Italian cruise ship

[Balt Observer]

In the scheme of things, these ships are relatively safe. Even the mega ships.

As is the case so often, it is human error that sets the domino effect into motion while catastrophe lurks around the bend.

I have read on various sources folks praising Schettino for grounding the ship in shoal water so that rescue was possible and effective.

This infuriates me to no end.

If this numbnuts had not taken his 112,000 ton, nearly 1000 foot long ship into an area it had no business being in, the rescue of some 4000+ souls would not have been necessary.

It is my wish that Italian Coast Guard or regulatory body that issues mariner credentials in that country tear up his license into itty bitty pieces right in front of him before they ship his *** off to prison for negligence resulting in the deaths of his crew & passengers.

The thing that strikes me is that despite all the safety features, technology, and training, the margin of error in an emergency can be very small.

It's now been demonstrated that these ships can begin to founder quite quickly when the hull is breached. If a hull breach occurred while out at sea and a serious list developed, making half the lifeboats inaccessible, there really would be nowhere for half the passengers to go. It would be every person for himself in getting to the remaining lifeboats. What a horrible way that would be to go, engaged in mortal combat with your fellow passengers.

[zenwalk]

Ferries are accidents waiting to happen. This isn't a ferry but by the look of it it's about as top heavy of an ocean going ship as you are likely to find. I imagine it topples like a sawn down tree.

[Balt Observer]

Ferries are accidents waiting to happen. This isn't a ferry but by the look of it it's about as top heavy of an ocean going ship as you are likely to find. I imagine it topples like a sawn down tree.

It seems like there's always a disastrous ferry sinking in the news every couple of years. In third world countries, it seems they always take those overloaded death traps out into very rough seas.

[Calamari]

Byngo! But this Captain does not strike me as an Officer that would take the honerable way out!

It's the thought that counts. Plus, he could aways screw up his plan to not kill himself.

[grggngll]

Disasters like this are why need to stop burdening cruise ships with pesky nanny state regulations.

I wonder how any regulation would have prevented the vessel from going of course. As in an actual human being saying we are not going here, let's go over there.

Oh I see the solution. Every person who must operate a ship must be a well educated libbie.

[grggngll]

Preferably some liberal arts degree, where the skill set developed is "feeling strongly".

[Tristan]

The thing that strikes me is that despite all the safety features, technology, and training, the margin of error in an emergency can be very small.

It's now been demonstrated that these ships can begin to founder quite quickly when the hull is breached. If a hull breach occurred while out at sea and a serious list developed, making half the lifeboats inaccessible, there really would be nowhere for half the passengers to go. It would be every person for himself in getting to the remaining lifeboats. What a horrible way that would be to go, engaged in mortal combat with your fellow passengers.

First off, I am by no means a fan of these mega passenger ships. In my humble opinion, the last true liner built that was pleasing to the eye was "QUEEN ELIZABETH 2".

They can have these floating hotels and the associated problems with them.

Your first paragraph is very true, there have been great accomplishments in regards to technology and safety. But, this means nothing if the weakest link is the crew.

A mega disaster is inevitable with these mega ships. It's just a matter of time.

[grggngll]

First off, I am by no means a fan of these mega passenger ships. In my humble opinion, the last true liner built that was pleasing to the eye was "QUEEN ELIZABETH 2".

They can have these floating hotels and the associated problems with them.

Your first paragraph is very true, there have been great accomplishments in regards to technology and safety. But, this means nothing if the weakest link is the crew.

A mega disaster is inevitable with these mega ships. It's just a matter of time.

I personally like the smaller premium vessels, for instance Crown Jewel/Dynasty.

I had the pleasure of sailing with the Jewel (for work) and I thought it was manageable as far as passengers was concerned.

[Tristan]

http://gcaptain.com/in-defense-of-ca...id-save/?37994

I like the folks at gCaptain, but if Schettino had not put his ship into peril, there would have been no need to save lives in the first place.

Duh.

[Grannygoose]

First off, I am by no means a fan of these mega passenger ships. In my humble opinion, the last true liner built that was pleasing to the eye was "QUEEN ELIZABETH 2". They can have these floating hotels and the associated problems with them. Your first paragraph is very true, there have been great accomplishments in regards to technology and safety. But, this means nothing if the weakest link is the crew. A mega disaster is inevitable with these mega ships. It's just a matter of time.

I sailed from N.Y. to Southampton on the QE!!, good smooth ride. Also took 2 cruises, 1 was Dutch, on the Rotterdam, the other Italian, the 'Michelangelo' (night & day!) On leaving N.Y., there was turbulance & it was dinnertime. I had to leave the table, feeling queezy. Went to the elevator, there was barf on the floor. Several ship personnel walked past it (yes, they SAW it! My thought was, that would never have happened on the Dutch ship. That was more than enough high-seas travel for a land- lubber's lifetime!! The cowardly captain was seen on shore talking on his cellphone. Reports say he phoned his mama to let her know HE was safe!

[Norman]

If anybody is interested, here's a link for a reconstruction of the final maneuvers leading to the Costa Concordia tragedy from their AIS data. It shows their course and speed info relative to the nautical chart of the area. Pretty interesting. The captain really screwed up....but it would seem some maneuvering at the end probably saved a lot of lives. What a mess....


Here's the link

[Baltimatt]

First anniversary of the disaster

Survivors of the Costa Concordia shipwreck and relatives of the 32 people who died marked the first anniversary of the grounding Sunday with the unveiling of memorials to the victims, a Mass in their honor and a minute of silence to recall the exact moment that the cruise ship rammed into a reef off Tuscany. The first event of Sunday's daylong commemoration was the return to the sea of part of the massive rock that tore into the hull of the 112,000-ton ocean liner on Jan. 13, 2012 and remained embedded as the vessel capsized along with its 4,200 passengers and crew.

...

The captain, Francesco Schettino, remains under house arrest, accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and leaving the ship before all passengers were evacuated. He hasn't been charged. Schettino maintains he saved lives by bringing the ship closer to shore rather than letting it sink in the open sea, and claims the reef he hit wasn't on his nautical charts.

The ship is still capsized in the water.

[Mom49of4]

That is an eerie picture for sure, Matt.

[songfourone]

First anniversary of the disaster



The ship is still capsized in the water.

There was a 60 mins show on how they plan to raise the ship, and move it off the rocks to take it to scrap. Very interesting.

[Baltimatt]

songfourone--

Thanks for that info. Here's the link: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=50137223n.

I'll watch it now.

[SteamChief]

#1, ships, ALL SHIPS, have enough lifeboats ON EACH side of the ship, Port side (left facing forward) and Starboard side (the other side) for everyone on board. Except for the ships that have lifeboats on the stern(back) that the crew rides down in. AND in addition they have enough liferafts, those are those white round barrel looking things that are along the outside of the hull, for EVERYONE on board too.

#2, One of the big reasons(there were others see #3 below) there was loss of life on the Condordia was the lack of a good boat drill, don't want to scare the whiny landlubbers, don't want piss off the people that have made more than 1 cruise and think they know it all. On REAL ships they do a drill every week. Using people that have had multihour training on how to safely launch a lifeboat and they still f... it up. There is nothing safe about abandoning a ship, its the last thing you would do. The Captain waited too long to sound abandon ship and by then the list(tilting to the side) was excessive and boarding the boats was difficult.

#3, As soon as I heard an Italian cruise ship had run aground in Italy I told my wife there was a woman involved somehow. The Captain was showing off to the young thing on his arm how close he could get to the town. He hit bottom, it was on the chart(map of the sea for you landlubbers). He knew he screwed up royally in 10 seconds when the Engineer below called to say "Oh poo-poo Captain what did you do". Now the good Captain did do ONE right thing in this adventure. he turned the ship around and grounded her on the rocks outside the town harbor.
IF HE HADN'T TURNED THE BOAT AROUND SHE WOULD OF SUNK QUICKLY AND MANY MANY PEOPLE WOULD OF DIED!!!
Then he went back to being stupid, took way too long to sound abandon ship, took too long to scream for help from everyone within a hundred miles. Some reason the fool was trying to minimize his mistakes.

#4, Its a wonder he didn't say the steering gear malfunctioned, except that ships have black boxes much like planes do and all equipment was operating correctly.
Historically the Mates(those guys in nice clean uniforms who are paid to look out the windows and point the big ship) have ALWAYS blamed some kind of equipment failure when they hit something. But its usually their fault. As the Mate in post #4 stated, they have the most modern navigation equipment in the world, making it almost impossible to hit something and they still do.

#5, When it comes down to it, the Captain should not of had a woman on his arm, on the bridge showing off.

#6, The people that died probably went back to their cabins to get jewels or medicines thinking they had time and didn't. Its like on the airplane when they tell you to leave everything behind if there is a crash. Where were the bodies found?

I haven't followed the day to day of the Condordia because its just another colossal mistake by a Mate who thought he was better than he was. Much more interesting the salvage of the ship, what a goat rodeo this is. Marine sanctuary area, what a crock, bet that little town still pumps its raw sewage right into the ocean.

[Troubadour]

Sharks are the real danger. They circle the cruise ships waiting for someone to fall off. And then they sneak into the pools at night and next thing you know, you've got an arm and a leg chewed off.

[SteamChief]

Sharks are the real danger. They circle the cruise ships waiting for someone to fall off. And then they sneak into the pools at night and next thing you know, you've got an arm and a leg chewed off.

They do you know!

LOL

Some of the posts early on were so much pure dribble. The "Professional Deck Officer" from post #4 got the order of things wrong.
The Captains first duty was to the passengers, crew then ship.
The Mate worked on cargo ships, there its crew, ship then cargo.

[Mom49of4]

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2...dia-wreck?lite