Costa Concordia Disaster

Parent Cafe
1

<p>We were cruising on another Carnival sister ship/line the same time this disaster occured. The night this accident occured, I was joking to my wife because I noticed that one of the movies that was available for rental in your cabin was the movie “Titanic” and thought that was a poor choice to have on their list of available movies. Later that night, news of this awful tragedy was aired. Carnival owns a majority of ALL the cruise lines with itineraries worldwide. We also cruised on Carnival last year and are scheduled to cruise with them again this coming summer. Given this latest tragedy, I am somewhat concerned to continue cruising. My thoughts and prayers are with all the latest victims and survivors. The captain appears to have been grossly negligent on multiple levels: </p>

<p>[Coastguard</a> raged at liner captain, tape shows - Yahoo! News](<a href=“http://news.yahoo.com/coast-guard-ordered-ship-captain-back-board-124134509.html]Coastguard”>http://news.yahoo.com/coast-guard-ordered-ship-captain-back-board-124134509.html)</p>

2

<p>If the reports of abandoning ship are true, I’m appalled by the captain’s behavior. </p>

<p>I heard that he’s facing 15 years in prison for manslaughter and other charges. 15 years for what could be 35 counts of manslaughter. Wow. </p>

<p>Carnival has a lot of work to do to regain credibility and restore cruisers’ confidence.</p>

3

<p>

It’s a tragedy, but these things are rare. It’s always important to keep these things in perspective relative to all the other risks we take every day.</p>

4

<p>The long term safety record of cruise liners is extremely good. This accident is the exception and unfortunately a bad one. I can’t see it affecting the industry in the long run although I can see a short term drop in passengers. This may be the best time to get a deal on a great trip.</p>

5

<p>Rational or not, I’ve always thought the new mega ships look top heavy. Seeing pictures of this one on its side doesn’t help change my mind.</p>

6

<p>I know that Carnival now owns Costa, but I think Costa operates pretty independently and that its long term employees were hired before the acquisition. I think they still hire employees for Costa itself, though I may be wrong about that. </p>

<p>I’ve traveled on a fair number of cruise lines and the only one I’d never sail on again is Costa. I had a weird experience and that’s part of the reason. But part of the reason is that Costa seemed to have a more lackadaisical attitude than that of the other cruise lines. </p>

<p>One death may have been caused by the fact that a cabin only had one life jacket. The husband gave it to his wife, who couldn’t swim. I have NEVER heard of such a thing. Usually, the cabin stewards make sure there are enough life jackets the day you board. If you are traveling with child(ren), the very first day someone checks to make sure that you have child(ren)'s life jackets. If your kids are 10+, they check to see if they need a child or a small adult jacket. I’m not sure that you’d notice how careful the lines are about life jackets if you weren’t traveling with kids, but having done so, I KNOW that the stewards on other lines MAKE SURE that there is at least one life jacket per person in the cabin and that it has all the straps, whistle, light, etc. in operating order. </p>

<p>I grew up as a military brat and sailed on military ships as a child when we were changing stations. Back in those days, the military was very strict about life boat drills. For example, you HAD to have some sort of head covering, sunglasses, flat heeled shoes, covered legs, etc. We had about 10-15 minutes to report to our life boats, and the dad --back then it was always the dad–in the military was subject to discipline if every member of his family didn’t make it to the life boat station during the fixed time, appropriately dressed. There was NO talking allowed during the exit EXCEPT by the crew members. That too was enforced. Each life boat had a crew member assigned. (On one cruise, I had an entertainer assigned as the ‘crew’ member for our boat and I remember thinking he’d be NO help in an actual emergency.) </p>

<p>I’ve often thought that the cruise lines should have similar procedures. Maybe this tragedy will lead to some reforms in procedures. </p>

<p>I concur though that the safety record of cruise liners is good. It’s certainly better than airliners and planes are certainly safer than traveling by car.</p>

<p>The story is getting weirder and weirder. The cook gave an interview saying that half an hour after the ship struck a rock the captain was demanding drinks and dessert for his “female companion.” If it’s true that the captain was DRINKING after the ship struck a rock-an accusation I find it hard to believe–then he should get life. The port authority tape doesn’t make him look any too good either–to put it mildly.</p>

7

<p>We were recently on an RCL (another Carnival-owned line) cruise. The muster drill was conducted before we sailed. I expect ALL Carnival’s ships are going to start doing this, tighten up the drill (no talking for starters!) and review emergency procedures and training. I expect all lines will be exercising a lot more dilligance on navigation and ship handling, at least for the next few months. </p>

<p>Other stories from this wreck illustrate why I buy keychain/coin cell LED lights before we travel and make sure each family member has one chained to their ship card - the inside of a windowless steel box is VERY dark. </p>

<p>My prayers and sympathies to the surviving passengers & crew, the rescue/salvage workers (a very dangerous job), and especially to the families of the dead & missing.</p>

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<p>^If “RCL” is Royal Caribbean, they are not a Carnival owned line. Did you mean NCL, which IS owned by Carnival?</p>

<p>I was also surprised to read that this ship had not had their muster drill at the time it ran aground. Apparently it was scheduled for the morning following this mishap. Every cruise I’ve been on has had the drill within one hour of the embarkation deadline. We didn’t have to put on our life jackets, when I was doing the muster drill last week on Holland America, but there was one jacket for each person per cabin clearly marked AND they had extras at strategic points. This was the only time I recall NOT having to put on my vest, but they said it was for safety reasons when doing the drill and moving about the ship.</p>

<p>I know cruise fatalities are extremely rare, however I’m concerned about some of the details that have been reported so far regarding this latest tragedy. For example, passengers were first told that it was just an electical problem; the crew did not seem to know what to do; that this relatively newer ship (launched in 2006) basically fell over when taking on water (I thought that there were many sub-compartments to prevent this from happening).</p>

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<p>Carnival is going to take this one on the chin, because the kind of safety procedures, lifeboat drills, etc that apparently weren’t done are as far as I know part of international safety rules that apply across the board. If Costa is found to be flaunting those rules they basically have nowhere to hide on that.</p>

<p>As far as the Captains claim that he hit an uncharted rock as someone with experience navigating and such on small boats, while that could be true, it also indicates the captain was veering way off course. With big ships like that they don’t vary course in relatively shallow waters and with modern navigation equipment, with GPS with resolution down to 1 meter or less, there simply is no excuse to deviate from standard courses those ships use. In open water a ship may divert from the planned course to avoid bad weather or for other reasons but that is a different story.</p>

<p>I realize in a world torn by wars and natural disasters it might seem trivial to talk about people dying on a cruise ship, but I grieve for people who were looking to have a little fun in their lives and facing this thanks to rank stupidity and negligence.</p>

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<p>According to the Carnival Corp website, here are their brands:</p>

<p>Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises and Seabourn in North America; P&O Cruises and Cunard Line in the United Kingdom; AIDA in Germany; Costa Cruises in Southern Europe; Iberocruceros in Spain; and P&O Cruises in Australia.</p>

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<p>Like another poster on this thread, I have never taken a costa cruise, and even before this mishap had heard weird things about the line; was actually surprised that Carnival had bought it a few years ago…has not had the best reputation over the years…</p>

<p>the stories coming back from this disaster have reinforced my view…</p>

<p>have only cruised on RCL and Princess, not a big fan of cruising but agree with others; the drill was ALWAYS prior to sailing and EVERYONE had to have a life jacket…</p>

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<p>Here’s a post from one of my other favorite web site, [Cruise</a> Reviews, Cruise Deals and Cruises - Cruise Critic](<a href=“http://www.cruisecritic.com%5DCruise”>http://www.cruisecritic.com). This woman was on the Costa Concordia cruise and had started a roll call before the cruise left.</p>

<p>[Costa</a> Concordia - I survived - Cruise Critic Message Boards](<a href=“http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1548951]Costa”>Costa Concordia - I survived - Costa Cruises - Cruise Critic Community)</p>

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<p>I wonder whether Princess will now change their procedure and have guests at muster stations near lifeboats rather than having them go to theaters and dining rooms. </p>

<p>The captain’s (and first mate’s) (in)actions following the disaster were despicable. Compare their behavior to that of the captain on the plane that landed in the water in NYC – he waded back into the sinking plane to make sure everyone was out.</p>

<p>It will be interesting to see what the other officers did during the evacuation. Personally, I’m amazed that so many of the crew made it up above water level from the bowels of the ship. I’m sure that the Italian Coast Guard will do the kind of detailed report on the accident that has been done for other maritime accidents, and the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) rules may well be changed.</p>

14

<p>I completely agree that these contemporary apartment blocks…oh, I mean ‘ships’ have overdeveloped superstructures and hulls below the waterline that are very shallow relative to them. I cannot imagine what sort of super stabilzers they must contain in order to prevent not only capsizing but also pitch and roll under NORMAL conditions – let alone counteract those effects in heavy seas! But, then I have heard that the “mega-ships” are indeed less “sea-friendly” than their less ostentatious yet dignified forebears – the ocean liners of an earlier era.</p>

<p>With today’s technology charting every square inch of the oceans on multiple vector levels (electronic charts) telling the mariner exactly what is in the water and where it is; and GPS for pinpoint positioning of vessels as small as rowboats, one must conclude that the commander of this ill-fated craft was either incompetent or thought someone else would give a damn about how the vessel was being sailed – as he certainly didn’t.</p>

<p>The relatively shallow hulls on the current crop of cruise ships is intentional, as it allows them more freedom to “explore” closer in to coastlines. Because of that it becomes imperative that close scrutiny be paid to coastal charts. That, apparently, was lost on the commander of the Concordia. </p>

<p>Another thought is that had she had a deeper hull and less weight topside she may well have become stuck on the seafloor without tipping over.</p>

15

<p>This dialogue between the captain and the Port Authority is very unnerving. </p>

<p>


"The newspaper Corriere della Sera published a transcript of a Port Authority official ordering Captain Francesco Schettino repeatedly to get back on board the crippled ship to guide the rescue operation.</p>

<p>Concordia captain resists orders to re-board</p>

<p>“Schettino, listen to me, there are people trapped on-board, now you go back, you will go with your rescue boat under the stern of the ship? You get on-board and you get back to me, letting me know how many people are on board. Is that clear to you?”</p>

<p>After a mumbled reply, the official tells Schettino:</p>

<p>“You go back there and you tell me if there are children, women or people that need assistance and you give me a number for each one of these categories is that clear? You may have saved yourself from the sea but will put you through a lot of trouble it will be very bad for you! Get back on board for [expletive]'s sake!”</p>

<p>Schettino replies he’s coordinating rescue operations from a lifeboat. He asks how many bodies there are.</p>

<p>The official replies: “Get back on board! This is an order! You have declared that you have abandoned ship, therefore I’m in command.”</p>

<p>Schettino told the official “It’s dark out here.”</p>

<p>The official replied: “What do you want to do? Do you want to go home? It's dark so you want to go home?”</p>

<p>Schettino finally agreed to go."

</p>

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<p>The reports keep streaming in and are getting weirder and weirder. From the UK’s Guardian:</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>If he LIED and told the coast guard he didn’t need help when he did…</p>

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<p>Just heard on TV that the captain chose to deviate from a preprogramed computerized route which resulted in him moving closer to shore so he could do a sail by “salute” to someone on a small island they were passing. Apparently the daughter of the man he was trying to “salute” wrote on facebook 1/2 hour before the crash that the ship would be doing this. Captain says there were no rocks noted on his paper plotter chart.</p>

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<p>“paper plotter chart.” Huh?</p>

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<p>“On one cruise, I had an entertainer assigned as the ‘crew’ member for our boat and I remember thinking he’d be NO help in an actual emergency.”</p>

<p>It’s a crazy rule, isn’t it? A friend of mine in the a cappella community got a wonderful job singing on a cruise ship with his ensemble. But they pulled the job when they found out he was legally blind and wouldn’t be able to read instructions in an emergency. It didn’t make sense to me that blind passengers are allowed, but Stevie Wonder can’t play the piano in the lounge. Why are they depending on the singers to launch the lifeboats, whether they are blind or not? Shouldn’t there be enough qualified sailors on board to handle that?</p>

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<p>Every time that we have cruised (Celebrity and RCL) they held muster drills PRIOR to the boat leaving port. (I will never forget our first cruise when in muster they had women and children in front. My son, then barely 15 stood in back with my husband. He wouldn’t come to the front…reality moment.) We have, as a family, made sure we knew where to go…just in case.</p>

<p>On our first cruise my youngest, then 7, had just seen Titanic. She was TERRIFIED of the ship sinking. We explained (ad nausem) that we were in warm water…nothing was going to happen…as we walked up the gangplank we hear…My heart will go on…(Titanic theme).</p>

<p>We calmed her down…and everything was fine until…</p>

<p>We were on the Rhapsody of the Seas…as we went into the port of St. Thomas…another RCL ship had just hit rocks and was listing. They did the whole evacuation thing: No deaths…</p>

<p>I don’t think that our daughter ever quite trusted us again.</p>