Costa Concordia SINKING

[greg-nc]

I do not believe anyone has posted the English translation of the Italian court documents yet. It appears that Captain Schettino was not in a lifeboat but on a reef on shore when contacted by the coastguard.

 

There are also many other interesting information points.

 

 

COURT OF GROSSETO

OFFICE OF THE MAGISTRATE IN CHARGE OF PRELIMINARY INQUIRIES

 

http://download.repubblica.it/pdf/2012/traduzione_ordinanza_grosseto.pdf

 

Let me provide my summary. Captain Schettino is completely guilty. He also obviously prejured himself multiple times in front of the investigators; lies that were refuted by the other listed witnesses. Lines like this in the report

"It is a certified fact, notwithstanding the declarations to the contrary made at the time of interrogation, ... "

 

By the way he was not in a life boat when reached by the coastguard:

"he remained on the reef to watch the disaster caused, was reached by members of the Fire Brigade and was in touch by phone with Commander De Falco, who ordered him to go back aboard the ship."

 

Other lines from the document:

"That appears to indicate an incredible thoughtlessness in assessing the actual scope of the behaviour engaged in to the detriment of over 4,000 persons entrusted to his responsibility."

 

"includes the fact of having abandoned the ship ahead of all the passengers on board and of having remained over an hour on the reef where he had disembarked in a situation of complete inactivity."

[mferris77]

Wikipedia? LOL

 

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/faq.php?faq=guidelines

 

Really? You're going to complain about that when half of this thread is people copying quotes from newspaper/website articles?

[SomeBeach]

I am getting so confused by what is being reported. I am genuinely asking if someone can help me understand the timeline of the vents..

 

 

According to what I have read so far the ship struck "something", passengers felt a shudder and the lights flickered, correct? This happened at 9:42 local time? Reports keep indicating the time is either 8:42 or 9:42 when this began.. which is it?

 

3 minutes later, at 9:45 a passenger calls his parents in Tuscany who then call the Coast Guard in Livorno who then call the ship at 10:06 and ask if everything is ok?

 

**9:42 Concordia strikes a rock.

 

**9:45 A passenger calls his parents just 3 minutes after they struck something?

 

**Power has allegedly gone completely out at some point during this time period, 9:45-10:06, correct?

 

According to the Qastor data, the ship approached the island at approximately 15 kts and just prior to striking the rock, dramatically slows to 8kts and turns hard to starboard at 9:45. So the timeline reported isn't perfect..

 

 

UPDATED

**9:42 Concordia strikes a rock.

 

**9:45 A passenger calls his parents just 3 minutes after they struck something?

 

**10:05 Schettino call Costa Management.

 

**10:06 Coast Guard at Livorno calls Concordia and speaks with Schettino.

 

**10:06 Concordia dropped anchor and is halfway into hard turn to starboard

 

http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/ne...+Concordia.wmv

 

>>>By the way, the above link indicates the ship turned to starboard to return, not port.. which is it?<<<

 

So, 10:05 Schettino calls Costa and presumably while he is on that phone call with Costa, he gets an incoming call from Coast Guard officials from Livorno on minute later, at 10:06. Schettino is at this point holding both phones and speaking to both parties, correct? He tells the Coast Guard that Concordia is suffering from electrical issues and is in a black out and does not need assistance, no mention to the Coast Guard that the hull has been breached. What is he telling Costa officials during this same exact time that he is presumably having both conversations? Also, it's been reported by the ship's engineers that they could not reach the Captain during this time period to inform him of the amount of flooding occurring from the breach because the Schettino was on his cell phone, correct?

 

Also, during this time, 30 minutes after Concordia strikes something, Port Authorities radio Concordia. There is no confirmation of timeline, just an audio recording between Port Authorities in Livorna and Concordia indicating that a crew member called relatives and informed them that they were ordered to "put on life jackets" and "dishes were crashing on his head". Concordia responds with "we are verifying the blackout" and when asked how long they have been experiencing the blackout, replies with "about 20 minutes".

 

 

UPDATED

**9:42 Concordia strikes a rock.

 

**9:45 A passenger (possibly the crew member now) calls his parents just 3 minutes after they struck something?

 

**9:45-10:05 Crew ordered to put on life jackets

 

**10:05 Schettino call Costa Management.

 

**10:06 Coast Guard at Livorno calls Concordia and speaks with Schettino.

 

**10:06 Concordia dropped anchor and is halfway into hard turn to starboard

 

**10:12 Radio conversation between Port Authorites and Concordia (unidentified crew on Concordia) takes place discusses blackout only)

 

**10:16 Coast Guard in Livorno radios Concordia not a second, a third time.

 

 

If I am understanding correctly, by 10:12, a full thirty minutes after the inceident, the ship experiences the full blackout for at least 20 minutes (after the initial flickering of lights), has dropped anchor, is listing at least 7 degrees from taking on water, turning hard to starboard (or port in some reports) to move the ship closer to land and crew has been ordered to put on life jackets. By 10:16 Schettino had initiated contact with Costa-not the any emergency authorities and the ships crew had been contacted not once or twice, but a third time by Port Authorities/Coast Guard and Schettino at this point still has not admitted to needing assistance?

 

Am I getting it correct so far?

 

**10:30 Schettino orders a Mayday, Concordia is listing 20 degrees

 

**10:30-10:50 Concordia is still moving to starboard, apparently under thruster control

 

**10:50 Schettino orders abandoned ship under pressure from Coast Guard

 

 

What was Schettino planning? In the 70 minutes prior to this order (which appears to be reluctant) to abandoned ship, he turns the ship about, moves it closer to land essentially grounding it, orders crew to put on life jackets and describes all of those actions as life saving decisions yet never gives the impression to anyone of authority (outside of the cruiseline) that there is any real threat to the ship? What did he think would happen? The ship would just rest there, sitting upright and eventually he would offload the passengers and crew?

 

This is where I get even more fuzzy. Costa has made a statement that the crew was able to get almost all passengers off the ship in under 2 hours yet I still see video and read accounts of many passengers attempting to get off the ship well beyond that. Coast Guard night vision video:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wwmz9LN8wcE

 

**11:00 Concordia finally stops moving toward land, apparently is grounded

 

**Sometime After 11:00 Deputy Mayor boards Concordia during this time, no other officers anywhere with the exception of Chief Purser, not even on the bridge.

 

**11:40 Schettino reportedly seen in a lifeboat, 2nd and 3rd officers present.

 

**12:40AM Coast Guard speaks to Schettino, ordered back on board Concordia

 

During the time the ship made it's turn back to land and prior to abandoning ship order was given, were passengers already leaving the ship? Were there reports that stated passengers left/jumped and swam for it? From what I can tell, the ship was still moving one hour and twenty minutes after the she was holed.

 

Also, Schettino was reported already in a lifeboat at 11:40, just 40 minutes after the ship stopped moving towards land, just two hours after the incident. Even more crazy, remind me again where in this timeline the Schettino is still waiting for his meal to be prepared, with the young woman companion? I thought he was on the phone for over an hour with Costa / Port Authorities / Coast Guard?

 

This is all so crazy..

 

Hi Kenny (nice to read you again)

Where I'm confused is where exactly was the Captain just prior to the accident. I've heard one report that he was having dinner when he was "notified of a problem" and he quickly left the table to return to the Bridge. Other reports say he was on the Bridge.

[deckofficer]

Wikipedia? LOL

 

 

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/faq.php?faq=guidelines

 

Yes, Wikipedia. For one it is quicker to use if information is accurate, but more important to your claim, I am one of the editors of that article (check it out, I'm "deckofficer" there too) and many other maritime, electric vehicle, and automotive articles for that site. When I quote my own contributions, a link isn't needed, but since you folks appear to have such a disdain for me, the entire article is a good read and is here.......

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacentric_height#Free_surface_effect

[Davyjonesrugrat]

The third link answers one of my questions:

 

"Enforcement

 

The enforcement of IMO conventions depends upon the Governments of Member Parties. The Organization itself has no powers to enforce conventions."

 

 

So basically, they are not regulations, they are conventions and member orgs decide how and what to enforce?

Enforcement is stringently done by the United Kingdom, and all members of the IMO. These are regulations that have been put forward by the member states and are therefore regulations of the members states.

[Kurt Repchull]

Video of inside the ship when it started to sink....

 

[Davyjonesrugrat]

This is what I am referring to as SOLAS (and I hope I am right on that). This particular document and its sub conventions don't seem to address Passenger Muster Drills (crew, yes, but not passenger)

 

I still haven't found anything enforceable about Passenger drills - (see my previous post regarding enforcement)

The fact that each member state ensforces muster drills within a 24 hr period shows that this is covered by regulations and is enforced. I will look tomorrow under NTM (Notice to mariners/maritime notices) for the relevant articles.

 

rgds

[ghstudio]

Hi Kenny (nice to read you again)

 

Where I'm confused is where exactly was the Captain just prior to the accident. I've heard one report that he was having dinner when he was "notified of a problem" and he quickly left the table to return to the Bridge. Other reports say he was on the Bridge.

 

Actually, we have him in the restaurant 15 minutes after the ship hit the rock (waiter's statement) which would be difficult if he assumed full control of the ship prior to hitting the rock, and highly unlikely if he was on two phones for the next 45 minutes or so. Net...I don't think wehave a believeable time line of the captain's whereabouts...and we certainly don't know who was actually on the bridge at any point...in fact we have the captain assuming the controls at the same time we have the captain giving navigational orders to someone else.

[Isklaar]

Actually, we have him in the restaurant 15 minutes after the ship hit the rock (waiter's statement) which would be difficult if he assumed full control of the ship prior to hitting the rock, and highly unlikely if he was on two phones for the next 45 minutes or so. Net...I don't think wehave a believeable time line of the captain's whereabouts...and we certainly don't know who was actually on the bridge at any point...in fact we have the captain assuming the controls at the same time we have the captain giving navigational orders to someone else.

 

Do we know whether the ship's 'black box' is a voice and data recorder, or does it just record data?

[Leadft]

Yes, Wikipedia. For one it is quicker to use if information is accurate, but more important to your claim, I am one of the editors of that article (check it out, I'm "deckofficer" there too) and many other maritime, electric vehicle, and automotive articles for that site. When I quote my own contributions, a link isn't needed, but since you folks appear to have such a disdain for me, the entire article is a good read and is here.......

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacentric_height#Free_surface_effect

 

I agree, it is good info.

 

You are welcome to stick around as long as you are respectful to the users here. If you continue to have important contributions, without judging us -- we can all get along just fine.

[reallyitsmema]

Really? You're going to complain about that when half of this thread is people copying quotes from newspaper/website articles?

Copying quotes and linking to quotes is different than continually posting large posts of information and representing it as their own. Plus, Wikipedia is not known for accurate information. I for one, skip any wiki link. Having to actually google what the source of the informaiton was, since no source was indicated, and finding it was wiki as opposed to a maritime publication just hit me wrong. One would think a "deckofficer" would be posting from a more credible source.

[OldSeaDog]

 

Ship Stability diagram showing centre of gravity (G), centre of buoyancy (B), and metacentre (M) with ship upright and heeled over to one side. Note that for small angles, G and M are fixed, while B moves as the ship heels, while for big angles both B and M are moving.

 

All of that goes out the window when the ship becomes part of the earth via grounding. Suddenly the Center of Bouyancy, Gravity and roll (metacenter) move to very different places--depending on bottom contour, etc.

[Evil Jeremy]

I am one of the editors of that article (check it out, I'm "deckofficer" there too) and many other maritime, electric vehicle, and automotive articles for that site. When I quote my own contributions, a link isn't needed

 

Yes, because we can take for granted that everything you say is 100% accurate, so you don't need to source your own claims?

[deckofficer]

I agree, it is good info.

 

You are welcome to stick around as long as you are respectful to the users here. If you continue to have important contributions, without judging us -- we can all get along just fine.

 

I am truly sorry to have gotten off on the wrong foot here. I had come to this forum long before the Costa accident in an attempt to befriend SamandSally, who by mistake signed up to my forum on cruising in your own boat. They had received a luke warm reception and promptly left and I just wanted to inform them they were welcome to stay, as cruisers of all types share the common thread of a love of the sea.

[reallyitsmema]

Yes, Wikipedia. For one it is quicker to use if information is accurate, but more important to your claim, I am one of the editors of that article (check it out, I'm "deckofficer" there too) and many other maritime, electric vehicle, and automotive articles for that site. When I quote my own contributions, a link isn't needed, but since you folks appear to have such a disdain for me, the entire article is a good read and is here.......

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metacentric_height#Free_surface_effect

You look to have just edited the article today and someone has changed back what you edited if I am reading the page correctly.

[Evil Jeremy]

Video of inside the ship when it started to sink....

 

 

That's not Concordia. That is a video that has been around for years. Someone is just claiming it's the Concordia for hits.

[HelloHelloHola]

I am truly sorry to have gotten off on the wrong foot here. I had come to this forum long before the Costa accident in an attempt to befriend SamandSally, who by mistake signed up to my forum on cruising in your own boat. They had received a luke warm reception and promptly left and I just wanted to inform them they were welcome to stay, as cruisers of all types share the common thread of a love of the sea.

 

As far as I care, if I am allowed to be here, the you can be here. I think your technical details may have put off some people who are looking for the latest news on the event. However, I welcome your technical aspects.

[bdstrom]

Video of inside the ship when it started to sink....

 

 

I swear I've seen this video somewhere on Youtube a year or two ago. That is definitely not Costa Concordia.

 

If it was Costa Concordia, then the water should have came from the bottom... not from the above.

[reallyitsmema]

That's not Concordia. That is a video that has been around for years. Someone is just claiming it's the Concordia for hits.

Correct, that is not Concordia. It is the Carnival Paradise from May 2009. I wish youtube would pull that, it is at least the third time it has been posted here.

[Feelin' Nauti']

Actually, we have him in the restaurant 15 minutes after the ship hit the rock (waiter's statement) which would be difficult if he assumed full control of the ship prior to hitting the rock, and highly unlikely if he was on two phones for the next 45 minutes or so. Net...I don't think wehave a believeable time line of the captain's whereabouts...and we certainly don't know who was actually on the bridge at any point...in fact we have the captain assuming the controls at the same time we have the captain giving navigational orders to someone else.

Reports don't jive.

One report states the Cowardly Captain is dining and boozing it up with his lady friend ...

Another states Cermotan was called up from dinner to help with translations of instructions for how the small number of Russian passengers should evacuate.

 

I'm thinking they were having a secret rendezvous, secret love affair, and trying to cover their B***s so his wife doesn't find out. :cool:

 

I do not speak Filipino, but maybe someone on this thread does.

 

To translate what the cook is saying.

 

http://blog.cytalk.com/2012/01/costa-concordia-captain-ordered-dinner-as-ship-sank/

[SomeBeach]

Actually, we have him in the restaurant 15 minutes after the ship hit the rock (waiter's statement) which would be difficult if he assumed full control of the ship prior to hitting the rock, and highly unlikely if he was on two phones for the next 45 minutes or so. Net...I don't think wehave a believeable time line of the captain's whereabouts...and we certainly don't know who was actually on the bridge at any point...in fact we have the captain assuming the controls at the same time we have the captain giving navigational orders to someone else.

 

If he changed the auto pilot course of the ship to manual and then left to go have dinner, that adds even more to his irresponsible behavior.

[nyyhoneybee]

I have been following this since the news first broke on Saturday and I honestly am still in shock that this happened and how it happened. Everything that has gone down since then and the news coming out is crazy.

 

Prayers & thought to everyone who was on the ship & their loved ones. I can't imagine knowing someone I know and love was on the ship, or being a passenger on the ship myself.

[adnoid]

This new info about the blonde is EXACTLY why the captain should be held in a jail cell, and not under home arrest...

 

Not really. Perhaps, at home, his wife will administer justice that the courts cannot. Does the name "Bobbitt" ring a bell?

[USNUZULOOSE]

I swear I've seen this video somewhere on Youtube a year or two ago. That is definitely not Costa Concordia.

 

If it was Costa Concordia, then the water should have came from the bottom... not from the above.

I saw it also it is from the regular carnival fleet, I believe it was from a pipe that broke. This is not a Costa ship.

[shipfriend_max]

Wow.

I really hope something got lost in translation here because that is an obnoxious comment. If the official inquiry shows that she was the one who set the ship's course and she somehow disabled all the officers so they couldn't stop her, then the comment stands fair enough. Otherwise it's uncalled for.

 

Well, I couldn't control myself - but I think it's not ok that the captain has a converstion with a woman on the bridge...

Guests don't belong to the bridge, I think...

 

Jst pray that everything works good!