
Passengers seeking compensation from the operators of the Costa Concordia face a legal obstacle course in securing redress.
Costa Concordia passengers face legal obstacle course
According to the contract, bereaved families or injured passengers have 185 days to submit a claim Photo: REUTERS
David Millward

By David Millward, Transport Editor

6:45PM GMT 20 Jan 2012

They will also be hamstrung by the small print of the 6,400 word contract incorporated in their cruise ticket.

“These contracts are horrible and absurd,” said Jack Hickey, a Florida lawyer specialising in shipping cases,

“The terms are non-negotiable and they are not easy to understand.”

According to the contract, a copy of which has been seen by The Daily Telegraph, bereaved families or injured passengers have 185 days to submit a claim. For other losses, such as property, the deadline is only 30 days after the incident.

According to the contract compensation for bereavement is limited to the Athens convention limit of just over £46,000 or 46,666 “Special Drawing Rights” – an artificial currency used to settle international transactions.
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The contract also imposes strict limits on compensation for lost property, with a ceiling of £322 ($500) per passenger.

But to make a claim passengers must “request that the vessel’s officers or agents” verify the loss or damage at the port of disembarkation.

In any case a vast array of times are explicitly excluded including cameras, computers, contact lenses, CDs, mobile phones and even what is described in the contract as “dental hardware”.

Any action will have to be registered in Genoa, but an added complication arises over whether the passengers will be able to benefit from the Athens convention at all.

But lawyers were divided whether the convention will apply given that Italy is not a signatory. But just to complicate matters, the convention has just been adopted as European law under an EU directive which came into force in December.

This could prove irrelevant with the contract making clear that it will be able to choose whichever legal provisions limit its liability the most. The small print also appears to head off action being taken against the captain or his insurers.

However passengers could hope that the Italian courts find the conditions oppressive and lawyers last night questioned whether the terms could be foisted on British clients.

Also according to Clive Garner, a partner at Irwin Mitchell, action could be taken against the manufacturers of any faulty equipment held to be a factor in causing the disaster. This could lead to a wave of law suits in the United States, where more substantial damages could be sought.

The crew and entertainment staff on board, including several Britons, could find themselves in a better position, Mr Garner added.

“They will be able to sue under their contracts of employment and Italian employment laws provide a very high level of protection for the workforce.”

[Rowana]

This is interesting -

http://gcaptain.com/gcaptains-john-konr ... deo/?37941