Death Toll Rises On CONCORDIA — Updated
January 19 — Third update: After a day delay caused by a slight shift in the position of the wreck, rescue efforts resumed aboard the wrecked COSTA CONCORDIA off the island of Giglio off the coast of Tuscany.
As of today the number of people listed as missing stands at 21, with 11 confirmed dead. Captain Schettino remains under house arrest on suspicion of multiple manslaughter and Costa reportedly has suspended him and withdrawn an offer to pay his legal costs.
Dutch salvage company SMIT, is planning to begin extracting thousands of gallons of fuel oil to avert possible environmental damage. There is concern that the ship could slide into deeper water. Stormy weather forecast for the area tonight.
In yet another strange turn of events, the Italian media have also shown images of a Moldovan woman on TV who claimed she was on the bridge after the ship grounded, and defended the captain’s actions, investigators are now trying to reach her. It was said the she did not appear on the manifest.
Lloyds, reporting on recent traffic flow in the area, said the COSTA CONCORDIA was the only cruise ship to have come close to Giglio, all others steering a course far from land.
January 17 — Second Update: Mickey Arison, Chairman of Carnival Corporation, parent company of Costa Cruises, issued the following statement in the aftermath of the discovery of five more bodies on board the COSTA CONCORDIA:
“We are deeply saddened by the reports of additional deaths following the grounding of the Costa Concordia. On behalf of the entire Carnival Corporation & plc team, I offer our heartfelt condolences to all of those families affected by this tragedy.
Our immediate priority continues to be supporting rescue and recovery efforts and looking after our guests and crew members, along with securing the vessel to ensure there is no environmental impact. My senior management team and I have been in continuous contact with the Costa executive team in Italy and we have our senior level technical experts on the ground to provide additional support for this tragic and highly unusual incident.
While this is a terribly sad time for everyone involved, we want to recognize the tremendous efforts of Concordia’s crew, who along with the Italian Coast Guard and authorities, helped to evacuate more than 4,000 passengers and crew members from the ship in very difficult conditions. And we continue to offer our deep gratitude to the Italian authorities for their support and ongoing efforts.”
January 17 — First Update: With calmer seas and several holes now blasted into the keeled over ship’s hull assisting rescue and recovery efforts, another five bodies were pulled from the wreckage of the COSTA CONCORDIA. The confirmed deaths now number eleven, with twenty four people still unaccounted for.
Meanwhile, audio transcripts of the Italian Coast Guard reprimanding and demanding that the captain, Francesco Schettino, return to the foundering ship to oversee the evacuation of some 100 remaining guests, have also been released. Yesterday, Costa Chairman Pier Luigi Foschi attributed the disaster to “human error” on the part of the captain, who “did not follow the authorized route.” Schettino remains under house arrest on suspicion of multiple counts of manslaughter and abandoning ship.
January 16: The death toll from the loss of COSTA CONCORDIA rose to six today as divers found the body of another passenger. The man, in a life-jacket, was discovered by rescuers in a passageway in part of the ship that remains above water.
The number of people missing also rose by two, to sixteen, as two women previously recorded as evacuated have since failed to contact relatives, and their whereabouts remain unknown. Fire crew chief Cosimo Pulito said rescuers had only so far searched about a quarter of the vessel and that most of the above water spaces were clear and some underwater areas had been searched.
On Sunday, reports surfaced that residents on the island of Giglio said they had never seen the COSTA CONCORDIA, which makes a weekly pass of the island, come so close to the Le Scole reef on Giglio’s eastern coast and recalled that cruise ships usually stayed over five nautical miles offshore.
Local officials have expressed concern that the ship’s fuel could spill into the pristine waters around the island, which is in a marine reserve. However, there was no sign of pollution as of yet and fuel pumping may soon empty the fuel tanks that were filled before the voyage commenced.
There is also some concern that if the rougher weather should cause a swell, the ship could potentially break free from the rocky slope on which the hull is resting and fully sink. The rescue mission continues under these very dangerous conditions. Diving leader Rudolfo Raitere stated: “The swell could break the ship free. If that happens it will slip to the bottom of the sea. We need to keep working as quickly as we can.”
Italian authorities are holding the Captain under suspicion of manslaughter and abandoning his ship. According to Italian navigation code, a captain who abandons a ship in danger can face up to 12 years in prison.
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Time’s up for conventional lifeboats on these mega cruise ships. High sloping sides from elevated superstructure design allied to an industry-wide fantasy that all ship disasters will allow the vessel to stay straight and level in a calm sea have been cruelly exposed by this latest catastrophe. The industry needs to urgently adopt the pod escape systems used on large freight/container ships but I fear that the cruise ship operators will spare no expense on lobbying the safety agencies to delay such changes for as long as possible. The Herald of Free Enterprise debacle is a case in point. Has the industry learned nothing since the Titanic, one hundred years ago?
The Captain should do jail time. How else does this happen with today’s technology? Sad and amazing!
How sadly ironic, that in the year that marks the century anniversary of the Titanic’s sinking and the lessons learned from that disaster, that we have leanred nothing despite our best efforts to make sea travel safer.
With all the strides made in GPS, we have nearly the SAME type of accident; a ship runs into a natural obstruction and becomes a total loss.
And, the fact that the crew was not prepared (let alone the aledged cowardly actions of the Captain) will not help the cruise industry in this economy.
What about lifeboat drills? Is the law different in Italy then in the U.S.? Just how valid is SOLAS?
Onoce again, Man flying in the face of God.
First off about drills they are not mandatory for passengers to attend. The US follows the same rules put forward by Solas and the IMO. I had passengers on the small ship I was working on refuse to come out for the drill when we were doing the drill muster. She did not have to attend. Since Solas is a reactive ruling going all the way back to the titanic we may see changes good our bad because they may protect the passengers but then pit restrictions for the company and crew, the whole crew did not know what to do thing is understandable when was the last cruise ship to capsize. Just my ideas.
Mike “Olaf” Arnold
Us Merchant Marine
Cadet at Ny Maritime
@John Banas: I would say something has improved in a hundred years considering there have (thus far) been only six people dead of the over 4211 onboard the COSTA CONCORDIA. 68% of all people onboard the TITANIC perished when she sunk. Even if all the people currently missing from the CONCORDIA are found dead, that would mean only 0.005% of all people onboard perished (if the 16 people currently missing are all alive the number drops to 0.001%). I’d say that’s one hell of an improvement in safety.
Of course, even one death is too much and ships – be they cruise or any other – should be made safer still. But considering the cause of the accident seems to have been sheer human stupidity AND the evacuation was something of a mess, a fatality rate of only 0.005% is pretty impressive.
Lifeboat drills, as I believe I mentioned elsewhere, have to be carried out within 24 hours of departure according to SOLAS (as far as I know, anyway). In this respect it seems Costa were following regulations to the letter as the lifeboat drill was scheduled for the next day. That said, the regulations should be changed so that the drill is held before departure.
An error in my calculations above, it should be 0,5% and 0,1%, not 0,001% and 0,005%. Which I should have caught the first time…
I think most of these large ships are floating deathtraps.
I’ve always felt, during the “lifeboat drills”, it will be every man for himself. The crews contain so many nationalities, to avoid unionization, that it will be chaos and WAS aboard this ship.
Mickey Aronson (and his Carnivorous Cruises) is on par with Bruce Ismay (Titanic) in hiding from liability. Cost cutting is everywhere along with a lot of negligence.
Note how the lifeboats didn’t work. Imagine one of these floating condo blocks in a hurricane or major fire and rough weather.
There is a risk to cruising … and Carnival’s Costa proves these ships can be lethal…
This of course only covers hitting a rock… what about disappearances, rape, robberies, murders, drug use, etc. Just checkout the cruise victim website.
Does anyone know why the ship sank on the starboard side when all the hull damage, with the giant boulder stuck in the ship, is on the port side? That part does not make sense to me. Is there an even larger hole on the starboard side or is something else going on?
Holland America Line, which I have sailed on 22 times out of 38 total cruises, has always held lifeboat drill before the ship even departs from the pier after initial passenger embarkation. They have always put passenger safety first. On my last cruise with them in October 2011 to Hawaii, they cancelled the Lahaina stop in Maui rather than risk passenger safety. We pulled up anchor and sailed to Hilo. The Captain slowed the Zaandam down the first day out from Vancouver BC as we went through 90 mile per hour winds and 35 foot waves. The Captain told us what he was doing and why and said we would be at sea an extra day and miss our first port of Kona. I am glad he played it safe and took 6 days to cross the Pacific rather than the 5 we had scheduled. The crew was always on top of the changing situation. It is interesting that Holland America Line and Costa are both owned by Carnival Corporation yet appear to have different situations. I will stick with Holland America Line.
One has to wonder how much longer they can continue building these massive floating hotels.
The thought of trying to evacuate 6500 people from a floundering vessel is what nightmares are made of.
Regardless of the quality of training given to crew members you still have thousands of people that are totally out of their comfort zone. Panic is bound to set in.
I have been at sea for 40 years now 20 of those years in command and I would not evan contemplate stepping foot on one of those monsters.
As for working on one – totally out of the question
I’m with you Mark, I did my last sailing with my late husband in 2003; just three years before he passed away. I would not sail on anything that size or larger myself, even if I had the money to sail again..it would be on a much smaller ship. For instance, if it were still around, the REGAL EMPRESS or the NORWAY or smaller…the time of the larger ships has once again come into question. Complacency has reigned again, just as it did 100 years ago. It appears that the time for smaller ships to return on the scene of cruising and that everyone be very aware of what to do when it happens again. The first time I had seen the OASIS OF THE SEAS come into Fort Lauderdale, I was shaking in my computer chair. I didn’t have to be there to witness the enormity of that vessel, to me it spells disaster.
The Oasis/Allure of the Seas can have a combined passenger/crew total of up to 8,500 souls on board!
It has been surmised that the Captain steered the ship close to shore so his head waiter could wave to his father on shore-his bad!
Luckily the ship was close to shore and settled on it’s side preventing it from sinking. I doubt Costa will be able to save the ship.
Mark, my father, just retired, with 59 years at sea on passenger vessels, agrees with you. It has made me re-think the ships I’ll take my girlfriend on. Lax muster drills and the sheer volume of panicked passengers is indeed an issue.
Let’s also spare a thought for the dozens of crew that perish at sea every year with nary a comment from the media.
Me and my family have cruised numerous times on RCCL ships. We prefer ships of what has now become medium-sized ships. In RCCL-terms that is the “Vision”-class. We are not in favor of the bigger ships. Always, prior to leaving the embarkation port, RCCL organize a compulsory life-boat drill for all passengers. Back to “Costa Concordia”, what if she hadn’t capsized in shall waters near land? What if she had slipped away into deeper waters. Then it would have been a total different story, probably with much larger number of fatalities. This is a wake-up call for the cruise industry. The results of the investigation into this disaster, will be interesting reading, whenever they will be published.
Pod escape systems may the way ahead, and where is the best place for them? On top so that there is the maximum flexibility for their use. Obviously there would have to be restraints to avoid injuries when the pod is launched, whether this would be practicable when you are dealing with ordinary passengers and lots of them and not just a few trained mariners is open to debate.
In addition people will naturally head upwards towards the open and the open areas on top give space to organise queues (lines) etc for orderly loading of the boats/pods. The practise of having the boats in restricted spaces inset into the superstructure was I believe so that the boats were nearer the water on these very high ships, however I believe the real reason was to avoid taking up space on top that is more profitably utilised for leisure activities.
Nobody can assume the obvious, be it fact, rumor or from personal experience, as to what actually happened on this ill fated voyage.
According to the “local” tv news here, two passengers from Virginia are still misssing. Luckily, two Virginians from the Norfolk area were rescued, by the crew, wearing their life vests. The two saved have given the crew they encountred during the fiasco credit for their bravery and for saving them and others. Now, that is their word, not mine.
Until extensive investigations and whatever it takes to get the real story out, we are left with conjecture. The pictures do not lie, they tell of this horror tale with blatant reality.
Our daily paper reported that $90,000,000.00US will be lost in reveue from this ships withdrawal. Thats a lot of pasta!
We took a one-week cruise last November on the Norwegian Star out of Tampa. To my surprise, there was NO life-boat drill, at least as I remember them. We were told to leave the life-jackets in our cabin and report to the theater, of all places. There a muster was held, then a crew member up on stage demonstrated how to put on a life-jacket; I would guess that 90%+ of the passengers were “yacking,” and not paying a bit of attention. If it were not for the plaque on the back of our cabin door, we would not know what life-boat was ours or where it was located — how many take the time to study the plaque? Fortunately, unlike the Costa Concordia passengers, we didn’t need life-jackets or life-boats. There but for the Grace of God, etc., etc….
If the HERALD OF FREE ENTERPRISE could be salvaged, I should think the CONCORDIA can be as well, at least assuming there is no additional, catastrophic bottom damage not yet revealed. The job is obviously larger, but the procedures would seem similar. As huge as the portside breach is, it can certainly be temporarily patched. Starboard side damage inflicted by the capsize can probably be dealt with, too.
But to what end? Who would possibly want the salvaged vessel? Once raised, she will probably make one more “cruise”: to Aliaga or Alang.
The anti-big-ship comments have one very serious flaw. That is, the exact same issue of the ratio of lifeboats to passengers exists.
I would feel safer on a larger vessel that is more likely to withstand damage and remain afloat longer. This ship took, what, 12 hours to capsize?
Lifeboats lower in the hull are a SOLAS requirement. In fact, the Queen Mary 2 was given a waiver allowing higher lifeboat placement due to the beatings the lifeboats take in the wild North Atlantic. In more sheltered cruising the lower location is safer because they can ordinarily be launched faster, and have less distance to fall should something go wrong in lowering them. Locating them higher (or lower) wouldn’t have made any difference in this particular accident. And the idea that lifeboats are located lower because of revenue concerns is WELL wide of the mark.
Edit the above to clarify: I meant to write “That is, the exact same issue of the ratio of lifeboats to passengers exists on smaller vessels too.”
Sadly, they pulled 5 more bodies this morning, bringing the toll to 11. Still 29 missing.
Kudos to Captgeo for opening up a new consideration, an important one.
During my last cruise on NIEUW ANSTERDAM this past August, out of Venice, we had no dill, not even a half baked one, with an excuse of “tides” which somehow prevented the drill?
On my last several Cunard sailings, were not to done our vest,carry them to prevent the straps from tripping. Once at the muster station those needing assistance receive it from the crew as to how to put on the vest. Every ten feet or so along the way to your assigned muster station, from stateroom to your actual numbered muster station, crew and or staff wearing yellow hats and their vests, direct and assist. Even though supposedly (by cabin key card) they “know”if you show up or not, verbal call of the roster is still made. Yes, the drill is mandatory.
I have saield in near pasts with very lax drills on some lines. This lack of one on the NIEUW AMSTERDAM – unforgiveable.
I just saw more coverage from Italy, and 5 more bodies were accounted for, all wearing life vests, it said.
We may never know the whole story.
The horrific nature and proportions of his blunder notwithstanding, a measure of my sympathy nevertheless goes out to Capt. Schettino. In retrospect it appears that the decision to sail close-in to Isola Giglio that night began not as “show-boating,” but as a kind gesture by a good-hearted captain. It must have seemed such an easy way to please the esteemed head waiter and his family! Then, when it went horribly wrong, Schettino did exactly what he needed to do to minimize the effect of the foundering upon his passengers and crew. Afterward, his decision to abandon his vessel would seem to mark a man in the midst of a nervous breakdown, overwhelmed by the catastrophic events he had unleashed — cruelly ironic under the circumstances.
If the lifeboats are not in working order it makes me wonder about the rest of the fleet. Maintenance is critical and appears to be lacking. I don’t even want to comment on the Captain’s reaction to the tragedy my stomach is still churning.
The port side stabilizer is extended fully, jutting out maybe 12 to 15 feet and appears undamaged. The hull rupture and gash begins some way aft extends approx 180 feet beginning with a small breach and widening to approx 30ft (with an underwater rock embedded) in way of the engine room (question – is she constructed with double hull protection in way of the engine room?). I would theorize that the CONCORDIA was in the initial stages of a turn away from land (did 3the bridge watch realized they were too close?), and the stabilizer cleared the rocks but the after part of the ship “slid” (a phenomena know to all sailors) into the projecting rocks. I read an account (I’ve read too many and can not recall what the source was) where the Captain claimed he did a “maneuver” (to save lives, which certainly appears to be true) which brought the ship close to shore by dropping anchor (the port anchor probably as I suspect the engine room was flooding), which at 12-15 knots would swing her around 180 degrees or so. I suspect she subsequently suffered even greater starboard side damage resulting in her rolling over onto her starboard side. Perhaps her starboard stabilizer was torn off, breaching the hull on the starboard side. Almost certainly she also suffered hull damage by the rocks. If so, CONCORDIA is severely damaged and may be unsalvageable, although the SMIT salvage people are very competent, and clever. I just rode the CARNIVAL TRIUMPH and I also wondered about stability of 15 decks on a draft of 26 feet.
Getting 3500 people off a ship is alot harder than lets say 600..
These ships are death traps period. Thank god that this ship was not out too far or there would have been alot more deaths. That water that the Concordia is in doesnt look deep, does anyone know how deep that area is?
They will salvage that ship.. 450 million euros??they wont get anywhere near that in scrap value…
Also these mega ships are what the American public are demanding. The smaller older ships have continuously been scrapped due to no demand for them, everyone has to have a balcony.
Cruise ships companies arent making any money with smaller ships”or they have led us to believe..But mark my words, the return of the smaller or mid size ships will prevail..I do not want to be part of a 3500 to 5000 passenger mayhem, which sounds like what happened here. Ide rather be with 5-600 people and survive. Its really sad that these victims are being found with their lifejackets on, just waiting to be rescued while this slime is on the beach arguing with someone, it makes me sick…
I agree with you, Mr Graham, of all remarks about Captain Schettino that I have read, yours is by far the kindest. I doubt he would get a fair trial now his name has been scandelised world wide.
Greg
I’m still wondering if banking the ship is the reason it toppled since they are designed to float and stay upright under the most difficult circumstances, even with a sixth of the lower compartments breached. The Draught is 26ft but it would be lower than that due to the flooding, and the water depth is variable being on a steep bank. See this link.
http://www.oldsaltblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/1701_cruise_slide_2110467c.jpg
The Captain was clearly in a state of Shock and Denial for at least an hour after the accident, resulting in delays which may have cost lives. It’s a tough job but isn’t that what we choose and pay them for? The First Officer should have taken over sooner and declared him sick.
The ship hit the shoal at 21:45 (local time). What follows is from the official transcript of the communications of the Port Authority.
22:26: after the initial denial of the situation, the Captain reports to the Port Authority about the gash and that the ship was tilting but still not asking for assistance.
22:34 Captain asks for assistance.
22:58 abandon ship signal while the ship is only moderately tilted.
23:23 the Captain reports of increasing tilting.
00:12 evacuation still proceeding from both sides of the ship; first difficulties on the left side.
00:32 first report of people overboard.
00:42 the Captain and (he says, but it’s not true) all the officials have left the ship
http://www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2012/01/18/pop_tragedia.shtml
I shall keep my comments about the captain of the vessel to myself. Enough already. He will get his day in court, then we can all draw our conclusions,. none of us were there. Luckily, we sahll never sail with him in the future.
I will, however, make a comment that seems to always be an issue, on whatever the subject may be: Americanization of any and everything.
There are mega ships in the German cruise market now, more comming. A rare few Costa ships are actually tuned and marketed for the US and Canadian markets. P&O, like the German cruise lines, does not market their product to the American market. A very few MSC ships are geared to the US market. These lines all have mega ships. And with a few exceptions, do not cater to, do not want and do not sail in or out of US ports.
The quest for balconies is not limited to Americans any more than a ships casino or watered down over priced drinks. The big ship is universal, like the world economy.
If you really want to pick the nit, look who owns the autos made in England, Volkswagon, Tata of India owns Jaguar.
Megaships in the USA???? There are none registered, in fact only the NCL/America ship in Hawaii is the sole US cruise ship.
Speculation about why the port stabilizer fin escaped damage overlooks the fact that transiting this strait in calm seas, it never would have been deployed at all. Again, I’d suggest that the gyroscope deployed it automatically when the heel angle increased beyond a certain point.
That the visible damage is located where it is suggests a sudden turn to avoid identified danger. Turning action of a ship, initiated at the stern, resembles turning action of an automobile being operated in reverse; the back of the car may contact an object that the front did not. The captain’s statement that the ship was moving “sideways” seems to bear this out.
Although we can’t see whether the port anchor was deployed, my guess is not; had it been deployed at any significant speed, the cable would likely have parted. Then there would have been the loss of crucial time weighing it at least part-way. I think the 16-point turn was made under engine power, and that power remained at least partially available until the ship had been brought close to the island. Finally, that turn may have shifted the water that had already entered the hull to the starboard side, accounting for the starboard list that was created even though the major wound had been sustained on the opposite side.
It appears to be a gradual increase of angle from the time it was stationary rather than a sudden bank implying gradual flooding/sinking of one side or sliding of the ship down the bank.
Note that 2 1/2 hours passed (00:12) after the accident before they had problems with the lifeboats on the port side, is there a maximum specified angle they can be lowered? That would give us an idea of the angle at that time.
Lets get into our life vests for the Captains Dinner.
This has been reported ad nausium by the big news stations The Captain of the COSTA CONCORDIA stayed on the ship and demanded his dinner after the crash, with a lady friend, and stayed on board until he demanded his dessert. All the while keeping dining steward in check for his dinner. Under the Captains command, a chef was retained for this meal, and he has been interviewed at length and seen and heard on TV, so this is not a ruse.
One would imagine that this Captain as worthy of the honor to server as captain of what the press is calling “Italys biggest and most luxurious cruise liner”.
And to think the captain fell into a life boat that happened to float to shore. What of his lady friend?
Oh what a movie this will make.
I don’t understand wht they haven’t secured her to land using cables. I would think the risk of the pending disaster of the oil leaking if she breaks up due to the oncoming storm, would trump cutting more holes in her.
Perfect example of a “modern” SOLAS-compliant ship….sinking like the Lusitania. These MBA-designed, top-heavy, fair-weather floating shopping malls are certainly not worthy of the trials of the sea.
Maybe this will ring a bell somewhere. Today’s formula: heap on more decks, cram on more sardines, then sell ’em everything you can while
they are penned up for the duration. It ain’t like the good old days
when the S.S, United states, Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth plyed the North Atlantic in all kinds of weather, on schedule. of course, the same has happened to air travel. Glad my prime was in the “good old days” and I lived them…..
I believe the LUSITANIA was blown apart by the Germans in the second world war. Please coerrect me if I am wrong.
As I noted on another site here at Maritime Matters, the press is having a field day with the Costa caper, and most assuredly a movie will be made. They ie: Hollywood could just re-dum the Poseidon affair, for all of the realism that lacked on that dud. Shelley, you were the one that made the film worth watching.
What irks me is the stupidity of some of the news reporters barking about a subject they do not know, and reading from a teleprompter lines written by someone that knows even less. But, that is true about nearly every subject that makes news and headlines. Sensationalism sells.
Here is a different side to the Costa caper. the Wall Street Journals detailed and quite susinct and no bones about it article.
wsj.com this was on page A8, World News, above the fold, “Italy Examines Captains Call to Boss” published dat Thursday January 19, 2012. Please read it.
Of particular note is the time line listing the final hours.