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Costa Concordia disaster

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The Costa Concordia Disaster refers to the series of events surrounding the "astonishing"[1] demise of the luxury Italian cruise liner, the Costa Condordia. This is an ongoing event, and as of January 14, the ship is lying on her side.


Costa Concordia, showing the rock embedded in the damaged hull.

On Friday 13 January 2012, the Costa Concordia ran aground on a reef at around 21:00 local time (UTC+1) off Isola del Giglio, having left Civitavecchia earlier that evening at the beginning of a seven-day cruise starting in Savona and visiting Marseille, Barcelona, Palma, Tunis, and Palermo.

It was reported that at about 20:00, passengers were in the dining hall when there was a sudden, loud bang, which a crew member (speaking over the intercom) ascribed to an "electrical failure". "We told the guests everything was ok and under control and we tried to stop them panicking," cabin steward Deodato Ordona recalled. It was about an hour before a general emergency was announced, he said. "The boat started shaking. The noise - there was panic, like in a film, dishes crashing to the floor, people running, people falling down the stairs," said survivor Fulvio Rocci. Those on board said the boat suddenly tilted to the port side.[2] Passengers were later advised to put on their life-jackets.[3] The ship later developed a list of approximately 20° to starboard, the change creating problems in launching the lifeboats. Some passengers jumped into the water to swim to shore, while others, ready to evacuate the vessel, were delayed by crew members up to 45 minutes, as they resisted immediately lowering the lifeboats.[4] Three people reportedly drowned after jumping overboard, and another seven were critically injured.[5] According to the local coastguard, 3,206 passengers and 1,023 crew members were on board at the time.[6]

Location of the grounding off Isola del Giglio.
42°21′53″N 10°55′16″E / 42.36486°N 10.92124°E / 42.36486; 10.92124

Julian Bray, travel broadcaster and writer, reported: "Twelve hours later, a dozen passengers remain unaccounted for and many lifeboats (capacity 150 each) were not deployed due to the initial list and the subsequent rolling over of the vessel onto her side. Others were safely evacuated and taken to shelter on the island. The crew remained aboard and the shipping line initially insisted there was no danger of sinking."[7] The first daylight pictures showed the ship lying on her starboard side and half submerged, not far outside Giglio Harbour.[8] Other reports indicated the ship had developed a major electrical fault.[9]

According to the local coast guard, the ship has a 50-metre (160 ft) gash on its port side.[6] The Daily Mail showed images of the large gash, with a large rock embedded in the ship's hull.[9] At about 12:15 GMT the Associated Press stated that up to 50–70 people were still missing. Costa has indicated the actual number may be considerably less, as the company is researching which passengers and crew members were definitively on board at the time of the grounding. At least three people died (two French tourists and a Peruvian crew member),[10] 14 others were injured, and 41 are still unaccounted for.[11][12]

Wrecked aground at about an 80° list

At 17:48 UTC La Repubblica reported that the captain had stated that they were 300 metres (330 yd) from the rocks (i.e., about the length of the vessel) and that they hit a rock that was not marked on nautical charts. This reef was about 800 metres (870 yd) south of the entrance to the harbour of Giglio. The vessel continued for approximately another 1,000 metres (1,100 yd) until just north of the harbour entrance. The vessel then turned in an attempt to get close to the harbour. This turn shifted the centre of gravity to the starboard side of the ship, and she listed over to that side initially by about 20°, finally coming to rest at an angle of heel of about 80°.[13]

The captain, Francesco Schettino, has been arrested for manslaughter and abandoning ship and was being questioned as of 14 January 2012.[14] Officials are trying to determine why the ship did not issue a mayday and why she was navigating so close to the coast. "At the moment we can't exclude that the ship had some kind of technical problem," said officer Emilio Del Santo of the Coastal Authorities of Livorno, "and for this reason moved towards the coast in order to save the passengers, the crew and the ship. But they didn't send a mayday. The ship got in contact with us once the evacuation procedures were already ongoing."[15]

The passengers on the accident voyage included Dutch, Italian, British, Canadian, Mexican, Brazilians, Spanish, American, French, German, Greek, Portuguese, Russian, Croatian, Swedish and Kazakh nationals.[16]

  1. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16560617
  2. ^ Akwagyiram, Alexis (14 January 2012). "Italy cruise ship Costa Concordia: Search for missing". BBC News. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  3. ^ Nikkhah, Roya (14 January 2012). "Three confirmed dead and thousands evacuated as cruise ship runs aground off coast of Italy". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  4. ^ Flegenheimer, Matt; Pianigiani, Gaia (14 January 2012). "Search Is on for Survivors From Italian Cruise Ship That Ran Aground". The New York Times. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  5. ^ "Italy cruise ship Costa Concordia aground near Giglio". BBC. 14 January 2012. Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  6. ^ a b Winfield, Nicole (14 January 2012). "Coast guard: cruise ship runs aground off Italy, 3 bodies found; helicopters rescue others". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2012. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Cruise ship runs aground off Italy; deaths reported". MSNBC. 13 January 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  8. ^ "Giglio Harbour". Giglio News. 14 January 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  9. ^ a b "It was like a scene from the Titanic': At least three dead and 4200 panicked passengers and crew evacuated after luxury cruise liner carrying Britons sinks off coast of Italy". Daily Mail. Retrieved 14 January 2011.
  10. ^ "Authorities question Italian captain of cruise ship that ran aground, killing 3". CNN. 14 January 2012. Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Daily Telegraph was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference focus was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "'La nave ha urtato uno scoglio' Il comandante: 'Non era sulla carta'". La Repubblica (in Italian). 14 January 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  14. ^ "Police arrest Italian captain of cruise ship that ran aground, killing 3". CNN. 14 January 2012. Archived from the original on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  15. ^ "Italian cruise ship captain investigated" (14 January 2012) UPI
  16. ^ "Italy cruise ship Costa Concordia: Search for missing." BBC. 14 January 2012. Retrieved on 14 January 2012.
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