Apparently Francesco Schettino was not going down with the ship. Many passengers saw the captain of the Costa Concordia abandon the ship during the very first part of the evacuation. He was no doubt with the woman he had been seen drinking in the bar with prior to the accident. Italian police have charged the captain with a variety of crimes and it also looks like some of the sailors on the ship wanted to say hello to a fellow sailor friend of theirs so got closer to the coast then they would have liked and ran aground. All I have to say is that I hope he gets what is coming to him and if I was one of the passengers photographed above and knew the captain bailed on me while I was in a crowd like this probably scared out of my mind, I would be really really ticked off.
I hope that all 4,000 plus passengers sue their collective asses.
ReplyDeleteShameful
ReplyDeleteI hope Carnival is prepared for all of the lawsuits that are about to be filed. And I wonder how much that ship cost to be built?
ReplyDeleteAnyone remember that cruise ship incident a few years ago (Italians again, I believe) where the entire crew bailed out, and the rescue team was recorded talking on the radio to a guitarist from one of the bands, as he was the only "crew member" available during the emergency? Mingya!
ReplyDeleteWas that the one where the ship formerly known as the Andrea Doria sank? If so, my son in law was on the Navy ship that rescued a bunch of the passengers and he said there were horrific stories from them.
ReplyDeleteHere's the deal with suing a cruise ship: it's nearly impossible when you're on international waters. My grandparents were on the boat that nearly capsized last winter in the Mediterranean that was on its way to Egypt that made international headlines after it nearly capsized and dozens of people were hurt. My grandfather broke his hand and a couple of ribs and all they were able to give him were a tylenol and a regular old band aid. Him and the other 70 or so people with broken bones couldn't even get their medical bills paid for. Good luck to these people. They may not have any recourse. And be careful when deciding to vacation where there are essentially no laws and no protection.
ReplyDeleteThat is a shameful lie, the Guest Service Manager says there are pictures of the LAST boat, in which she was along the captain, coordinating the salvation of the passanges.
ReplyDeleteI used to work on a ship as a cabin steward and I must say, being able to rescue over 4000 pax with ship on its side and with desperate people in 2 hours is impressive work. Of course something went wrong and it is going to be investigated, but the truth is guests don't really care about the drill, I used to hear a lot of people complaining about having to spend the 45 minutes of the emergency exercise while they could be already having fun and drinking and not to mention those that didn't really care and would go to the drill already drunk.
My heart goes to the crew members and all the passangers, once crew, always crew.
Is that Uncle Leo in the foreground of the photo?
ReplyDeleteThis photo gives me serious anxiety. What a frightening situation! Those poor people!
ReplyDeleteThe Captain is an honorable man who fully intended to go down with the ship. However, in his case, the ship was the rowboat he got into not the liner!
ReplyDeleteLol Chopchop.
ReplyDeleteThat photo is giving me serious claustrophobia. I have been tempted to go on a cruise, but I would spend my time on deck, looking for icebergs. So-no go.
ReplyDeleteLOL@ chopchop!
ReplyDeleteThe Andrea Doria collided with the Stockholm 20 miles off the cost of Nantucket.
ReplyDeleteI obsessively read about this story last night when I should been watching the snoozefest known as the Golden Globes. The cruise ship was WAY more interesting.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I am interested to see the fallout from this - the impact on the cruise industry in general and how Carnival, the actual owner of the ship, handles the situation.
I am FLOORED that there were no safety procedures given prior to the ship leaving. On all of the cruises I have gone on, the safety lesson is given well before the ship takes off. All of the cruises I've taken have left from Florida, so I don't know if it's a US thing or what. But, I've been on several Princess cruises, which are part of Carnival, so I don't understand how this isn't a standard company procedure.
I agree with the earlier poster that most people could give a shit about the safety procedures, but still. Wouldn't this huge company make sure over hell or highwater that passengers were informed?!?
The survivors are probably so traumatized. Sounds like a super scary situation.
@Robert - I remember that story, I think there was a Dateline story done on it awhile back. Scary, scary story.
ReplyDelete@Susan - I've only been on one cruise, Royal Caribbean out of Florida to Bahamas and the safety drill was done after we were already moving. A couple hours or so after departing if I remember right...
ChasingHeaven - Maybe I'm remembering wrong when the safety class was. But I know for sure it's really really early!
ReplyDeleteI find it very scary that so many passengers are reporting that the crew did not seem to know what to do.
@chopchop - Uncle Leeeeeeooooo!
ReplyDeleteJust came back from a Holland America cruise. The safety drill was at 3pm, departure at 5pm. Ie, before we went anyplace. But not before the bar was open.
ReplyDeleteHave also cruised with Disney and the drill was before we set sail.
Nutty_Flavor - I could have sworn the drills are before setting sail as well, but I do have mommy brain these days and I haven't been on a vacay for foreva eva.
ReplyDeleteI hope the captain rots in an Italian jail for a very long time. In college, the apartment building next to mine caught on fire in the middle of the night, and the live-in manager of my building ran for his life without bothering to do anything to inform the rest of us to get out (fortunately no one in my building was hurt, but some apartments were damaged). That was so infuriating and repulsive, and this situation is so much worse. The captain better hope and pray he never gets out of jail, the surviving passengers and families of those lost will be lying in wait to enact some homemade justice on his hide.
ReplyDeleteThe last cruise ship I was on from Australia also did the safety drill very early, can't remember if we were already underway or not.
ReplyDeleteSafety drills, as far as the U.S. is concerned, take place before ship sails. That's the law/regulation and they can be heavily fined and detained. No getting around that, regardless of where the ship is registered, etc.
ReplyDeleteI cannot say the same about international maritime laws.
Safety drills, as far as the U.S. is concerned, take place before ship sails. That's the law/regulation and they can be heavily fined and detained. No getting around that, regardless of where the ship is registered, etc.
ReplyDeleteI cannot say the same about international maritime laws.
Before setting sail... but no one pays attention
ReplyDeleteNPR had an interview with a woman who was on the ship. She said they all heard it when the ship hit ground, but they didn't sound an alarm, instead they kept announcing it was just an electrical problem and everyone should stay calm and not worry. People started evacuating when the ship started to tilt, but it wasn't until the lifeboats were in the water that the "abandon ship" alarm went off. It's appalling how poorly this was handled.
ReplyDelete^And the passengers said they knew it had to be more than electrical b/c of the awful sound of metal being crushed.
ReplyDeleteI've only been on two cruises & they did the safety procedure in the beginning. But in reading about all this i started thinking about the last one i went on which was an inaugural cruise for a new boat (Norwegian, out of NYC) & the crew was pretty clueless about a lot of things, since they'd never been on the boat before. I could see being in the same situation if we'd hit something. I place the majority of blame with the captain. And Carnival for whatever training they have (or lack thereof).
According to MSN, the accident occurred because the captain took the ship off course so that his head waiter could salute his family.
ReplyDeleteAnd by off course, I mean he essentially took it off the autopilot and tried to steer by hand.
He also disregarded safe distance by going 150 meters away from the shore when the policy called for 500 meters.
And that wasn't a small ship either.
Regardless, my thoughts are with those who are missing. I hope all turns out well.
@Merlin D. Bear: Yes, that is apparently was happened and it is UNBELIEVABLE this sorry-ass Captain would be so careless and risk over 4,000 to get close enough for 1 person to wave to their family!
ReplyDeleteAlso, there is a Coast Guard recording making the rounds where the CG tell the sorry-ass Captain to get his ass back on the ship after the sorry-ass captain admits he has abandoned it. He actually says he is going back, but never does!
He has to be up there with the likes of idiot Casey Anthony for no regard for life except the "coolness factor" of their own!
The BBC has a good graphic that depicts the course taken by the ship during its preceding cruise and the course taken on the ill-fated one. In the earlier cruise, the captain maintained an even course between the mainland and the rocky island. The ship swerved sharply west towards the island [where someone allegedly was to be saluted by someone on the ship] on the recent trip and stayed on that course for some time before hitting rock. Based on the BBC graphic, it wasn't an off-course veer that was quickly corrected.
ReplyDeleteI think, but don't know for sure, that safety drills must be conducted during the first 24 hours of a cruise. On many cruises originating from the U.S., those drills are conducted prior to sailing although i don't think it's mandatory that they have to be done so early in the trip.
Also, i believe litigation resulting from this accident will be held in Genoa. If you're anticipating justice for the passengers and their families, just remember the machinations that occurred during Amanda Knox's trial[s] in Italy. For the most part, maritime law is based on ancient concepts and isn't terribly in sync with [modern] concepts such as the pain and suffering of passengers.
Lastly, i hate all of the regulation we have in the U.S., but you need to remember when you're off-shore, that if you are bungee jumping over crocodile infested rivers or zip-lining in Costa Rica, you don't have the protection before, during or after your adventures that you or your estate would have here.