Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy

[Host Mike]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2091752/Costa-Concordia-pictures-lifeboats-fleeing-like-scene-Titanic.html

[Host Mike]

"In a call at 10:32 p.m. on Jan. 13, about 45 minutes after the ship struck a reef that ripped a hole in its side and more than half an hour after his first call to Costa, Captain Francesco Schettino told Roberto Ferrarini, head of Costa Crociere's marine opertions department that the situation was under control. Two minutes later he called back to say that he was giving the order to abandon ship, Foschi said.

Schettino had a series of telephone calls with Ferrarini, after striking the rocks off the island of Giglio. In the first call at 9:57 p.m., about 15 minutes after the accident, Schettino said that the ship had struck bottom and that there was a blackout."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/01/25/bloomberg_articlesLYCXRH6JTSEE01-LYCXR.DTL

[Host Mike]

"Franco Gabrielli, head of Italy's national civil protection agency, told reporters that rescuers would keep searching the ship, which is half-submerged off the Tuscan island of Giglio, until every reachable area is inspected. "Finding someone alive today belongs in the realm of miracles," Gabrielli said. "But since none of us, at least inside, wants to give up on that possibility, we will continue."

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2105355,00.html

[Host Mike]

"The owner of the stricken Italian cruise ship which capsized off the coast of Italy 13 days ago has admitted captains were sometimes encouraged to execute so-called '"nautical bows" as publicity.

The chief executive of Costa Cruises, Pier Luigi Foschi, is being grilled by a Senate committee in Rome over the Costa Concordia's crash.

Up to 32 people are feared to have died after the luxury liner hit rocks off the island of Giglio.

Mr Foschi told the Senate committee the umbrella company - Carnival Corp - did sometimes encourage its captains to sail close to the coast, saying it "helps enrich the product".

But he stressed that in this case the manoeuvre "was not authorised".

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-26/costa-cruise-line-owner-questioned-in-rome/3794044

“Taking a tourist ship close to shore is allowed under certain conditions and is a practice adopted by all the cruise ship companies around the world,” Pier Luigi Foschi, chief executive of Costa Cruises, told the Senate on Wednesday."

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/01/25/transcripts-show-italian-captain-told-to-approach-shore

[Host Mike]

"A statement from Costa said: 'With reference to news reports on discounts and promotional offers, Costa Cruises feels bound to point out that the company has never offered any discount on future cruises to guests who were on board the Costa Concordia for the cruise of January 13 and involved in the tragic accident.'"

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-2091582/Costa-Concordia-Cruise-line-hits-rumours-offered-discounts-customers-affected-tragedy.html

[Host Mike]

"North America's largest cruise lines are not answering questions about whether they allow captains to take ships close to shore in so-called 'sail-by salutes' -- a practice that some are blaming for this month's Costa Concordia disaster.

USA TODAY's Cruise Log sent questions on the topic Tuesday to spokespeople for the six major U.S.-based lines that account for the majority of all cruises taken by North Americans, and by Wednesday afternoon none had answered the questions."

http://travel.usatoday.com/cruises/post/2012/01/cruise-lines-ship-sail-by-salute/612784/1

[Host Mike]

"COSTA Crociere, operator of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia, learned the vessel was flooding after hitting rocks off the coast of Tuscany within minutes of the accident and more than an hour before passengers were instructed to evacuate the ship, according to testimony the company delivered to the Italian Senate yesterday.

The testimony, by Pier Luigi Foschi, chief executive of Costa Crociere, a unit of Carnival Corporation, marked the company's first public acknowledgment that Captain Francesco Schettino kept the company informed of the crisis as it spiralled out of control.

The account also raised further questions as to why Captain Schettino and Costa Crociere waited until 10:58pm to sound the ship's evacuation alarm, more than an hour after it hit rocks on January 13, resulting in 16 confirmed deaths and leaving 19 people still missing.

Mr Foschi didn't say whether Costa Crociere's head of marine operations, Roberto Ferrarini, made attempts to contact the Coast Guard. A Costa Crociere spokesman declined to comment on the matter.

Mr Foschi said his testimony was based on a memorandum prepared by Mr Ferrarini, who fielded at least six calls from Captain Schettino in the 73-minute period between the ship's collision and the sounding of its evacuation alarm.

In his first four calls - between 9:57 and 10:33 - the captain described how water was spreading through the hull, making it harder for the ship to stay upright and afloat, Mr Foschi said. That account appears to undermine Mr Foschi's earlier assertion that Captain Schettino first warned the cruise line of an "unidentified" emergency at 10:06.

Mr Ferrarini "didn't understand that the situation was taking such an extreme form," Mr Foschi said. Mr Ferrarini and a lawyer for Captain Schettino - who is under house arrest on preliminary charges of multiple manslaughter and abandonment of ship - didn't respond to a written request for comment on Mr Foschi's testimony."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/wall-street-journal/cruise-liner-operator-knew-of-costa-concordia-collision-within-minutes/story-fnay3ubk-1226254701652

[Host Mike]

"Rescue workers searching the site of the Italian cruise wreck for missing people have said that the time had come to accept that there was no chance of finding survivors.

"We have gradually to accept the idea that in those conditions there is no more hope of survival," said Italy's civil protection agency head, Franco Gabrielli, who is running operations at the site of the Costa Concordia."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9041752/Costa-Concordia-no-chance-of-finding-survivors.html

[Host Mike]

"Officials from Costa Crociere SpA met with consumer activists Thursday in an attempt to work out what could be a blanket compensation deal for uninjured passengers who were aboard the cruise ship that capsized off Italy’s coast.

The offer would take into consideration the price of the ticket, any costs incurred in getting home after the disaster, the cost of items lost aboard the ship as well as damages for the ruined vacation and trauma resulting from the accident, said Furio Truzzi of the consumer group Assoutenti.

The offer would not apply to the hundreds of crew aboard the ship, the roughly 100 cases of people who were injured or the families who lost loved ones. Sixteen bodies have been recovered since the ship hit a reef carrying 4,200 people, with another 16 people still missing and feared dead.

Truzzi said any damages agreed with Costa would be in addition to insurance policies taken out by passengers before embarking. He said 91 percent of the passengers had such policies."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/italy-identifies-3-german-victims-from-cruise-ship-workers-set-up-fuel-pumping-operation/2012/01/26/gIQAsqhOSQ_story.html

[Host Mike]

"Foschi said Schettino first called Ferrarini at 9:57 pm (2057 GMT), about 10 minutes after the 17-deck Costa Concordia hit a rocky outcrop, tearing a massive gash in the hull.

"Schettino said that he had a big problem on board. He told Ferrarini that he had hit a rock and there had been a blackout. The captain said that only one of the sealed chambers was flooded," Foschi told senators.

In another call at 10:06 pm, Schettino told Ferrarini that a second sealed chamber was flooded "but said the stability of the ship was not in danger".

Schettino "was very calm and said the situation was under control", he said.

But at 10:33 pm Schettino said "the listing of the ship was increasing" and two minutes later he told Ferrarini that the ship would be abandoned.

"Ferrarini says he was completely surprised by the abandonment of the ship. He says that judging from the previous telephone conversations he could not have understood that the situation was so extreme," Foschi said.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Costa+Concordia+owners+fend+shipwreck+legal+pressure/6055033/story.html

[Host Mike]

"(Reuters) - Several of Italy's consumer groups signed an agreement with Costa Cruises to offer about 11,000 euros ($14,500) to each of the more than 3,000 passengers aboard the Costa Concordia when it hit a rock and capsized near the Italian island of Giglio on January 13, a statement from the consumer groups said.

The company has agreed to pay 11,000 euros for items lost and any psychological damages to each passenger who suffered no physical injuries. In addition, the cost of the cruise and all transportation will be covered. Passengers injured while abandoning the ship will be dealt with individually."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/27/us-italy-ship-idUSTRE80P20I20120127

[Host Mike]

In answers to prosecutors, defense attorneys and a judge, Schettino has admitted he had made a "mistake" in colliding with the rocks off the island of Giglio.

"I hit this projection of rock, that seems almost stuck into the ship, but this was my mistake," Schettino said in the 126-page transcript. "... There isn't anything I can say, as I was convinced that passing within .28 of a mile there wouldn't be any problem.

The captain also brushed aside suggestions that at 15 knots, he was going too fast, as alleged by prosecutors.

"There isn't a speed limit," he said. "... We had more or less the speed needed to reach Savona on time."

According to the transcript, Schettino maintained he ran the ship aground to keep it from sinking. "This is what allowed me to limit the tilting," he said."

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/27/world/europe/italy-cruise-ship/?hpt=hp_t1

[Host Mike]

"Greszuk said he has been trying to piece together his life — getting a new driver's license, credit cards, passport and other identity documents — but is feeling abandoned by those responsible for his plight.

"I feel so lost and alone," he said. "Nobody is helping us out. Neither Costa nor the travel agency have contacted me — do you know how that feels? I called the travel agency and they said it's not our problem any more, call Costa. I called Costa and they said they'd get back to me, but as of today, I haven't heard a word."

http://travel.usatoday.com/cruises/story/2012-01-26/Costa-Concordia-passengers-ponder-compensation/52805822/1

[Host Mike]

•Why did the ship partially sink? Modern cruise ships are designed to remain afloat even after two of their water-tight compartments are breached, says Richard Pellew, who inspects cruise ships for the United Kingdom's Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

If the gash exposed three compartments or if the crew didn't properly seal them, he and others say, flooding could have spread and capsized the vessel.

"Any vessel that has such a collision could lose the game if response actions by the crew failed or were unorganized," says Anthony Davis, a retired U.S. Coast Guard officer."

http://travel.usatoday.com/cruises/story/2012-01-26/Question-loom-over-Costa-Concordia-disaster/52808568/1?csp=34news

[Host Mike]

"Transcripts released by the Italian coast guard have shown that the power failure came after the collision, when water poured into a gash in the ship's hill and into the engine rooms, causing a power black-out.

But Roberto Ferrarini, who was on duty in the command centre of the Genoa-based company that night, accused the captain of trying to fabricate a very different version of events - that the black-out came first, causing a loss of power that led to the collision.

Mr Ferrarini, Costa Cruise's crisis manager, told an Italian Senate committee that Capt Schettino had asked him to "agree with me the position to take with the authorities, to whom he wanted to say that the ship first had a sudden blackout, after which it hit the reef."

Mr Ferrarini said he had immediately rejected the request, telling the captain to come clean as to how the accident happened.

He said that on the night of the disaster, he exchanged 17 calls with the bridge of the stricken ship, which had passed perilously close to Giglio in order to perform a 'salute' of the island with its 17 decks lit up and its sirens sounding.

The first communication was at 9.57pm - 15 minutes after the vessel smashed into a large group of rocks known as Le Scole.

The captain allegedly told Mr Ferrarini that although the ship had hit the outcrop, only one of its water-tight compartments was flooded and it was still fully buoyant.

There were several more calls in the next half an hour, during which Capt Schettino told his colleague that while the ship had started to list, it was not in serious trouble. His tone and manner was "clear and calm", Mr Ferrarini.

By 10.35pm, however, the veteran commander's account of the accident changed radically - he said he intended to give the order to abandon ship.

Mr Ferrarini said he was shocked and surprised by the communication and accused the skipper of hugely under-playing the crisis."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9042826/Wife-of-Costa-Concordia-captain-says-it-is-not-for-those-on-land-to-judge-her-husband.html