Author Topic: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy  (Read 349260 times)

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #270 on: April 18, 2012, 09:04:02 AM »
"It was previously announced that the ship would be repaired, righted, and towed to Genoa where it will be cut up for scrap.  This process was chosen over cutting the ship into salvage on site, primarily because the wreck lies in a marine biological protection area and it was feared further damage could be done to wildlife and coral reefs."

http://www.examiner.com/cruise-in-bowling-green/concordia-contracts-to-be-signed-salvage-set-to-begin-may

Editor: They plan to right the ship with a couple of cranes.


Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #271 on: April 18, 2012, 09:07:26 AM »
"Fears of a second maritime disaster came back to haunt the island exactly 90 days since the tragedy when a Russian merchant ship got into trouble just 300 yards off the island on Friday – also the 13th.

The vessel was carrying grain to Sardinia when it hit rough weather off Giglio and had to halt its course.

There were fears that high winds and stormy seas could push it onto the island's rocky shore, but after a few hours the danger passed and the ship was able to continue on its way to the port of Oristano.

"No peace for Giglio, Russian merchant ship stalls 300 metres from the coast," was the headline on Corriere della Sera's website.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9203294/Costa-Concordia-island-faces-Friday-13th-deja-vu-as-another-ship-comes-close.html

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #272 on: April 24, 2012, 05:27:05 AM »
"The chief executive officer of Carnival Corp.’s subsidiary Costa Crociere, Pier Luigi Foschi, is retiring July 1. Carnival, headquartered in Miami, is also the parent company of Santa Clarita-based Princess Cruises.

Foschi, 65, will remain as chairman and a managing director of the Costa group and remain on the board of directors of Carnival Corporation & plc.

The move comes roughly 4 1/2 months after the company’s ship Costa Concordia shipwrecked off the coast of Italy, killing 32 people.

Michael Thamm, currently serving as president of Germany-based AIDA Cruises, has been appointed CEO of the Costa group.

He will report to Costa’s board of directors, which includes Micky Arison and Howard Frank, Carnival Corp. & plc’s chairman and CEO, and vice chairman and chief operating officer, respectively.

Carnival said the moves are part of a long-term succession plan that included the scheduled retirement of Foschi once he reached the age of 65."

http://www.the-signal.com/section/24/article/64191/

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #273 on: April 24, 2012, 05:31:59 AM »
"The plan to upright the capsized craft; then slowly tow it to a port near Rome could take more than a year to complete," says Farrell. "Because of the magnitude of this project, unlike other salvage operations – and because the cruise ship is so close to land, – the Costa Concordia requires special attention to the environmental concerns and to limiting disruption to the community, which relies almost entirely on tourism for its economic livelihood."

Farrell explains, "The salvage team has to be extremely careful not to cause adverse effects to the environment." He says, "Rolling and then refloating the ship in one piece rather than dismantling it piece-by-piece will be quite a feat. The main concern will be to not further compromise the ship's structural integrity, so that it can be maneuvered off the coast and to another port."

http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/48973-Costa-Concordia:-Structural-integrity-key-to-success-of-salvage-operation

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #274 on: April 24, 2012, 05:38:58 AM »
"Kevin suspects that Russel might have attempted to save the woman and something happened thereafter. "I have the entire sequence of events from 8.45 pm to 12.15 am, narrated to me by survivors on-board that fateful night, when Russel was last spotted. But I am unable to get any details between 12.15 am to 12.30 am, when the ship actually started sinking and even Russel went missing soon after," he said.

Kevin added, "I had to cancel my plans to return to India twice earlier, as the search operators would find some bodies at those very moments. This time, I had hoped they would either identify the body through DNA, or would succeed in tracing the two missing people. But is was all in vain and I flew to India empty-handed."

http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/100-days-after-italian-cruise-tragedy-indian-still-missing-201623

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #275 on: April 24, 2012, 05:56:24 AM »
"Tourists have expressed concerns over pollution from the wreck and a fear of running into emergency personnel. These fears exist in spite of the fact that salvage experts pumped out the cruise ship’s fuel after the crash, minimizing the risk of environmental damage.

That said, while overnight bookings are down, Giglio is quickly finding itself as a hot spot for day-trippers. These vacationers come to take pictures of the wreck and generally take in the spectacle of large-scale human catastrophe.

So far, journalists and rescue workers have had a bigger impact on the local economy than rubber necking tourists, but some on the island are optimistic. The president of the local tourism bureau, for example, told the Times that, “not even Coca-Cola (KO) could have afforded such worldwide publicity.”

http://www.minyanville.com/dailyfeed/2012/04/18/costa-concordia-wreck-a-hot/

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #276 on: April 24, 2012, 06:04:59 AM »
The story is damning in its details of Schettino’s actions, many reported for the first time. They include:

   One passenger’s claim, though it is elsewhere unconfirmed, that he saw the captain and a friend “polish off a decanter of red wine while eating” prior to the catastrophe.

    That the captain was going too fast for the conditions and seemed to be navigating by eyesight rather than with the aid of maps and radar, when he saw a set of rocks off the Tuscan coast prior to the crash. “What he failed to notice was another rock, nearer to the ship,” that was largely underwater, the story says. “An officer later told investigators he heard the captain say, ‘(expletive)…I didn’t see it!’ ”

    The captain, who was casually talking on the phone when the ship approached the rocks, wrongly ordered the ship to turn to starboard, rather than port, to avoid the mostly submerged rock when he finally did see it. That caused the ship’s stern to swing around and slam into it, ripping open a 230-foot-long gash below the waterline.

    When crew members spoke with the Coast Guard, Schettino ordered them to say that there was only a blackout on board and they did not need any immediate assistance. Schettino’s apparent refusal to “promptly admit the Concordia’s plight — to lie about it, according to the Italian Coast Guard — was not only a violation of Italian maritime law but cost precious time, delaying the arrival of rescue workers by as much as 45 minutes,” the story says.

    When the ship began listing to starboard, the captain dropped its massive anchors to prevent it from tipping further, but played out too much line — so the anchors never caught and were of no help. It was a “jaw-droppingly stupid mistake,” according to a veteran American captain and nautical analyst, John Konrad, quoted in the story.

    The captain, who made it ashore in a lifeboat he claims to have fallen into, begged in a phone call with a Coast Guard officer not to be sent back to the ship to look for survivors. That shocked the officer, who in return threatened Schettino by saying, “Tell me how many people are still on board and what they need. Is that clear? ... I’m going to make sure you get in trouble. I’m going to make you pay for this.”

http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/05/11040687-costa-concordia-captains-blunders-detailed-in-vanity-fair
« Last Edit: December 10, 2012, 10:50:59 PM by Host Mike »

Offline Host Mike

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #277 on: April 24, 2012, 06:25:38 AM »
"Addressing a press conference on board the 130,000-tonne cruise ship Costa Magica, which spent the morning in Grand Harbour yesterday, Dario Rustico, sales and marketing director for Central Europe, Africa, Middle East and India, spoke about Costa being Italy’s largest tourism group, Europe’s largest cruise company, and part of Carnival Corporation & plc.

“Despite having extending our discounts, we are a financially sound company and we have all the means to recover, while ensuring that all the people involved in the Concordia tragedy are compensated fairly.”

http://www.independent.com.mt/news.asp?newsitemid=143012

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #278 on: May 15, 2012, 05:41:50 PM »
"Finally, it was reported that French survivors of the Costa Concordia disaster received a settlement from Costa Cruises. It was reported that the owner of the Costa Concordia has paid more than 2 million Euros to the French survivors in a settlement that was reached, as announced by their lawyer. The amount reported is the equivalent of $11,700.00 U.S. dollars each to 235 survivors. As we reported, 32 people are reported to have been killed when the Costa Concordia capsized on January 13, 2012. The recent settlement agreed to by the 235 remaining French survivors was paid on May 4th according to reports. In the meantime, the criminal prosecution in Italy is still going forward, and includes the captain and three executives."

http://fortlauderdale.injuryboard.com/mass-transit-accidents/cruise-ship-law-news-update.aspx?googleid=301036

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #279 on: May 15, 2012, 05:44:07 PM »
The conference approved the main guidelines for the removal and retrieval of the ship, proposed by the shipowners, which envisage the floating of the entire ship. The several administrative agencies that took part - Giglio Island municipality, Province of Grosseto, Tuscany's regional government, ARPAT, ministries of the interior, of the environment, of infrastructure and transport, of health care, of cultural heritage, and the Customs Agency - all drafted the conditions that Micoperi and Titan Salvage, the salvage companies, must comply with during the works, as well as a series of recommendations to help preserve the environment, health and the historical heritage. . .

http://www.agi.it/english-version/italy/elenco-notizie/201205152114-cro-ren1108-costa_concordia_removal_plan_approved

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #280 on: May 15, 2012, 05:47:11 PM »
"Four performers who entertained passengers on the doomed Costa Concordia are suing the luxury liner’s owners and operators for $200 million.

The musicians and dancers — all from Hungary — accuse Carnival Corp. and the Italian Costa Crociere SpA cruise line of “gross negligence” in the deadly Jan. 13 crash off the coast of Italy.

Court papers allege that the crew wasn’t properly trained to operate and evacuate the ship, which capsized after ramming a reef, killing 32 people.

The White Plains federal court filing seeks $50 million per plaintiff for physical injuries, “mental anguish” and lost wages, along with punitive damages.

A fifth member of the troupe, musician Sandor Feher, didn’t make it off the boat alive."

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/05/11/performers-suing-for-200m-following-costa-concordia-wreck/

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #281 on: May 15, 2012, 05:52:47 PM »
"Costa has promised to introduce a real-time route-monitoring system, which will be later adopted by parent group Carnival Corporation & Plc (CCL.L), and a system to increase sharing of the ship's navigation plan between the captain and the officers.

"We do not want to radically change the responsibilities of the captain but simply allow other officers to give opinions," Foschi said.

Some of the Concordia officers have said they raised the alarm day but that Schettino dismissed the scale of the danger."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/07/uk-costa-ship-idUSLNE84600A20120507

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #282 on: May 15, 2012, 05:54:28 PM »
Salvage work to remove the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship from its rocky perch off Tuscany, where 32 people died, will begin early next month and is expected to take a year, the Italian owner announced Saturday.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-04/D9U9C6200.htm

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #283 on: May 15, 2012, 06:08:40 PM »
Still, just how Registro Italiano Navale (RINA), an Italian classification society, evaluated the Concordia’s safety readiness is likely to come under serious scrutiny during the investigation. RINA issued certificates attesting to the seaworthiness of the Concordia and the safety readiness of its crew just three months before the accident. Its longtime president resigned days after the collision. “I think as things unfold you are going to find an extremely cozy relationship between shipowners and the classification society,” says Doherty.

http://www.cntraveler.com/cruises/2012/06/special-report-cruise-safety-regulations-costa-concordia?intcid=trail_gl

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Re: Carnival owned cruise ship Costa Concordia runs aground off Italy
« Reply #284 on: May 15, 2012, 06:13:02 PM »
"Divya and Sameer Sharma, two American survivors who testified before Mica’s committee, recalled that in order to get into a lifeboat, they had had to join a mob of passengers and force their way past reticent crew members who were still urging them to return to their cabins. “The crew members were running around panicked, frustrated, and clueless,” said Sameer. “No one seemed to have any clear idea as to what they had to do in this situation or where they were supposed to send us.”

Although the Sharmas’ description of events is consistent with that of other survivors, Mark Conroy, president of Regent Seven Seas Cruises, notes, “It does appear that at least a portion of the Concordia crew actually did their job, because they were able to rescue more than 4,100 people and all but two of the lifeboats were launched. Those things don’t happen by themselves.

Under SOLAS, crew are required to demonstrate that they can get all of the lifeboats into the water within 30 minutes of the shipmaster’s announcement of an evacuation, but full-scale drills, in which ships like the Concordia or the Allure are fully loaded with passengers and then evacuated in lifeboats, are simply not feasible, says CLIA’s Michael Crye, executive vice president for regulatory and technical issues. “There is a certain amount of risk of injury to passengers if you have a full-scale ship evacuation,” he says. Computer modeling used to demonstrate safe evacuation plans, meanwhile, usually does not account for factors like heavy ocean swells, cold water, loss of power, the darkness of night—or a situation in which the ship is listing or flooded. “I don’t think regulations have kept up with the increase in capacity,” says Antonio Simoes Re, who heads a research group focused on marine evacuations and rescue at Canada’s National Research Council.

http://www.cntraveler.com/cruises/2012/06/special-report-cruise-safety-regulations-costa-concordia?intcid=trail_gl
« Last Edit: May 15, 2012, 06:16:15 PM by Host Mike »