Costa Concordia

The Costa Concordia hit a rock close to the Isola Del Giglio, Italy on 13^th January 2012. In this article we piece together the various stories and reports of the disaster to create a comprehensive review of events to date. Of course further details will emerge later this year during the inquiry and trial of the captain as well as during the salvage of the vessel and we will provide further updates in our daily articles.

It is 9:42pm on the night of 13^th January 2012. The Costa Concordia, a 952ft long Italian cruise ship with 3,206 passengers and 1,023 crew on board, is on a seven night cruise bound for the Italian port of Savona. Passenger muster drills which legally don’t have to be carried out for 24 hours but are normally completed before or shortly after sailing have not taken place.

The ship has left the Italian mainland port of Civitavecchia, a major cruise embarkation port and the main port for the Italian capital Rome, at 7:33pm. The 114,137 ton vessel built in 2006 is the largest ship ever to have been built in Italy and one of the larger cruise liners in the world.

The Captain, Francesco Schettino, has turned off the ship’s navigation alarm at 9:39pm and is navigating by sight as he deviates from the programmed course to perform a sailpast of the Isola del Giglio. Some Costa ships have occasionally performed this sailpast before but Schettino is taking the €450million Concordia much closer to the island claiming that “I knew those seabeds well. I had done the move three, four times”.

The ship’s Maitre d’hôtel is on the bridge watching the ship sail past his home having been invited by the Captain. Schettino himself is on the phone to retired Costa Captain Mario Palombo telling him “Seeing as we’re passing the island, we’ll sound the siren for you”. Suddenly he sees waves breaking on the Le Scole reef about 800 metres south of the entrance to Giglio harbor on the east coast of the island. He turns the Concordia abruptly but the side of the ship hits the exposed reef at 16 knots embedding a large rock in the port side of the ship and creating a 160ft gash. Two long strips of steel are sheared from the ship’s hull breaching three of the seven watertight compartments.

Most passengers are in the main dining room when they hear a loud bang and feel a shudder. Dishes crash to the floor and the ship lists to port. A crew member speaking over the ship’s public address system blames the situation on an electrical failure.

A few minutes later the head of the engine room warns Captain Schettino that the ship has an irreparable 70 metre tear in the hull and that the engines and generators are submerged. The Concordia now continues north past Giglio harbor under her own momentum.

At 9:56pm, Schettino phones Roberto Ferrarini, an officer at Costa Cruise’s head office. “Roberto, I ****ed up” he says.

At 10:10pm, the ship makes a sharp turn south causing it to list to Starboard by about 20 degrees. This list would later cause difficulty in launching the lifeboats.

At 10:12pm, the ship is contacted by the coastguard on the Italian Mainland following mobile phone calls from passengers to Italian police reporting that the ship was in trouble. An unidentified crew member tells the coastguard that the ship is suffering from an “electrical blackout”.

At 10:20pm, passenger video footage shows passengers in lifejackets being told by the crew that “everything is under control” and urging them to return to their cabins.

At 10:26pm, the Captain tells the Port of Livorno’s harbormaster that the ship has taken in water on the port side and requests a tug.

At around 10:30pm, nearly an hour after the collision, the ship’s cook claims that Captain Schettino orders dinner, whilst a police patrol boat calls the Concordia but receives no reply.

It’s 10:42pm when the ship’s crew finally sound the general emergency alarms and alert port authorities to the collision.

At 10:44pm, the Concordia comes to rest at Punta Del Gabbinara leaning at an angle of 70 degrees in 20 metres of water. Some passengers jump into water and swim to shore whilst others are forced to wait as the crew delay launching the lifeboats.

The off-duty captain of the Costa Serena, Roberto Bosio, happens to be onboard catching a lift back to Savona. Bosio, suspecting that ship is doomed, begins to co-ordinate the evacuation of the ship whilst, back on the bridge, video shows Captain Schettino seeming confused and dithering about what to do.

Finally, at 10:50pm, the order to abandon ship is given.

At around 11:30pm, according to investigators, Captain Schettino leaves the ship.

At 12:42am Captain Schettino tells the coastguard that he’s in a lifeboat, he would later claim that he tripped and fell into it.

At 1:04am an Air Force officer is lowered onboard from a helicopter and reports 100 people still aboard.

At 1:46am Italian Coastguard Captain Gregorio De Falco contacts Schettino in the lifeboat and orders him to get back onboard the ship. Schettino makes various excuses as to why he can’t.

At 3:44am, the Air Force officer reports that around 40 to 50 passengers are still on board.

At 4:46am the Port of Livorno harbormaster notes that the evacuation is completed in his log.

The days immediately after the disaster

Italian dive teams began to search the wreck and sea bed the following day (14^th January 2012) in an operation that lasted for 16 days until 30^th January.

The divers worked in pitch black conditions with large items of furniture floating around inside the wreck. They worked in pairs for safety searching each area slowly in a zigzag manner for up to 40 minutes at a time. The two torches on their helmets provided visibility from a few inches to about 2 feet.

On 14^th January two South Korean newlyweds Jeong Hye Jim and Kideok Hanmarito who were rescued from a cabin two decks above the waterline. The ship’s Cabin service director Manrico Giampedroni was also rescued after suffering a broken leg.

The search effort had to be suspended several times as the ship, which was resting on a marine ledge with a drop of 68m, shifted slightly. Holes were blasted into the Concordia’s hull to access further areas.

On 20^th January, divers recovered the body of the 16^th victim on deck 4.

On 28^th January the 17^th victim, Peruvian crew member Erika Fani Soriamolina was recovered from a submerged part of the wreck on deck 6.

On 12^th February, after being delayed due to poor weather at the site, the Dutch salvage firm Smit began to remove 2,380 tonnes of fuel and oil from the ship.

Despite the diving operation being terminated on 31^st January, information from passengers guided rescue teams to the location of 8 further bodies on 28^th February including that of 5-year-old Dayana Arlotti.

On 22^nd March the bodies of Americans Barbara and Gerald Heil, Christina Mathi and Norbert Josef Ganz of Germany, and Giuseppe Girolamo, an Italian were discovered in a location believed to be in the ship’s hull.

On 24^th March the de-fuelling operation was completed.

The Future

It is believed that although the Concordia will be recovered to an Italian port, it is likely to be a total insurance loss and will therefore be broken up for scrap. The CEO of Costa Cruises told an American Senate committee “We believe that the wreck can no longer be put to use”.

For more information about the salvage operation, please consult our previous article.

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Costa Concordia Satellite Image

The salvage operation which will re-float and then remove the Costa Concordia from the Isola Del Giglo in Italy will be the biggest and costliest in history, the ship’s owners Costa Cruises revealed today.

The £190m project will begin in the next few days but will take over a year to complete.

Stage 1 – Flotation tanks to be attached to the side of the hull

An Italian-American consortium Titan-Micoperi will carry out the salvage operation on the ship which is currently lying on rocks at an angle of 80 degrees.

Stage 2 – Chains will prevent the wreck sliding during the lifting operation

A 40m platform will first be built underneath the ship and the 160ft gash in the hull repaired.

Stage 3 – Platform will support the ship during operation

Once all parts are in place, two cranes will pull the Concordia upright before it is re-floated and taken away.

Stage 4 – The Concordia is ready to be pulled upright

Once the wreck is removed the platform will be dismantled, the sea bed cleaned, and marine flora replanted.

Stage 5 – The ship is pulled upright and will rest on the platform ready to be floated

The operation will be co-ordinated on the Italian mainland in order to reduce the impact on normal port operations.

cruiseastute.com says …

“The scale of this operation is unprecedented and is additionally complicated by the fact that the area is environmentally sensitive meaning that the ship can’t be cut up.”

The post £190m Plan To Salvage Costa Concordia Revealed appeared first on Cruiseastute Blog.

Costa Fascinosa Leaving Venice

Costa have today taken delivery of the new Fascinosa from Italian Shipbuilders Fincantieri.

The 114,500 ton cruise ship which can carry 3,800 passengers was handed over at a ceremony in Venice. Over 3,000 workers have built the €510 million Fascinosa at Fincantieri’s Marghera shipyard.

The Costa Fascinosa will sail from Venice on her maiden voyage on 11th May bound for Greece, Israel and Turkey.

The ship implements the latest green technology, plugging into local power in ports to allow the engines to shut down. The ship is also equipped to separate waste and recycle aluminium and glass.

cruiseastute.com says …

“It must be a relief for Costa Cruises executives to have something positive to celebrate after a torrid start to the year with the Concordia disaster and the fire aboard the Costa Allegra.

The Fascinosa is of the same design as the Costa Concordia, however this should not concern passengers as it increasingly seems that the Concordia disaster was caused by the Captain and crew rather than any problem with the ship itself.”

The post Costa Cruises Launch The New Fascinosa appeared first on Cruiseastute Blog.

Costa Allegra

The Costa Allegra, which suffered a fire last month, will not return to service with Costa Cruises it has been announced.

Carnival Corporation CEO Micky Arison told Wall Street today that the fire-damaged Allegra would be sold or scrapped.

The 28,500 ton ship was for sale prior to the fire and its itineraries had already been replaced by the much newer Costa Voyager.

cruiseastute.com says …

“This was the smallest and oldest ship in the Costa fleet so the writing was already on the wall prior to the fire. These older ships, although loved by traditional cruisers, are expensive to maintain, unreliable and not very fuel efficient.

A lot of smaller cruise ships have already been scrapped due to the new SOSUS regulations coming into force which require major safety upgrades to older ships, particularly with regards to the number of lifeboats.”

The post Fire Damaged Costa Allegra Will Not Return To Service With Costa Cruises appeared first on Cruiseastute Blog.

Captain Francesco Schettino

The Captain of the Costa Concordia had already damaged another ship whist sailing too fast into the German port of Warnemunde it emerged today.

Francesco Schettino was at the helm of the Costa Atlantica manouvering at a speed of 7.7 to 7.9 knots when he damaged the German Cruise Ship Aida Blu in June 2010.

Schettino responded at the time that he didn’t know the speed limit.

Meanwhile, according to the leaked prosecution evidence, the Concordia’s first officer Ciro Ambrosio has stated that “The captain told us not to tell the harbourmaster anything about what had happened. He said to tell them that everything was under control”.

Schettino, described in court papers by retired Costa captain Mario Palombo as “a liar and he is too proud”, remained under house arrest. Palombo also accused the disgraced captain of having difficulty manouvering large ships in his 2003 profile.

The post Disgraced Costa Concordia Captain Had Already Crashed Another Ship appeared first on Cruiseastute Blog.

Costa Allegra Disembarkation In Mahe

The Costa Allegra arrived at the port of Victoria on the Seychelles island of Mahe today after three days at sea without power.

Ambulances, a Red Cross medical team and small buses awaited the arrival of the ship where passengers have been forced to stay up on deck to keep cool in temperatures reaching 35C. It is understood that fresh food had run out but that the ship had been resupplied by helicopter as it got nearer to the island.

Passengers said that there had been no working toilets, showers, lights or air conditioning.

Costa Cruises said 376 passengers had accepted its offer to continue their holiday in the Seychelles at the firm’s expense whilst the other passengers will fly home.

The post Costa Allegra Docks In Seychelles After Fire appeared first on Cruiseastute Blog.

Costa Allegra Under Tow

The Costa Allegra cruise ship which has been drifting without power after an engine fire in the Indian Ocean is now under tow to Mahe in the Seychelles.

The Allegra, currently being towed by the French fishing vessel Trevignon had initally been due to head towards the island of Desroches, 142 miles south-west of Mahe, however Costa Cruises now say that it will proceed to the Seychelles capital of Mahe. A Costa statement said: ‘The disembarkation in Desroches does not assure the necessary and adequate security conditions for  mooring the ship and guests’ disembarkation. In addition, logistics and hotels on the island are not enough. Thus the ship will be towed to Mahe also with the assistance of two tugs that are approaching the ship and that would allow to increase the speed.’

It is being reported that passengers are staying in the communal rooms and outside on the upper deck rather than using their cabins, whilst emergency generators are powering the ship’s command systems and radio.

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Costa Allegra Drifting With Passengers On Upper Deck

The 43 year old Costa Allegra is currently drifting in the Indian Ocean after yesterday’s fire.

The fire in the engine room was quickly extinguished, however power to the ship was knocked out and has not been restored resulting in the ship drifting.

Tugs and a French trawler are on their way to the ship but are not expected to reach it for at least another day.

Costa Cruises have said that the Allegra is currently about 260 miles southwest of the Seychelles and that the fire started due to an electrical fault.

The ship left Madagascar on Saturday with 636 passengers aboard bound for the main port of Victoria in the Seychelles.

The Allegra was not originally built as cruise ship. It began life as the Annie Johnson container ship before being converted to a cruise ship in 1986.

cruiseastute.com says …

“The Costa Allegra is certainly an unusual design for a cruise ship and is much older than the rest of the Costa fleet, however this is unlikely to have played a part in this incident.

Fire onboard a ship, particularly in the middle of an ocean, is one of the worst nightmares for a cruise line. It seems in this case however that the fire was contained and put out quickly meaning that there is no danger to passengers.

The problem at the moment is the lack of power. This is not likely to be significant from a navigational point of view as the ship is drifting far from land and the tugs will easily be able to tow her back to port. However, passengers will be experiencing a high degree of discomfort. It’s very hot in the Indian Ocean at this time of year and the ship’s airconditioning will not be working. Additionally there is no power for lights meaning that passengers will have to be kept on deck or at least near it, as seen in the emerging photos. Food will also be a problem. Most of the food onboard cruise ships is either fresh or frozen and of course the freezers will not be working.

I don’t think there’s much to be overly concerned about and the passengers don’t seem to be in imminent danger, however they will certainly be having to endure some pretty unpleasant conditions.

This is yet more bad publicity for the embattled Costa Cruises brand following last month’s Costa Concordia disaster”

The post Costa Allegra Fire Now Out, But Ship Is Drifting Without Power appeared first on Cruiseastute Blog.

Costa Allegra

Reports are reaching us that the Costa Allegra is on fire in the Indian Ocean.

Initial indications are that the fire occurred in the engine room but is now out, however power has not been restored.

The post Costa Allegra On Fire appeared first on Cruiseastute Blog.

Costa Concordia Bridge

Italian Channel TV5 have obtained dramatic new footage of the bridge during the Concordia Disaster.

The 8 minute video shows the crew urging the Captain Francesco Schettino to abandon ship but the Captain, on the phone for much of the footage, ignores them and seems to be pre-occupied with minor issues.

One of the crew tells him “Captain, the passengers are starting to get into the lifeboats on their own”, Schettino doesn’t seem bothered replying “Whatever .. Whatever…OK”.

The chief investigator Francesco Verusio was unaware that the footage existed. He said “None of the officers mentioned it. I have asked for it and it will form part of the inquiry.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzXTRMIcbSo

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