mega cruise liner sinks

My friends, this was taken from PFA2:

http://www.talktalk.co.uk/news/article/passengers-die-as-ship-runs-aground/33805/

Thanks, Pedro, I have just been catching up on this - awful!

Passengers die as ship runs aground





At least three people have died after a luxury cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Tuscany, sending water pouring in through a 160ft gash in the hull and forcing the evacuation of some 4,200 people from the listing vessel.

Three bodies were recovered from the sea, said coastguard spokesman Francesco Paolillo. There were reports that three other people had died after the accident late on Friday night near the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, but those reports were not yet confirmed, he said.

Helicopters plucked to safety some 50 people who were trapped on the Costa Concordia after the liner listed so badly they couldn't launch lifeboats, Mr Paolillo said.

"We were having dinner aboard when we heard a loud noise, like that of the keel being dragged over something," passenger Luciano Castro, a journalist, told Italian state radio.

The lights went out "and there were scenes of panic, glasses falling to the floor," Mr Castro said.

Another passenger on what was be an eight-day pleasure cruise around Mediterranean ports, Mara Parmegiani, also a journalist, told the Ansa news agency that "it was like a scene from the Titanic".

Survivor Christine Hammer, from Bonn, Germany, shivered near the harbour of Porto Santo Stefano, on the mainland, after stepping off a ferry from Giglio. She was wearing elegant dinner clothes and a large pair of hiking boots, which an islander gave her after she lost her shoes in the scramble to escape, along with her passport, credit cards and phone.

Ms Hammer, 65, said she was eating her first course, an appetiser of squid, on her first night aboard her first cruise, which was a gift to her and her husband, Gert, from her local church where she volunteers.

Suddenly, "we heard a crash. Glasses and plates fell down and we went out of the dining room and we were told it wasn't anything dangerous," she said.

The passengers were instructed to put on life jackets and take to the life rafts but, Hammer said, they couldn't get into the boats, because the cruise liner was tilting so much the boats couldn't be lowered into the cold, night sea. The passengers were eventually rescued by one of several boats in the area that came to their aid.

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Another passenger on what was be an eight-day pleasure cruise around Mediterranean ports, Mara Parmegiani, also a journalist, told the Ansa news agency that "it was like a scene from the Titanic".

That is just what it looks like - and sounds like, with the business of not being able to launch the boats.

It's no comfort to the bereaved, but thank goodness the loss of life was no worse.

Even the Med won't be warm in January.

You welcome my friend, vey awful indeed.

doesn´t that liner had GPS, or a tracking system? so much technology for nothing.

at least, in the Titanic, the boats were launched.

I wonder if the pilot had any experience ? Or, I wonder if he was too sleepy to see what caused this.

I know, Pedro, I just cannot imagine how, in this day and age, this could happen.

You can SEE the rocks in the daytime photo; the Med isn't tidal, they wouldn't have been covered....

Not that that matters, as radar and sonar have been around for a very long time. Yet somehow, whoever was supposed to be in charge managed to hit them and rip a huge gash in the liner's side.

It must have been absolutely terrifying for the passengers when the liner started to go over like that. Your blood runs cold just reading that - it was damn near a carbon copy of Titanic.

More on the Sky site:



''We were having dinner when all of a sudden the lights went out," he said. "It seemed as if the ship struck something and then we heard a load bang and everything fell to the floor.
''The captain immediately came on the tannoy and said that there had been an electrical fault but it seemed very strange as the ship almost immediately began to list to one side. The glasses just slid off the table.
''We were then told to put on our life vests and head to the lifeboats just to be safe but there was a real panic onboard you could see it in the faces of the people especially those with young families.
''Then a few minutes later there were seven whistles which meant everyone had to get in the lifeboats.''

Another passenger Mara Parmegiani said: ''It was just like something out of the Titanic. You could tell straight away that the ship had hit something and no way was it an electrical fault.''
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Being close to shore is no guarantee of safety - nearly 200 passengers died in Zeebrugge harbour on the Herald of Free Enterprise because some idiot let it sail with the bow doors open.

Jesus, it looks as though it hit The Lighthouse. But even if it didn't The Lighthouse was there for a reason.
Somedebody will be in trouble over this.

Apparently the captain steered it into shore, Sabot. But look at the port side:



Someone must have been asleep at the wheel to do that?

bb1, Sabot, you´re both right.

Surely, that the pilot or whoever was the bridge could see the light from the lighthouse.

Good point, Pedro, even if all the electronics, the radar, everything, had failed, they should still have been able to see the lighthouse....that is what they are there for...

yes bb1, you´re right.

How much do you bet that whoever was on the bridge was so busy looking at screens and whizy computer displays, they didn't actually look out the window?

It certainly hit a Rock, and it seems to have been moving at the time by the length of the gash.
But I doubt they need us on The Enquiry Team. So much for Water Tight Compartments if the damage is extensive enough. The same thing happened to The Titanic.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16558910

Coast guard official Francesco Paolillo, a local coast guard official, told the AFP news agency there was a 30m hole in the ship but that it was too early to say what exactly had happened.

"We think this happened as a result of sailing too close to an obstacle like a reef," he said.

Yes, I think that is a pretty good guess.....

I can't imagine what went through the passengers' minds..

You're on a liner in winter, at night, it's just hit something and ripped a gash below the waterline, and the watertight doors aren't and it's listing and the lifeboats can't launch..

On the other hand, I can guess EXACTLY what was going through their minds. If the death toll stays at three - which is not minimising the loss and grief that will cause - then it will be more good luck than good judgement, IMO.

I just don't understand how they didn't see The Lighthouse Light. This light usually means Watch Out For Rocks. And you can see it for some fair old distance.
I have to say that I feel sorry the twat who did this, probably a Junior Officer, that's his career down the pan.
But I do feel more sorry for the people who died. Thank God it wasn't more.

PS. I wonder who were The Insurers. Lloyds? There will be a few investors choking on their Kedgeree this morning.

I should think the underwriters will be as gobsmacked as most people are, looking at it, Sabot.

Never mind lighthouses, when whoever is on the bridge can see what islanders are watching on telly, it's generally a sign that you are TOO CLOSE TO SHORE.

Apparently some of the fitter passengers jumped off and swam, as it was only a few hundred yards, rather than risk getting trapped on the ship, etc.

I think I would have been tempted to do the same.

Not good news:

http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16148897

Three people have died and at least 50 more are missing after a cruise ship carrying thousands of passengers, including 24 British holidaymakers, ran aground off Italy's coast.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2086527/Costa-Concordia-accident-Pictures-cruise-ship-sinking-coast-Ita

Good article in The Mail which says that the electrical fault happened first.
There appears to be a bloody great rock in the middle of the 50 metre long gash.

Good Lord, so it does!



Can I take a guess? The electrical failure knocked out the computers, and everyone was so busy mucking about with them, they didn't actually LOOK OUT OF THE WINDOW?



Yes, I would definitely have swum for the shore - the passengers couldn't have known how much water was under the ship, if it was going to turn turtle - Poseidon Adventure - or head downwards - Titanic - while funnels, etc., rained down on them.

Passengers spoke of having to crawl along near vertical hallways and stairwells to escape the ship as it began to take on more and more water

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2086527/Costa-Concordia-accident-Pictures-cruise-ship-sinking-coast-Italy-Titanic-like-scene.html#ixzz1jS1alECj

I once knew and old fisherman who said that his sons wouldn't be able to find a Whale without Sonars and Deckers. He wasn't wrong.

Yep, it is looking as though they all panicked when their electronic equipment went down.
Personally, I still add up properly, just to check that my calculator is right. It often isn't.

http://costaconcordia.info/

Costa Concordia is the bijou of the cruise shipping in Europe. The vessel is sailing under the flag of Italy and proves the words for high quality and reliability.

Not now it doesn't. Never mind, there is always its spa...

Many people claim that the ship was built around the largest on-board spa center of the world, instead of the opposite. This is quite expected if you know that Costa Concordia is having the largest spa center ever built on board of cruise ship. The Samsara Spa is large, luxury and fully equipped to give the visitors ability to have calm and relaxing time on board.

You know, you would think they would learn not to tempt fate.....

An old friend of mine, unhappily no longer with us, was an airline pilot and he was consistently appalled and amazed at the younger pilots actually being unable to use anything but electrical gadgets to fly a plane. Hos cry was "Sod it, we flew by the seat of our pants, not some twinkly, tinkly piece of metal!" He taught many of the German and Austrian airline pilots when they were learning their trade. LL

I watched an Air Crash Investigation like that recently, LL. I forget which crash it was, but the pilots got so tied up in watching the software, they didn't notice that everything else was going wrong until it was too late

According to Sky:

The British consulate told Sky News the 37 Britons onboard - 25 passengers and 12 crew members, mainly entertainers - were rescued.

I seem to recall an occasion on a cruise ship in trouble, when the Greek captain was first off, and left the ship's magician, who was fortunately a Brit, in charge?

Actually it is interesting to note that the ship will almost certainly not sink beneath the water, and anyone who clung to the highest point would have been rescued.
I would have been amongst that lot because I can barely swim to save my life.