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But the report noted that some passengers testified that they didn’t hear the alarm to proceed to the lifeboats. Evacuation was made even more chaotic by the ship listing so far to starboard, making walking inside very difficult and lowering the lifeboats on one side, near to impossible. Making things worse, the crew had dropped the anchor incorrectly, causing the ship to flop over even more dramatically. In a normal year, according to Lorenzo, cruise ships would serve 13 million tourists annually in Italy. Media reports say that despite a cautious relaunch this year, only around one in five commercial cruise ships is being used, and those that are in use are operating far below capacity.
What were the repercussions for the captain and crew of the Costa Concordia?
Surviving passengers who have returned to Tuscany's Giglio island will gather with locals and holidaymakers to bid a final farewell to the once-magnificent cruise ship. The rusting liner, which has been floated from its watery grave in the biggest salvage operation of a passenger ship ever performed, will be towed away to the port of Genoa in northwest Italy to be dismantled and scrapped. Ortelli was later on hand when, in September 2013, the 115,000-ton, 300-metre long cruise ship was righted vertical off its seabed graveyard in an extraordinary feat of engineering. The final mad scramble to evacuate the listing liner and then the extraordinary generosity of Giglio islanders who offered shoes, sweatshirts and shelter until the sun rose and passengers were ferried to the mainland.
Rock And A Hard Place: What To Do With Concordia
Accused of causing the wreck by maneuvering the colossal vessel too close to Giglio Island for a display of acknowledgment known widely among mariners as a maritime salute, Costa Concordia Schettino was also censured for abandoning the afflicted ship. His actions—or lack thereof—brought about life-altering consequences for many aboard. Delving into the details of Schettino’s conduct before and after the collision reveals multi-faceted insights into the harrowing event. Captain Schettino, often referred to as Captain Costa Concordia, has been pivotal in the narrative, facing widespread vilification for decisions that led to the shipwreck. The gravity of the captain’s choices that fateful night is anchored deeply in the consciousness of the maritime industry and those affected by the disaster. The Italian cruise ship crash changed the physical landscape and the lives of all involved.
Tragic story of cruise ship disaster which left 33 passengers dead - LADbible
Tragic story of cruise ship disaster which left 33 passengers dead.
Posted: Thu, 07 Mar 2024 08:00:00 GMT [source]
Packed Italian court as captain in Concordia disaster hears evidence
After the Concordia ship sank, intensive efforts were necessary to secure the area and prevent further harm to the fragile marine ecosystem. With the sinking Concordia losing its battle against the relentless water, an evacuation was not just necessary but imperative. The crew and passengers faced a night of uncertainty, forced to abandon the comforts of their cabins for lifeboats and, in some instances, into the open sea. As the evacuation unfolded, the stark contrast between the sinking of the Costa Concordia and the luxury it stood for before the accident couldn’t have been more pronounced. On that night, in an effort to entertain the passengers with a close-up view of the island, Capt. Francesco Schettino accidentally rammed the vessel into a rocky reef just a few dozen yards from shore.
Weather permitting, the Costa Concordia should be refloated and towed to a mainland port by early next year. The shipwreck has altered the local economy; Mayor Ortelli says tourism income has dropped by 50 percent. Traditional nature lovers who came for a week or more have been replaced by day-trippers.
Trials
He appealed the verdict, but it was upheld in May 2017; Schettino began serving his sentence shortly thereafter. Schettino argued that he fell into a lifeboat because of how the ship was listing to one side, but this argument proved unconvincing. In 2015, a court found Schettino guilty of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, abandoning ship before passengers and crew were evacuated and lying to authorities about the disaster. In addition to Schettino, Ferrarini and Rusli Bin, the other people who received convictions for their role in the disaster were Cabin Service Director Manrico Giampedroni, First Officer Ciro Ambrosio and Third Officer Silvia Coronica. Whether or not Captain Francesco Schettino was trying to impress his girlfriend is debatable. The wreck was not the fault of unexpected weather or ship malfunction—it was a disaster caused entirely by a series of human errors.
"It was as if there had been a breakdown in people's heads as well as in the instruments." An angry member of an Italian consumer association told NBC News it would be raising a formal objection to Schettino’s presence in court. In the intervening months, Schettino has sought to restore his reputation and set the record straight by giving his version of events. A massive storm, nicknamed Cleopatra by Italian meteorologists, hit Grosseto a couple of hours after the hearing began, dumping rain on members of the media waiting outside. Over the next few days experts, who were appointed at an earlier hearing in March, will present their analysis of the data retrieved from the black box, audio recordings and other on-board equipment. In our commitment to covering our communities with innovation and excellence, we incorporate Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies to enhance our news gathering, reporting, and presentation processes.
Prosecutors blamed the delayed evacuation order and conflicting instructions given by crew for the chaos that ensued as passengers scrambled to get off the ship. The captain, Francesco Schettino, is serving a 16-year prison sentence for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning a ship before all the passengers and crew had evacuated. For Concordia survivor Georgia Ananias, the COVID-19 infections are just the latest evidence that passenger safety still isn’t a top priority for the cruise ship industry. Passengers aboard the Concordia were largely left on their own to find life jackets and a functioning lifeboat after the captain steered the ship close too shore in a stunt. He then delayed an evacuation order until it was too late, with lifeboats unable to lower because the ship was listing too heavily. The hospitality of the tight-knit community of islanders kicked in, at first to give basic assistance to the 4,229 passengers and crew members who had to be evacuated from a listing vessel as high as a skyscraper.
The luxury cruises heading into forbidden Russia and deepest Antarctica
A 17-person team of salvage workers will be on the Concordia itself during the journey. South African salvage master Nick Sloane - who has described removing the ship as the "biggest challenge" of a career that has taken him to six continents and two warzones - said he was ready to "wave goodbye to Giglio". A Dutch tug boat and a Vanuatu-flagged one will then tow the 290-metre (951-foot) vessel away around 1000 GMT, while 12 other boats will sail in a convoy alongside, carrying divers, engineers, a medical team and environmental experts. The ship - roughly twice the size of the Titanic - will be dragged up the Corsica channel by two tug boats at a speed of just two knots (3.7 kilometres, 2.3 miles) per hour, and is expected to reach Genoa in four days, weather permitting.
The sinking of the Costa Concordia, a spectacle of disbelief and sorrow, is a stark reminder of the fleeting nature of security in the face of human error and natural forces. The Costa Concordia was a testament to the prowess of its owner, Costa Crociere, a subsidiary of the world-renowned Carnival Corporation & PLC. Officially launched in 2005, this floating behemoth overtook the historic Titanic in size, spanning an impressive 951 feet.
Thirty-two people died when the ship slammed into a reef and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio. The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, had been performing a sail-past salute of Giglio when he steered the ship too close to the island and hit the jagged reef, opening a 230-foot gash in the side of the cruise liner. The flagship Costa Smeralda set off from the northwestern port of Savona at 6pm after being landbound since December 20, when the Italian government banned cruises during the holiday season due to the coronavirus crisis.
People were left to clamber down a rope ladder over a distance equivalent to 11 stories. “Every one of us here has a tragic memory from then,” said Mario Pellegrini, 59, who was deputy mayor in 2012 and was the first civilian to climb onto the cruise ship after it struck the rocks near the lighthouses at the port entrance. Few of the 500-odd residents of the fishermen’s village will ever forget the freezing night of Jan. 13, 2012, when the Costa Concordia shipwrecked, killing 32 people and upending life on the island for years. In a first step to prevent pollution of the shore and assist in a refloat the ship, its oil and fuel tanks were emptied. After the Costa Concordia lost power and started listing, the Coast Guard and rescue teams were mobilized to order the evacuation of the ship, leading to a challenging and chaotic evacuation process in the aftermath of the shipwreck.
The ship will set off with around 1,500 passengers on board - a quarter of its full capacity. The flagship Costa Smeralda set off from the port of Savona after being landbound since December when the Italian government banned cruises due to the coronavirus crisis. According to local news reports, the main reason the ships are parked near ports is to keep them in good working order so they can be quickly made ready for service, and to give the skeleton crews access to port services. In the wake of the trial, reflections on Captain Schettino‘s pivotal role entailed recognizing the stark contrast between his actions and the exemplary behavior expected of individuals in his command.
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