Monday, April 1, 2024

Key dates in Costa Concordia shipwreck, trial and cleanup

cruise liner concordia

In a separate trial, five other Costa Cruises employees were convicted on manslaughter and all entered plea bargains to receive sentences of three years or less. The 114,500 gross ton ship had about 1,500 staterooms and, interestingly, one of the largest fitness centers and spas at sea, which was about 64,600 square feet. Keep reading to learn what happened to the Costa Concordia and the aftermath of the wreck. Once it had rolled to a 25 degree angle, the ship then continued to rotate under its own weight and the weight of water in the caissons. In September 2013 the Costa Concordia was hauled upright in the most delicate phase of the recovery operation.

Sinking

World’s worst cruise disasters that plunged luxury trips into terror on the high seas…from capsizes to dis... - The US Sun

World’s worst cruise disasters that plunged luxury trips into terror on the high seas…from capsizes to dis....

Posted: Tue, 29 Aug 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

When Costa Concordia struck a reef and partially sank, it claimed 33 lives, including a member of the salvage team. Five other senior crew members, convicted of manslaughter in 2013, were allowed to enter plea bargains in exchange for lenient sentences. Pulling jacks applying some 6,000 tonnes of force were then used to dislodge the vessel from the rocky sea bed.

Other Scrapped Cruise Ships deckplans

As the capsizing was so fast, no radio distress call was made but an EPIRB was hydrostatically released and automatically activated[10] when the vessel sank. As a result, "appropriate action" – including reducing sail, changing course or sealing water-ingress points – was not taken before the squall hit. Five others, including two bridge officers and the ship’s hotel director, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and negligence in July. Salvage workers will continue to look for the bodies of the two missing people, an Italian and an Indian unaccounted for since the disaster, with underwater cameras combing the seabed.

Wrecking Near the Shore

Perhaps the most complex and expensive maritime salvage operation ever attempted saw the 114,500-ton ship pulled upright by a series of huge jacks and cables and set on artificial platforms drilled into the rocky sea bed. Per transcripts released by the Washington Post, Captain Schettino confirmed abandoning ship while rescue efforts were ongoing, breaking the maritime tradition of the captain going down with the ship and leaving hundreds of passengers onboard. The final mad scramble to evacuate the listing liner and then the extraordinary generosity of Giglio islanders who offered shoes, sweatshirts and shelter until the sun rose and passengers were ferried to the mainland. The Costa Concordia began taking on water after it struck a reef, leading to a chaotic evacuation process to save the lives of passengers and crew members. Let’s delve into the specifics — the cruise industry witnessed the birth of new lifesaving protocols and evacuation drills that were now to be completed before a ship could even leave the harbor.

Passengers and personnel

cruise liner concordia

The salvage operations Concordia undertook were a race against time to minimize the ecological footprint of the wreckage. On January 13, 2012, passengers boarded the Concordia, anticipating the exciting journey ahead. Unbeknownst to them, this trip would end drastically different than they had imagined. The first sign of trouble came when the cruise ship initiated a “salute” maneuver near Giglio Island, deviating from its original course. The salute—a maritime tradition where ships pass close to shore in a display of honor or greeting—proved fateful for the Concordia, as it encountered unforeseen rocks. Whether or not Captain Francesco Schettino was trying to impress his girlfriend is debatable.

Ananias and her family declined Costa’s initial $14,500 compensation offered to each passenger and sued Costa, a unit of U.S.-based Carnival Corp., to try to cover the cost of their medical bills and therapy for the post-traumatic stress they have suffered. But after eight years in the U.S. and then Italian court system, they lost their case. “For us islanders, when we remember some event, we always refer to whether it was before or after the Concordia,” said Matteo Coppa, who was 23 and fishing on the jetty when the darkened Concordia listed toward shore and then collapsed onto its side in the water. Concordia was designed by Ryszard Langer and owned by the West Island College Class Afloat program. Captain Francesco Schettino has been charged with multiple counts of manslaughter and causing the wreck. Before this could happen, though, the ship had to be stabilized to prevent any further sinking or slipping.

The disaster of the Costa Concordia

The last phase of the operation involved pumping air into massive steel boxes known as caissons, attached to both sides of the hull. The passengers, whose infections were found through random testing, were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, according to the Port of San Francisco. Ten years ago the Costa Concordia ran aground off the Tuscan island of Giglio, killing 32 people and entwining the lives of others forever. The night of this tragic event happened in real time for me as the news broke here in the United States. I was working and publishing news items to our forums and the home page of Cruise Addicts. Sadly, this incredibly poor narrative is not fiction but a real-life catastrophe constructed by a myriad of poor choices.

Costa Cruises and its parent companies

Following the incident, an investigation was opened that focused on the faults in the procedures taken by the crew and Captain Schettino, especially after leaving the ship while passengers were still stranded. It was then painstakingly shifted into deeper water and floated higher, in an operation expected which took several days. The 114,000 tonne ship was towed the final 200 miles to the port of Genoa for scrapping in July - after an operation to refloat it, which began in April 2013. If all goes well, the two-hour par­buckling maneuver will climax months of work by 450 technicians. Steps include drilling 26 holes in the granite coast to hold pillars for the platforms.

Exactly What happened to the Costa Concordia?

The evacuation was slow and chaotic, with conflicting information passed between the captain, the ship's crew and the coastguard authorities. A process called "parbuckling" used pulling cables and the weight of water contained in caissons attached to the ship's exposed port side (left) flank to roll it upright. The cost of the salvage operation was estimated at some $1.2bn (£0.7bn), although cruise line Costa Crociere estimated that it had contributed some 765 million euros ($1,040m, £600m) to the Italian economy.

cruise liner concordia

The impact damaged the ship, allowing water to seep in and putting the 4,229 people on board in danger. Salvage crews completed setting the wreck of the Costa Concordia upright early Tuesday after a 19-hour-long operation off the Italian island of Giglio, where the huge cruise liner capsized 20 months ago. When Costa Concordia made contract with the rocks off the shore of Italy, some 600 people who had just embarked hours earlier had yet to complete their muster drill.

During his trial, which I followed closely, the Concordia shipwreck captain faced severe backlash for mishandling the situation, culminating in a conviction for manslaughter and causing a maritime disaster. The court of public opinion was no kinder than the Italian legal system; Schettino infamously became emblematic of imprudent leadership at sea. His duties to the passengers and crew bound by trust and safety were, by adjudged accounts, all but neglected.

Approximately 300 souls remained onboard as the last crew detached, spurring a flurry of survival strategies, including climbing down ladders in a landscape where decks had transformed into walls. In my carnal pursuit of sharing this catastrophe’s account, I am reminded of how closely we skirt the edges between safety and danger and the immeasurable responsibility of those commanding such grand vessels. The sinking of the Costa Concordia, a spectacle of disbelief and sorrow, is a stark reminder of the fleeting nature of security in the face of human error and natural forces. Her maiden voyage in July 2006 foreshadowed what was meant to be a long-standing Mediterranean staple.

In 2012, Costa Concordia, a cruise ship owned by Costa Cruises, capsized off of the coast of Italy shortly after departing from Civitavecchia. While not as deadly as the infamous sinking of the Titanic in 1912, this incident resulted in some modifications to the safety guidelines within the cruise industry. The groundwork laid by this unfortunate event serves as a fulcrum for improved oversight within the maritime domain, reassuring those who venture across the seas. Indeed, the legacy of the Costa Concordia continues to resonate, a steadfast reminder of the cruise industry has responsibility to uphold the highest regard for passenger safety, environmental stewardship, and preparedness. We solemnly remember the concordia deaths that irreversibly marked the Costa Concordia’s profound tragedy.

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