Author Topic: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy  (Read 349200 times)

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #255 on: March 16, 2012, 11:31:09 AM »
"Two months after the wreck of the Costa Concordia cruiseliner in the Mediterranean, Italian authorities say they will use “sophisticated robot-like equipment” to aid in the search for the final seven bodies still believed to be aboard, according to The Associated Press."

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/italy/120312/costa-concordia-robots-called-retrieve-remaining-bodies

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #256 on: March 16, 2012, 11:39:16 AM »
"MIAMI (CN) - Passengers on the doomed Costa Concordia cruise ship, which crashed and sank off Italy, paint a picture of chaos, panic and deceit, in a complaint against Carnival Corporation, in Miami-Dade County Court.

     Hector Perez and eight other plaintiffs say the captain, who abandoned ship, waited almost an hour and a half after he knew the ship would sink before giving the order to evacuate.

     "The stories told by passengers who survived the ordeal were ones of chaos, lies, and abandonment - Concordia's crew ignored her passengers, leaving only 'chefs and waiters' to help them survive - passengers were forced to jump into the freezing waters in an attempt to swim for shore," the complaint states."

"Within fifteen minutes of the collision, Concordia's engine room informed the captain that the hull was irreparably breached, that that generators and engines were submerged, and that 'there was nothing to be done' - the captain knew Concordia would sink," the complaint states.

     "Soon thereafter, the onboard lights began to flicker, Concordia began to list, and passengers began to panic.
     "The passengers, however, were not told of the collision nor that Concordia was sinking. Despite a coded alarm to the crew indicating a breached hull, passengers were told: 'Please stay calm, everything is under control, it's just a minor technical fault.'
     "Fending for themselves, passengers began to call the Italian police onshore, who forwarded their pleas to the Italian coast guard. In response, the Italian coast guard contacted Concordia for a report on the situation, but was not told of the collision nor the gash in her hull.
     "Around 10:05 p.m., Concordia's Captain told the coast guard that: 'It's all OK, it's just a blackout, we're taking care of the situation.'"
     The plaintiffs say passengers put on life vests and waited by lifeboats, as the ship began to list almost immediately after the crash.
     "Finally, around 10:50 p.m., again under pressure from the Italian coast guard, Concordia's Captain ordered the ship to be abandoned," the complaint states."

"The stories told by passengers who survived the ordeal were ones of chaos, lies, and abandonment - Concordia's crew ignored her passengers, leaving only 'chefs and waiters' to help them survive - passengers were forced to jump into the freezing waters in an attempt to swim for shore.

     "The events onboard the Concordia could not occur in the absence of negligence or reckless disregard of human life. Every passenger on board could have been saved had they been instructed to abandon ship immediately after the collision or had the passengers been allowed to follow their own instincts and board the lifeboats. Instead, the crew turned them away-a death sentence for some."
     The plaintiffs add: "Around 12:50 a.m., after a now infamous exchange in which the Italian coast guard chastised Concordia's captain and crew for their recklessness and cowardice in the face of the emergency, the Coast Guard took control of the operation."
     Twenty-five people died; seven are missing and presumed dead.
     The plaintiffs seek "all available damages" for negligence, negligent retention and negligent training."

http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/03/14/44682.htm

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #257 on: March 16, 2012, 11:43:31 AM »
Senior cruise shipping executives have predicted that the sector will bounce back quickly from January’s Costa Concordia accident with robust growth this year and next bolstered by growing emerging market demand and the launch of new ships."

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/baceb82a-6d2f-11e1-b6ff-00144feab49a.html#axzz1pIaKQPFX

Royal Caribbean said last month that bookings “were experiencing a slow improvement as media coverage of the Costa Concordia shipwreck subsided.”

In turn, Canada.com also reported March 9 "that in Germany, the world’s No.3 cruise market in terms of passenger numbers behind the United States and Britain, bookings showed holidaymakers were still nervous,

http://www.huliq.com/10282/costa-concordia-collision-almost-sinks-first-time-cruise-bookers-say-experts
« Last Edit: March 16, 2012, 11:55:33 AM by Host Mike »

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #258 on: March 16, 2012, 11:58:17 AM »
"Italian salvage workers have pulled a further seven bodies from the wreck of the Costa Concordia. The victims include two French, three Germans and two Italians."

http://www.euronews.com/2012/03/13/more-bodies-pulled-from-concordia-wreck/

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #259 on: March 22, 2012, 08:26:50 PM »
"Divers found a total of five bodies in the wreckage of the Costa Concordia on Thursday.

Two more bodies were found following the discovery of three earlier in the day, NBC News has learned. Officials have not said when the bodies will be identified, saying, "it will take time."

Thursday's discoveries bring the total number of bodies recovered up to 30. Two others remain missing and are presumed dead."

http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/22/10812613-5-more-bodies-found-in-costa-concordia-wreckage

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #260 on: March 22, 2012, 08:29:37 PM »
"Costa Crociere, the Municipality of Giglio Island and the Costa Concordia Emergency Commissioner’s Office have announced that the operations to remove the fuel from the Costa Concordia are due to be completed on Friday 23 March.

Defueling, which was carried out by experts from the Neri/Smit Salvage team hired by Costa Crociere, began at 5pm on 12 February and continued around the clock whenever the sea and weather conditions were favorable.

The removal of the oil from 17 tanks of the ship is expected to be completed during the night of Friday 23 March."

http://www.breakingtravelnews.com/news/article/costa-concordia-defuelling-operation-to-be-completed-on-friday-23-march/

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #261 on: March 22, 2012, 08:39:12 PM »
"Costa Concordia Captain Francesco Schettino is planning a book in which he will tell his version of the events that lead to the wreck of his cruise ship, an Italian newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Schettino, who is under house arrest near Naples, has clinched a deal for the book with a US publisher, Turin daily La Stampa said without naming the publisher.

Schettino faces charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the Costa Concordia before all of its around 4200 passengers and crew had been evacuated after it ran aground.

Thirty-two people are believed to have died in the January 13 accident which took place near the Giglio island off Italy's western coast.

In the book, Schettino, 52, will also unveil details of his relations with other crew members and a 25-year-old Moldovan dancer with whom he allegedly dined shortly before the accident, La Stampa said."

http://www.skynews.com.au/showbiz/article.aspx?id=731441&vId=


Offline RichC

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #262 on: March 23, 2012, 04:50:35 AM »
That leaves me a little lost for words.  >:( Not that anyone would believe a word of it but maybe he could donate any proceeds to the families who lost loved ones, as if that would help things any.

Offline CrusinEd

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #263 on: March 23, 2012, 06:21:16 AM »
Maybe he can use the money to enroll in a how to sail class.

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #264 on: March 28, 2012, 12:03:14 PM »
"The next step for Smit Salvage, along with another company, Tito Nero, is to clear debris from the ocean floor around the Costa Concordia. There will be ships involved with equipment to purify the water around the liner. After that is done, work will begin on removing the ship itself.
It's not yet known who will be hired to achieve the removal, a job expected to take up to one year. Smit Salvage, with its parent company, Royal Boskalis Westminster, are one of six companies to submit a proposal. Their proposal is to refloat the ship, something they've successfully achieved in the past, while other proposals would see the Costa Concordia broken up and removed piecemeal.
There were over 4200 passengers and crew on the cruise ship and it is believed 32 died. Earlier this week 5 more bodies were found, all outside the ship trapped between the hull and the seabed, bringing the total number of bodies recovered to 30."

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/321755

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #265 on: March 31, 2012, 01:13:24 PM »
"A Carnival Corp. (CCL) cruise ship was ordered held in a Texas port by a U.S. judge in a $10 million lawsuit filed by the family of a German tourist who died aboard the Costa Concordia shipwreck off the Italian coast.

An arrest warrant was issued yesterday for the MS Carnival Triumph, a 2,758-passenger cruise liner based in Galveston, Texas, that is owned by the same company that owns the Costa Concordia, according to the lawsuit also filed yesterday in federal court in Galveston by the family of Siglinde Stumpf. The Triumph provides year-round service from the Houston area to multiple ports in the Caribbean and Mexico, according to Carnival’s website.

“The court finds that the conditions for an attachment of defendants’ joint and collective property within this district, mainly the MS Carnival Triumph, appear to exist upon an admiralty and maritime claim,” U.S. Magistrate Judge John Froeschner of Galveston said in the warrant.

The Carnival Triumph will be allowed to unload passengers and cargo and move between berths within the port until a “prompt hearing” can be scheduled, at which “the plaintiff shall be required to show why the attachment and garnishment should not be vacated,” according to the order. "

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-31/texas-judge-orders-cruise-ship-seizure-in-costa-concordia-suit.html

"GALVESTON — Officials with Florida-based Carnival Cruise Lines are meeting with attorneys this morning and scrambling to ensure that the 2,758-passenger vessel Carnival Triumph can sail from Galveston as planned today.

Meanwhile, Port Director Mike Mierzwa recommends that passengers continue on with plans to sail today in the event Carnival can resolve legal issues."

http://galvestondailynews.com/story/303386

« Last Edit: March 31, 2012, 01:17:50 PM by Host Mike »

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #266 on: March 31, 2012, 01:34:44 PM »
"I believe the captain’s version of events is pretty clear for all to see: it is lying, half-submerged, on a rocky ledge just outside Giglio harbor. It is awaiting salvage. The bodies of several people remain trapped under its hull, and several more remain among the missing and presumed dead.

Meanwhile, Schettino is under house arrest in his home near Naples, where he must be backpedaling rapidly to explain to his wife why on the night of the crash he (allegedly) was dining on the bridge of the Concordia with a young, blonde dancer whose luggage was, reportedly, recovered after the crash from the captain’s own cabin. Hmmm.

It would be difficult for even a gullible wife to believe in the innocence of Schettino after the dancer was interviewed by the media and said the captain was a “hero” whom she “loved.” Can this marriage be saved? Can this captain be saved? Should they?

What cannot be saved are the lives of the passengers who trusted Schettino with their safety. And now he is writing a book – reportedly to be printed by an American publisher who remains unnamed – to explain his side of the tragedy. Presumably the captain will profit from his writing, since there is so much interest internationally in cruise ships in general and in this particular maritime disaster."

http://www.codyenterprise.com/news/opinion/article_e3603d78-7927-11e1-801e-001a4bcf887a.html

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #267 on: April 11, 2012, 10:47:40 PM »
"The cruise industry remains incredibly safe and maintains one of the best safety records of any form of recreational travel in the world. The safety and security of our guests and crew is job number 1, and we will learn everything we can from this accident and apply all lessons learned. At this time, to honor those who were lost in the Costa Concordia, I ask you to join me in a moment of silence. Thank you.

I'd also like to thank Pier Foschi and the management team for the amazing efforts that they've had to undertake these past few months. Pier, thank you."

http://seekingalpha.com/article/492221-carnival-corporation-shareholder-analyst-call

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #268 on: April 17, 2012, 04:10:05 PM »
"The two U.S. victims — the only Americans who died in the accident — were identified as Barbara and Gerald Heil of White Bear Lake, Minnesota.

In the Heils' hometown, friends expressed relief to hear that the bodies of the couple have been identified. The couple were well known as active members of the local church.

Gerald Heil would visit local woman Diane Vorland, confined to a wheelchair, every Thursday to bring communion and pray. And he drove a local man, Denny Hardy, on errands after the man lost his driver's license.

Vorland said Tuesday that it's good news the Heils have been identified after so long, and that the news should give closure to the family.

Hardy said it's nice knowing that the Heils are now safely in the hands of God."

http://travel.usatoday.com/cruises/story/2012-04-17/Minn-couple-identified-among-Costa-Concordia-bodies/54339592/1

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #269 on: April 17, 2012, 04:11:52 PM »
"GIGLIO, Italy (Reuters) - The salvage operation to move the capsized Costa Concordia away from the island of Giglio, where it ran aground three months ago, will begin next month, an official said on Thursday."

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-04-12/news/sns-rt-us-italy-concordiabre83b1ds-20120412_1_tuscan-island-operation-short-list