Costa Concordia SINKING

[SomeBeach]

OZ, the maitr'd has done a wonderful job getting the table arrangements just right. Now that our table guests have been seated at the assigned table we settle in for nice evening and have a look at the menu.

Just as we are making small talk with our table companions, the captain, followed closely by Domnica, does a fly by of the dining room and notices a number of women at our table wearing black sleeveless dresses. This immediately attracts his attention, he drops anchor asks if he could join us. He rearranges the deck chairs on the Titan….. pulls up another chair at the table and asks for a table setting and some silverware. Uniall asks the captain if he wants a dish on the side, with that Domnica takes offence, she leaves and goes to join the Russian table, which is the best table in the house …(those darn Russkies ).

The captains informs us that tonight there will be three courses, silly me I thought he meant appetizers, main, and desert…..He apparently meant the course the he should have taken, the course the company wanted him to take , and finally the course he selected. As it turns out the course he selected included “rocky road”.

 

Deckofficer orders 3 courses of humble pie, Evil Jeremy ties to force feed the pie into him, but Deckofficer is unwilling to eat any of it.

Charles thought the captain was missing a knife so he checked with headoffice, who have been monitoring all of this, they advised him to offer his silverware to the captain and he was now missing a knife, Daveyjonesrugrat offers Charlie a spare knife that he keeps in his sporran but rather than passing it to him he uses it to stab him in the back.

Joanie is very distressed by all of this and tries to coordinate a peace treaty.

 

Gentlemancruiser arrives a little late as he was doing a bridge tour, a few of the other gentleman were late as they were doing a tour of the show lounge and were distracted by the dancers.( some were a real knockout)

In the background we hear an Italian baritone with a massive voice , I thought it must be the from the early show, but that act disappeared (magician’s joke) but no, it’s the Coast Guard Captain warming up for his duet that was to come later in the production.

 

The captain orders a steak, the waiter asks him how he would like it done, most but not all say in unison that he should be burnt by it. The waiter asks if he would like a sauce….Milaandra picks up on this and orders every source..Sarnalo is too slow in translating this for the waiter and he brings back tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, soy sauce, mint sauce, Worcestershire Sauce … Milaandra then reads every label on every bottle in great detail, and suggest to the other table guests what they might like to digest.

 

Then there was a bump in the night… the captain heads off to see what Domnica is up to… it appears that she and the Russians have already headed off to the life boats with a handful of cash.

 

There is now a great deal of confusion in the dining room, some start blowing up their own pool rafts, some, to the disgust of others, dolls. Some remain calm, some go up to the buffet ( as its only their first night of their first cruise and they are going to eat the total cost of the cruise in one go). All the galley staff are wanting to serve the meals but are waiting for instructions, the chief officers appear to be unwilling or unable to tell then when to start. This is a mess….we anticipated a wonderful meal, now all we’re served is upside down cake.:(

 

Good job on the arrangements. ;)

I could tell y'all a story of a Captain joining passengers at "their" table but... a) this is not the place, and b) you probably wouldn't believe it. :D

[Cuizer2]

What a strange thing to say:

 

"Our shared passion is canoeing -- to paddle together you have to be in symphony, which is what Francesco and I are," she said. "But we got fined once, because we took a little motorboat too close to the coast."

 

:eek: :confused: :eek:

 

Wait until they see the fine for taking a BIG motorboat too close to the coast.

[ranger838]

Have you ever wondered how so much of a cruise ship is shown above the waterline? The weight distribution below the waterline is supposed to ballast the weight above the waterline with a built-in safety measure. If the Concordia ( and similar Carnival designs ) were properly ballasted with an adequate safety measure this disaster should not have happened. Even with several below deck compartments flooded as would have been the case the ship should have had its flood doors below decks shut and have only the flooded compartments affected. The ship would have squatted in the water to a different waterline but it would have stayed afloat. My guess would be that the lack of crew training or proper direction led to the water tight doors being left open and flooding occurred in an uncontrolled manner leading to the severe list and sinking. How sad for the poor passengers and crew who were led by incompetence. Just food for thought.

[SomeBeach]

I've done some digging on the La Repubblica website and found a few interesting articles. As I don't have luck with the individual links associated with the translated pages, I can only suggest if you want to verify anything you'll have to go to their website. La Repubblica has been mentioned to be a "trusted" paper of Italy so I'm posting the following based on that.

 

I found a quote from the Deputy Mayor:

"I'd like to find (the other 3 men he worked with on the ship) them," he says. "Alone I could not do anything. Together we set ourselves courage."

 

The Environmental Protection Agency has found 2-3 milligrams per liter of "surfactants" (detergents) in the water. As the Island has a standard of zero for detergents, 2 milligrams is defined by law as "industrial discharge." At this time "thanks to the absurb sinking of Concordia" the island has a higher pollution than industrial areas.

 

March 3rd is the date set for recording evidence. The examination of the records by a court appointed board will take place. The 4 experts consist of 2 Admirals, a Professor of Computer Science from the Faculty of Engineering, Un of Pisa and a Professor of Faculty of Engineering, Naval University.

It was also mentioned that the court would like the survivors of the ship there, as well as Costa representatives. As was mentioned by the writer, "they will need a theater for this."

[Uniall]

OZ, the maitr'd has done a wonderful job getting the table arrangements just right. Now that our table guests have been seated at the assigned table we settle in for nice evening and have a look at the menu.

Just as we are making small talk with our table companions, the captain, followed closely by Domnica, does a fly by of the dining room and notices a number of women at our table wearing black sleeveless dresses. This immediately attracts his attention, he drops anchor asks if he could join us. He rearranges the deck chairs on the Titan….. pulls up another chair at the table and asks for a table setting and some silverware. Uniall asks the captain if he wants a dish on the side, with that Domnica takes offence, she leaves and goes to join the Russian table, which is the best table in the house …(those darn Russkies ).

The captains informs us that tonight there will be three courses, silly me I thought he meant appetizers, main, and desert…..He apparently meant the course the he should have taken, the course the company wanted him to take , and finally the course he selected. As it turns out the course he selected included “rocky road”.

 

Deckofficer orders 3 courses of humble pie, Evil Jeremy ties to force feed the pie into him, but Deckofficer is unwilling to eat any of it.

Charles thought the captain was missing a knife so he checked with headoffice, who have been monitoring all of this, they advised him to offer his silverware to the captain and he was now missing a knife, Daveyjonesrugrat offers Charlie a spare knife that he keeps in his sporran but rather than passing it to him he uses it to stab him in the back.

Joanie is very distressed by all of this and tries to coordinate a peace treaty.

 

Gentlemancruiser arrives a little late as he was doing a bridge tour, a few of the other gentleman were late as they were doing a tour of the show lounge and were distracted by the dancers.( some were a real knockout)

In the background we hear an Italian baritone with a massive voice , I thought it must be the from the early show, but that act disappeared (magician’s joke) but no, it’s the Coast Guard Captain warming up for his duet that was to come later in the production.

 

The captain orders a steak, the waiter asks him how he would like it done, most but not all say in unison that he should be burnt by it. The waiter asks if he would like a sauce….Milaandra picks up on this and orders every source..Sarnalo is too slow in translating this for the waiter and he brings back tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, soy sauce, mint sauce, Worcestershire Sauce … Milaandra then reads every label on every bottle in great detail, and suggest to the other table guests what they might like to digest.

 

Then there was a bump in the night… the captain heads off to see what Domnica is up to… it appears that she and the Russians have already headed off to the life boats with a handful of cash.

 

There is now a great deal of confusion in the dining room, some start blowing up their own pool rafts, some, to the disgust of others, dolls. Some remain calm, some go up to the buffet ( as its only their first night of their first cruise and they are going to eat the total cost of the cruise in one go). All the galley staff are wanting to serve the meals but are waiting for instructions, the chief officers appear to be unwilling or unable to tell then when to start. This is a mess….we anticipated a wonderful meal, now all we’re served is upside down cake.:(

 

Great Stuff.........You're banished from the dining room. You are now the comedian Emcee for both shows in the theater.

 

John

[Highlander0108]

Unfortunately, I'm gonna have to agree on this one. Captain needs to pay and uphill is gonna need to pay. I would like to blame only the Captain, but I believe there are more things to it in this particular situation.

 

Unfortunately, I am going to have to disagree with your premise that this event was sanctioned by Costa management. I will eat my words if it comes out through the investigation and litigation that Costa explicitely approved the exact course and speed taken by this captain on that fateful night. It borders on insanity that management would approve of such recklessness and careless disregard for passengers and also their expensive little asset that the captain messed up pretty bad. That much of the posters in here are gobbling up this load of crap because they hate Carnival management though, does make alot of sense.

 

Just think about it. Would management willfully put their ship and passengers in danger on purpose? Doesn't make sense on so many levels. We know Costa admitted to at least one approved flyby in the past for a special occasion. What was the approved course and what was the ultimate course taken? Captains do have lattitude as they should in the ultimate course of the ship because they are onboard and able to respond to issues at hand far better than someone back at a command center. The bottom line, whether or not the captain had permission to do a flyby by management, the course and speed the captain took was reckless and irresponsible. His actions after the impact appear to be just as reprehensible. Some people rise to the occasion in difficult situations, and we would hope our captains all have the moral fortitude for this, but in this case, the opposite occured.

[Aus Traveller]

Even if Costa management knew or approved of a fly-by, they would not have known or approved of the exact course taken because it took the ship over a rock/reef. From looking at the plotted route, it appears that they aproached the island too far south and the turn to the north was left too late. Those were decisions made at the time by the Captain who was navigating by sight and mis-calcualted big time.

[WAPilot]

Thanks again for the links. So, it appears that Costa deck officers received CSMART trainings which includes BTM. It should be interesting to see whether is was practiced on that fateful trip. Or rather, how much was not practiced.

The first BRM courses had 5 different management styles represented by animals;

 

Snail, Sheep, Penguin, Tiger (Master under God) & Dolphin (Ideal)

 

One can draw ones own conclusions from this.

 

If an 'authoritarian' culture (Tiger) is present on a ship's bridge, there is likely to be very little or no 'Challenge & Response', or prevention of 'One Person Error'.

 

This link http://www.he-alert.org/documents/published/he00270.pdf

 

explains the BRM concept more fully, including a diagram with the animals in 'Module 7 - Management Styles' (Page 7)

 

The introduction focuses on the 'Torrey Canyon' stranding in 1967, but shows why BRM was adopted within the maritime industry.

[Rancher Dave]

[/i][/b]

The first BRM courses had 5 different management styles represented by animals;

 

Snail, Sheep, Penguin, Tiger (Master under God) & Dolphin (Ideal)

 

One can draw ones own conclusions from this.

 

If an 'authoritarian' culture (Tiger) is present on a ship's bridge, there is likely to be very little or no 'Challenge & Response', or prevention of 'One Person Error'.

 

This link http://www.he-alert.org/documents/published/he00270.pdf

 

explains the BRM concept more fully, including a diagram with the animals in 'Module 7 - Management Styles' (Page 7)

 

The introduction focuses on the 'Torrey Canyon' stranding in 1967, but shows why BRM was adopted within the maritime industry.

 

Interesting stuff.

[Lard Greystoke]

The Environmental Protection Agency has found 2-3 milligrams per liter of "surfactants" (detergents) in the water. As the Island has a standard of zero for detergents, 2 milligrams is defined by law as "industrial discharge." At this time "thanks to the absurd sinking of Concordia" the island has a higher pollution than industrial areas.

 

 

Although detergent sounds harmless, it is not. Adding soap or detergent to water completely changes its properties - it kills any insect, for example. And this is only the beginning of possible environmental impacts. Costa is likely to take substantial financial hits from multiple aspects of this "absurd" situation.

[Uniall]

Unfortunately, I am going to have to disagree with your premise that this event was sanctioned by Costa management. I will eat my words if it comes out through the investigation and litigation that Costa explicitely approved the exact course and speed taken by this captain on that fateful night. It borders on insanity that management would approve of such recklessness and careless disregard for passengers and also their expensive little asset that the captain messed up pretty bad. That much of the posters in here are gobbling up this load of crap because they hate Carnival management though, does make alot of sense.

 

Just think about it. Would management willfully put their ship and passengers in danger on purpose? Doesn't make sense on so many levels. We know Costa admitted to at least one approved flyby in the past for a special occasion. What was the approved course and what was the ultimate course taken? Captains do have lattitude as they should in the ultimate course of the ship because they are onboard and able to respond to issues at hand far better than someone back at a command center. The bottom line, whether or not the captain had permission to do a flyby by management, the course and speed the captain took was reckless and irresponsible. His actions after the impact appear to be just as reprehensible. Some people rise to the occasion in difficult situations, and we would hope our captains all have the moral fortitude for this, but in this case, the opposite occured.

 

Originally posted by Aus Traveler

Even if Costa management knew or approved of a fly-by, they would not have known or approved of the exact course taken because it took the ship over a rock/reef. From looking at the plotted route, it appears that they aproached the island too far south and the turn to the north was left too late. Those were decisions made at the time by the Captain who was navigating by sight and mis-calcualted big time.

 

Whether Costa Cruises management instructed Captain Coward to do a fly by is not the only way they can be held liable, civily and/or criminally.

 

It appears that fly bys had been performed on previous occasions. All that needs to be proved is Costa management knew of the prior fly bys and did not take reasonable steps to prevent re-occurances. Failure to prevent repeats is constructive approval.

 

John

[glrounds]

I didn't understand that the Concordia represented such a small piece. I live in a resort community owned by a fortune 500 and they were self insurance. THat was my only experience. The company was sold and thed learned they could of lost everything. But the issue with Costa and Carnival corp is totally different. What a mess for all involved.

 

I certainly hope you didn't misunderstand me when I referenced COSTA "self-insuring". I was speaking of the report I saw that had COSTA self-insuring for LOSS OF EARNINGS only. The reason given is that there is always a big pissing match between the insurance carrier and the client over WHAT THE CLIENT'S PRODUCT would have made had it not been lost. So, many businesses just don't take LOSS OF EARNINGS (some times called BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) insurance. They absorb that loss themselves. The rest of the assets were well insured with a small deductible, I think.

[glrounds]

Unfortunately, I am going to have to disagree with your premise that this event was sanctioned by Costa management. I will eat my words if it comes out through the investigation and litigation that Costa explicitely approved the exact course and speed taken by this captain on that fateful night. It borders on insanity that management would approve of such recklessness and careless disregard for passengers and also their expensive little asset that the captain messed up pretty bad. That much of the posters in here are gobbling up this load of crap because they hate Carnival management though, does make alot of sense.

 

Just think about it. Would management willfully put their ship and passengers in danger on purpose? Doesn't make sense on so many levels. We know Costa admitted to at least one approved flyby in the past for a special occasion. What was the approved course and what was the ultimate course taken? Captains do have lattitude as they should in the ultimate course of the ship because they are onboard and able to respond to issues at hand far better than someone back at a command center. The bottom line, whether or not the captain had permission to do a flyby by management, the course and speed the captain took was reckless and irresponsible. His actions after the impact appear to be just as reprehensible. Some people rise to the occasion in difficult situations, and we would hope our captains all have the moral fortitude for this, but in this case, the opposite occured.

 

Excellent post. :)

 

 

[Ozcruiser1]

[/i][/b]

 

This link http://www.he-alert.org/documents/published/he00270.pdf

 

.

Thanks for the link. A very interesting read.

From the document

Maritime resource management

( Based on the world renowed SAS-BRM Course)

Part of the training Module #13

 

Module 13. Crisis and crowd management

 

…..Its interesting that in a crisis, the animal instinct in a human being tends to overpower the logical, controlling part of his brain.

After the initial announcement of an emergency…

10% accept the situation immediately

30% investigate

60% ignore the situation

 

After people accept the danger…

10% flee and save themselves

5% stand and fight the danger

10% help others

60% await iniatives from others

12 to 14% freeze and do nothing

1 to 3% panic

 

 

This would indicate that there wouldn't be mass panic if the truth about an incident was communicated with the crew and passengers.

[BalconyBumz]

Yes, it's the Captain's ultimate fault for charting it and going in to far, but if it is true management encouraged fly by's and it has been done in the past, then corporate it to be part of the responsibility. If there is proof they have never ever encouraged such a thing, then that is a different story.

[SomeBeach]

Although detergent sounds harmless, it is not. Adding soap or detergent to water completely changes its properties - it kills any insect, for example. And this is only the beginning of possible environmental impacts. Costa is likely to take substantial financial hits from multiple aspects of this "absurd" situation.

 

You'll notice the quote I used was "the absurb sinking of the Concordia." The writer was not implying that the environmental situation is absurb but that the grounding in the harbor was. The people of Giglio are not happy about this and I don't blame them. The waters around the island are described as pristine and tho great care is being taken the detergents, oils, and fuel will have an impact on them.

On the other hand tho I have to wonder, had the ship gone down in deeper water, would the environmental issue have ended up being a bigger problem. You would still have the same issues with fuel and such but a much more difficult way to clean it up.

I fully expect Costa to have a huge fine once the ship and clean up is completed.

 

Better add that I don't believe the writer means the environment was more important than the people on the ship either.

[SomeBeach]

You'll notice the quote I used was "the absurb sinking of the Concordia." The writer was not implying that the environmental situation is absurb but that the grounding in the harbor was. The people of Giglio are not happy about this and I don't blame them. The waters around the island are described as pristine and tho great care is being taken the detergents, oils, and fuel will have an impact on them.

 

On the other hand tho I have to wonder, had the ship gone down in deeper water, would the environmental issue have ended up being a bigger problem. You would still have the same issues with fuel and such but a much more difficult way to clean it up.

 

I fully expect Costa to have a huge fine once the ship and clean up is completed.

 

Better add that I don't believe the writer means the environment was more important than the people on the ship either.

 

Lard Greystroke, you can follow this link to the article.

http://www.repubblica.it/

 

Once there, you need to look for Giglio, allarme inquinamento da detersivi. When you translate the page, you will see that the writer was speaking strickly from an environmental standpoint.

 

Sorry to have quoted my own post but I wanted additional information in it.

[Uniall]

Excellent post. :)

 

 

 

 

It may be an excellent post but it is not an accurate application of law, as I explained in my post above.

[dmwnc1959]

Is the webcam working? Every time I look at it, it is dark there. Perhaps it's because day here is night there, but you'd think just once I could catch it during daylight hours!

 

I work midnight shifts (live in West Virginia) so I get to see the change from night to day on the webcams, usually around 1am EST or 10pm PST. Check it before you go to bed and you should see daylight.

 

Here's a webcam grab I took a few days back (1:12am EST, 10:12 PST, 7:12am local in Giglio) just as day broke at Gilgio. Remember they are six hours ahead of EST and nine hours ahead of PST.

 

HERE

[EVALUATOR]

[/i][/b]

The first BRM courses had 5 different management styles represented by animals;

 

Snail, Sheep, Penguin, Tiger (Master under God) & Dolphin (Ideal)

 

I was thinking on the Concordia it was more like Mantis, Crane, Monkey, Viper, and Tigress on the bridge.

 

Everything was going well until Po came in to steer the ship.

 

Then Master Shifu told Master Oogway the Concordia was in an accident.

 

Oogway calmly tells Shifu "There are no accidents, it's just an electrical problem".

[USNUZULOOSE]

Is there another port for the island so the islanders can make money from visitors? Its a shame if not.

[Milaandra]

Is there another port for the island so the islanders can make money from visitors? Its a shame if not.

 

Considering it's off-season, I'm pretty certain that the volumn of visitors is much higher than normal, considering the influx of people coming to see the wreck plus all the workers.

[Hebersgyll]

When a ship is launched, the launch itself is performed by a VIP (Very Important Person).

Before that happens, though, the ship (and all who sail in her) is blessed by a chaplain.

 

I can't help wondering who genuflected to whom at the Concordia launch?

[dagmarnyman]

My last post and others I have made have been with complete understanding of the position the crew is in. If you took it wrong, I'm sorry that I didn't make that clear. My final sentence in the last post means they must risk saving others before they can save themselves. That's a lot to ask of another person. I found what the crew did to be very brave.

 

22.06 Carabinieri (police) at Prato contact the Harbour Master’s office. A woman has called to say her mother is on the Concordia and the dining room ceiling has fallen on her and the crew have ordered passengers to don life jackets.

22.14 Harbour Master contacts the Concordia asking if it is having problems. An officer replies that it’s only a blackout which has been going on for 20 minutes and which they will fix shortly. Harbour Master asks about passengers donning life jackets, but the officer insists it’s only a power cut.

22.16 Guardia di Finanza (finance police) patrol boat G104 is close to the island of Giglio and asks if it should check the Concordia.

22.17 Harbour Master informs superiors it suspects there is more wrong with the Concordia than the ship’s officer is letting on.

22.26 Harbour Master contacts ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino. He says the ship is taking on water through an opening on his left side and the ship is listing. He says there are no dead or injured. Harbour Master asks if he needs help. The captain requests a tug boat.

22.34 Harbour Master contacts the Concordia, which sends a “distress” message. They are now evacuating the 3,208 passengers and 1,023 crew members.

22.39 Guardia di Finanza patrol boat reports the ship leaning heavily to one side.

22.44 Guardia di Finanza reports the Concordia is grounded.

22.45 Schettino denies this, saying it is floating and he will try to bring her around.

22.48 Harbour Master asks the Concordia to consider abandoning ship. Answer: 'we are considering it’.

22.58 Schettino tells Harbour Master he has given order to abandon ship.

23.23 Concordia reports it has a large tear on right side.

23.37 Captain Schettino says 300 people on board.

00.10 Local authorities say there is not enough room for all evacuees on Giglio and will begin transfer to mainland.

00.12 Guardia di Finanza report lifeboats can’t be launched on left.

00.34 Schettino says he is in a lifeboat and can see three people in the water.

00.36 Guardia di Finanza can still see 70 to 80 people on board including children and the elderly.

00.38 Rescue helicopter sees many people on board and some in the water.

00.42 Schettino and all his officers are in a lifeboat. Captain De Falco [in charge of Harbour Master’s office] orders them to get back on board to coordinate evacuation.

01.04 Helicopter lowers an air force officer on board who reports 100 people still to be evacuated.

01.45 Officer confirms rope ladder strung across the hull is safe to use.

01.46 De Falco orders Schettino back on board using rope ladder.

02.29 Three people reported hanging from the prow of the ship.

02.53 Guardia di Finanza boards ship using rope ladder and that Schettino had been seen heading towards port in a lifeboat.

03.05 'Isola Del Giglio’ ferry has taken a further 300 people on top of another 300 already evacuated and will now return to Porto Santo Stefano with five injured and three dead.

03.17 Carabinieri identify Schettino on quay without detaining him.

03.44 Air force officer on board reports 40 to 50 people left to evacuate.

04.22 The number falls to 30.

04.46 Evacuation complete.

 

By Victora Ward, Meta di Sorrento

3:21PM GMT 20 Jan 2012

Mario Pellegrini, the deputy mayor of Giglio, said he was unable to find any officers or the captain on board when the panicking passengers desperately needed some direction.

"After 20 minutes I couldn't find anybody," he said. "I even went on the higher bridges of the ship and even then I couldn't see anybody.

"There were a lot of people who wanted to help but there was no-one guiding them, there was nobody was directing anything.

"There was goodwill by many people but many didn't even speak English, so it was difficult."

Mr Pellegrini described an overwhelming sense of "confusion" as passengers and crew desperately tried to establish what had happened and how they were going to escape when the ship crashed into rocks in Tuscan waters last Friday.

He managed to start hauling people out of water-logged corridors and then helped others climb down into life boats.

"When the boat started listing, all the corridors filled with water," he told the BBC World Service. "They were like wells and there was a lot of people stuck in these wells.

"Using a rope, I started to pull people up. They were crying and were really scared.

"It was a purser of the ship who was helping me and we rescued about nine people. People were fighting with each other in order to get on the rope to climb up. I can't condemn them because the situation was really bad. It was really dramatic."

Eventually, he located a young, second-class officer on the ship's bridge who had found a step ladder that they used to help people climb down.

"We were together shoulder to shoulder until 5:30 in the morning," he said. "I have to say this young officer was wonderful.

"He hadn't been given any orders; he was just following his own orders.

"It was very difficult as there was some oil around, so climbing down the steps and on to the ladder was extremely slippery. For children and old people, it was especially difficult.

"This officer was very good but he was the only officer I met."

The ship's captain, Francisco Schettino, 52, has been accused of abandoning the ship whilst passengers and crew were still on board.

He has claimed that he tripped and fell into a lifeboat by mistake.

 

 

It should have been a dream trip: families, honeymooners, and couples enjoying a cruise on the Costa Concordia, but then a tragedy unfolded. Here, we tell the stories of those caught up in the worst cruise disaster in living memory.

 

1 FERNANDO TOFANELLI: Passenger – survivor

 

The second sitting of dinner was taking place in the Milano restaurant in the stern of the ship as the ship crashed into rocks.

As many as half of the 11 bodies discovered by divers were in the vicinity of the two-storey restaurant on Decks 3 and 4, which could seat up to 775 people.

Mr Tofanelli was with family and friends when they heard a loud bang. He said: “At first I thought it was something mechanical with the engine, but after a few seconds we felt the ship starting to lean over from one side to the other. Plates and tables were flying all over the place and people were falling over as the tilting got worse. People were shouting and screaming and it was absolute chaos.

“The crew left it until the very last moment to begin boarding people onto lifeboats. As a result, precious time was lost, and in the panic people began jumping into the water. The longer they left it to launch the lifeboats, the worse the ship was lifting in the water. People seemed to be trapped in the decks on the side of the ship that was under water, and where I was standing we could see the water getting higher and higher.

“While we were still in the dining room, the crew basically disappeared, and it was left to a few Thai waiters who didn’t speak English to try to keep us calm.

“After about an hour the ship finally sounded several blasts on the horn, and that was the signal to go to the lifeboats, but by now people were pushing each other to get out of the way, and some were leaping over the side into the sea. They didn’t have enough lifeboats for all the passengers because some appeared to be underwater from the ship leaning over.

“Fortunately I was above the water line, but I could see the waters climbing higher and higher towards us. Some of the crew didn’t seem to even know how to release the lifeboats or even start the lifeboat engines once they were down on the water. The crewman in charge of our lifeboat was absolutely ashen-faced, he just didn’t know what to do.”

Mr Tofanelli, a 38-year-old Italian studying English in London who was with his family on holiday, said it took two hours for the lifeboats to dock at the island of Giglio, where they found shelter inside the local church.

2 JOHN AND MANDY RODFORD: Passengers – survivors

 

The British holidaymakers were forced to slide the width of the tilted decks in order to reach working lifeboats.

The couple, who were celebrating their fourth wedding anniversary, were eating in Milano when the ordeal began. Mr Rodford, 46, a tiler and plasterer from Rochester in Kent, said: “It was our first cruise. I booked it as a surprise. We were at dinner when the ship seemed to hit something and started swaying from side to side. Suddenly the lights went out as if the generator had packed in, and from then on it was bedlam.

“After a long wait – around 10.15pm – we were led out to the deck by some waiters and taken to lifeboat number 12, but it wouldn’t lower down to the water because the lean on the ship was so bad.

“We had to climb out of that one and climb back up onto the deck and slide down its width towards the side of the ship that was leaning closest to the water. From there we managed to jump onto the bottom of an upturned lifeboat and then onto another lifeboat that was still upright. There were about 30 of us that got into it.” It was 12.30am when they reached land.

Mrs Rodford, 45 said: “I really thought my time was up and I would never see my four children and three grandchildren again. We are both so lucky to be alive.”

3 DAYANA AND WILLIAM ARLOTTI: Passengers – missing

 

Five year-old Dayana Arlotti and her father William are still among the missing passengers. The pair had gone on a cruise with Mr Arlotti’s partner Michela Maroncelli to celebrate Dayana's fifth birthday.

Mr Arlotti, 34, and his daughter, from the Italian seaside resort of Rimini, became separated from Ms Maroncelli, 32, in the rush to board lifeboats. Miss Maroncelli said: “I climbed into a lifeboat, but in the chaos I lost contact with William. I heard someone screaming, “Throw him a rope” and I was petrified that they were talking about him. I didn’t see William or Dayana again.”

Dayana’s mother, Susy Albertini, 28 tried calling her ex-husband’s mobile phone as soon as she heard about the sinking, but without any success.

Mrs Albertini, who has been desperately calling police, coastguards and the cruise company for information, said: “I last heard from her on Thursday. No one can tell me anything and what little I know is from the newspapers. Sometimes they ask absurd questions, like if my daughter knows how to swim. Do they understand she is five years old? What kind of question is that?”

4 MARIA D’INTRONO: Passenger – missing

 

Honeymooners Maria D’Introno, 30, Vincenzo Rosselli, 40, were on board to celebrate their recent wedding, along with the golden wedding anniversary of Mr Rosselli’s parents, Martire, 74, and Lucia, 72. As the ship took on more water, Mr Rosselli and the rest of his family donned life jackets and leapt into the water. But Mrs D’Introno, who could not swim, disappeared from sight and is feared to have drowned.

Mr Rosselli, from Biella near Turin, said: “I saw my wife jump into the water with her lifejacket on, but I haven’t heard from her since. I’m begging the rescuers to find her. The main thing on my mind was my 74-year-old father who has a problem with his hip. We all had lifejackets, but Maria couldn’t swim and was scared of the water.”

5 FRANCIS SERVEL: Passenger – confirmed dead

 

The Servels – Francis and his wife Nicole – were on the boat as a present from their children for Mrs Servel’s 60th birthday. Mr Servel, 71, insisted that his wife take his lifejacket before they leapt into the sea, only for him to disappear beneath the waves.

“For an hour we had waited in line to get into a lifeboat – my husband let everyone else go first,” said Mrs Servel, from Toulouse, south-west France.

“I can’t swim so he gave me his lifejacket. He shouted, “Jump, jump, jump!”. I froze and couldn’t jump, but he jumped off the ship and shouted upwards, “Come on, don’t worry”. I jumped off and the last thing I heard him say was that I would be fine. I never saw him again.’

Mrs Servel managed to swim ashore while her husband was swept under water and drowned. She said: “I thought of my children and grandchildren. The thought of them kept me afloat, kept me living. I don’t know how I did it.

“I swam for several minutes and then I found myself on a rock. Villagers came to pick us up. They led us to a church. I was very cold, frozen. In the sacristy we found a cassock. I took it. It warmed me up.”

Mrs Servel said: “I am angry because there was no boat for us and there was no one to save my husband. I owe my life to him – it’s obvious he saved me.”

6 THOMAS ALBERTO COSTILLA MENDOZA: Crew – confirmed dead

 

Mr Costilla Mendoza, 50, from Trujillo, Peru, is understood to have died attempting to swim away from the vessel. His brother Jorge Costilla Mendoza, said: “Some accounts we have received say my brother threw himself off the ship and was hit in the fall, and drowned. Tomas knew how to swim very well, but I think he couldn’t withstand the cold Mediterranean temperatures.” He was one of 44 Peruvian crew paid £840 per month, five times the Peruvian minimum wage.

7 MANRICO GIAMPETRONI: Chief Purser – survivor

 

Following the collision, Mr Giampetroni helped passengers into lifeboats before leaving to search the deck below for remaining passengers.

After more than two hours Mr Giampietroni, 57, called his wife Laura to say he would be all right and at 2am on Saturday spoke to a friend, then disappeared. He had fallen through a hole as he tried to reach the bridge, tumbling 13 feet into the flooded Samsara restaurant, on the third deck, where the waters were rising all the time. He climbed on a table and, in the dark, waited for help.

He said: “I felt a great pain in my leg. I was in the pitch black. I was terrified to be alone in the darkness, although I never lost hope.”

Rescuers eventually reached Mr Giampietroni at around noon on Sunday, alerted by his cries for help and he was winched to safety by helicopter.

8 HAN GI-DECK AND JEONG HYE-JIN: Passengers – survivors

 

The South Korean newlyweds spent 30 hours in their cabin, number 8303 on Deck 8, waiting to be rescued. They were found alive on Sunday morning, having subsisted on biscuits and a meagre supply of water. Han Gi-deck, and his wife Jeong Ye-jin, both 29 and teachers, had eaten at the first dinner sitting then fallen asleep in their cabin when the ship hit the rocks. Incredibly they slept though the impact.

“It was only after we woke up that we realised the ship was tilting,” said Mr Han. “We went out to the corridor but ended up slipping toward the end of the corridor and were even injured from the steep incline.”

The couple returned to the cabin, dark and partly submerged, taking turns wearing an extra lifejacket to endure the cold. “We encouraged each other, promising to live a good life together if we escape,” Mr Han said. “We could only distinguish night and day through a ray of light coming from a small hole on the wall of the cabin,” said Mrs Jeong.

Rescue workers finally found them early on Sunday morning after hearing their screams, and winched them to safety. Mrs Jeong said it was like "meeting a hero".

9 FABIO COSTA: Ship's Shop Assistant – survivor

 

Fabio Costa was working in a jewellery and clothing on Deck 5, when the collision occurred, showering him in broken glass.

There was panic, but he reached the fourth deck, where he could see water pouring into the ship’s hull below. Mr Costa, 26, from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, said: “Everything just started to fall, all the glasses broke and everybody started to panic and run.

“We could only feel that the boat had hit something, we had no idea how serious it was until we got out and we looked through the window and we saw the water coming in.”

Mr Costa said he and his colleagues tried to keep passengers calm while the lifeboats were launched, but as panic set in some people began to push each other.

“It took them a long time to be able to launch the lifeboats because [the ship] was really tipped to one side,” he said. “People panicking and pushing each other didn’t help at all. So we were all trying to keep people calm but it was just impossible, no one knew what was going on.”

Mr Costa, who returned to Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday, said the boat had tilted so much that passengers jumping into the sea faced only a short drop. “Some people pretty much just decided to swim because they were not able to get on the lifeboats.”

10 ANDREA CAROLLO: Third Officer – survivor

Asleep in his cabin at the back of Deck 3 when the Costa Concordia crashed, Andrea Carollo, leapt out of bed and dressed.

By the time he opened his door water was already rushing down the corridor, and when he went to his post in the engine room the engines were beginning to flood.

“Within 15 minutes, the engine room told the bridge that there was nothing to be done,” he said. “The situation was beyond repair.”

He then reported to his muster point, a lifeboat for 35 crew members. “Unlike the captain, we were there until the end. We did all we could to avoid catastrophe,” he said.

Alberto Fiorito, 28, another engineer, said: “We didn’t wait for the captain to give the order to abandon ship. We saw how serious the situation was, and we did it ourselves.”

11 NANCY CACOPARDO: Passenger – survivor

 

One hundred and fifty Italian hairdressers were on board the Concordia to a take part in a reality television competition. Among them were Miss Cacopardo, 41, who was with her son Francesco, two, having dinner when the ship struck the reef.

Miss Cacopardo, from Messina, said: “Francesco stayed very calm, as if he was trying to understand what was going on, but I thought we were going to die. That it was the end for both of us. They made us wait a long time go towards the lifeboats. When we finally boarded one it would only go down bit by bit and kept banging against the side of the ship because the cables seemed tangled. Even once it was in the water the engines wouldn’t start.

“The crew were all Asian and it was very hard to communicate with them. They were trying to help us and working hard to get us off, but it there was so much confusion. I cant believe this has happened. We were washed out in the Messina floods of 2009 and lost our home.”

12 EDWIN AND LIZ GURD: Passengers – survivors

 

Elizabeth Gurd, 58, managed to board a lifeboat after the collision with a reef, but it was more than an hour before Mr Gurd, a retired police chief inspector, managed to get on a life raft and make his way to the shore to be reunited with his wife. The couple had been in their cabin, number 1303 on Deck 1, packing because they were to disembark the next day and had been planning to go for a drink in one of the ship’s bars when there was a tremendous jolt and the lights went out.

Mr Gurd, 64, of Ringwood in Hampshire, said: “We were a little bit concerned so we picked up our lifejackets and started to make our way out. I’m very glad that we did not go back in the cabin, despite what crew members were telling us.” The couple went to their muster point in the middle of deck four where people were struggling against the listing ship to lower the lifeboats.

Mr Gurd said: “When the order came to abandon ship they tried to lower the lifeboats but they had some difficulty and some actually fell into the sea. My wife managed to get into a lifeboat after which they said it was full and suggested I tried to find another one.”

Mr Gurd started to make his way to a higher deck. “I was getting a bit disturbed about how a few male passengers were trying to force their way on to the lifeboats. I think one of the lifeboats must have come back because I suddenly got asked to go to a lower deck and get on a life raft there. I had to crawl along the deck and hold on to stop falling.”

13 BRIAN PAGE: Passenger – survivor

 

As tables overturned and plates and glasses crashed to the floor in the Roma Restaurant, Brian Page, a retired accountant recovering from radio- and chemotherapy treatment for cancer, was struck on the head by a box of candles flying through the air.

It started a night of chaos and terror, culminating in him sliding across the heavily listing deck to reach the safety of a lifeboat.

After the initial collision with reefs, Mr Page and his fellow diners moved to the bar, where they sat for more than an hour.

Mr Page, 63, a divorcee from Southampton, said: “Over the Tannoy there was an announcement not to panic and that everything was under control. We just sat talking quite casually. Then the alarm did go and the announcement came to abandon ship.”

With neither a lifejacket or his medication Mr Page returned to his cabin, number 2381, on Deck 2. “The emergency lights were on, it was very steep, but I was managing to walk reasonably well,” he said. “The cabin was in complete darkness and I was scrambling around trying to get hold of my medicine and my rucksack to put it in and my life jacket.”

Mr Page made his way to a muster station on Deck 3 – close to the funnel on the side which was starting to tip skywards – only to find that all the lifeboats were packed.

The people gathered on deck were told to make their way to the back of the ship to see if there were any lifeboats available. But not only were these full, they were impossible to launch because one side of the Concordia was by now high in the air. Mr Page climbed a deck and made his way towards the back of the ship, passing at least five other muster stations.

He reached the highest point of the liner and was clinging on to the rails to stop himself falling, as it continued to list and the incline got steeper and steeper.

“I was holding on the railings for dear life,” he said.

An announcement instructed people to move to the other side, which was closer to the water and from where lifeboats were still being launched. Mr Page was one of the first to let go and slide across the boat, through Milano restaurant, before crashing into railings. He then managed to squeeze through them, dropping himself four feet into a lifeboat.

“Behind us people were getting pushed and crushed against the railings, there were people with broken fingers,” he said. The lifeboat was released and shortly after Mr Page finally reached the safety of the shore.

14 RUSSEL REBELLO: Waiter – missing

 

Russel Rebello, 33, rushed to the aid of other passengers and even gave one his own lifejacket, but now the married father of a two-year-old daughter is feared dead.

Mr Rebello, from Mumbai, was thought to be in his cabin on the third deck, just above where the reef smashed through the hull of the vessel. His brother Kevin said: “My brother stayed to help others. It should have been the captain who left the ship last. The fact he left early is something I just cannot get over, I’m very angry.”

Mr Rebello, one of about 200 Indian crew on the ship, began working on the Costa Concordia last October. “The gash in the side of the ship is where my brother’s cabin was located,” said his brother. “Russel was ill with a fever that day, he had been in the ship’s hospital and when he went to rest in his cabin he was woken by smoke and water. He escaped in just a T-shirt and shorts and went to alert a friend.

“The friend gave him trousers and shoes and my brother rushed to help passengers with the evacuation on the fourth floor. He had a lifejacket on at one point but I’ve been told he gave it to a passenger who didn’t have one.

“The ship was still moving, and I think he must have slipped. I think he could have been trapped below or sucked into the vacuum.”

15 SANDOR FEHER: Musician – confirmed dead

 

Sandor Feher, a Hungarian musician who played in the Bianco Trio on the Concordia, died after apparently delaying his escape to retrieve his violin.

Mr Feher, 38, had been helping children to put on lifejackets before he returned to his cabin to find the instrument, according to Jozsef Balog, a fellow musician on the ship.

He was wearing a lifejacket when he left the deck and was last seen heading from the bows to lifeboat 17 or 19.

Appealing for any sightings of Mr Feher, his family last week posted a picture on Facebook taken inside an unidentified lifeboat, in which they had circled a face that appeared to resemble Mr Feher. It is thought he may have left the lifeboat to rescue his violin.

Last week his body was identified by his mother, who flew to Italy from Hungary. His brother Istvan Feher wrote on Facebook: “I can only say thank you to everyone. He really was a good man ... Last concert does not end.”

16 IAN AND JANICE DONOFF: Passengers – survivors

 

The honeymoon couple were among hundreds of people who had to clamber along a rope ladder, strapped to the side of the ship, to make their way to a life raft. Their dramatic escape was captured by a photographer in one of the most dramatic images of the night.

Mr Donoff, a retired businessman who had married his wife Janice, a solicitor, 11 days earlier, said: “I was in the theatre where there was a magic show and suddenly the magician seemed to disappear. This wasn’t part of his act, it was because he had seen something at that lower lever which caused him and other people to rush out of the auditorium. The lights started going out, mixing desks, sound systems everything went out.

“The Tannoy announced, 'The captain has reported a generator or fault and would ask you not to panic. Engineers are looking at it now.’ But I thought, 'Why would you get a scraping noise with a generator?’”

Growing increasingly concerned, the couple went to their cabin, number 7248 on Deck 7, and grabbed passports, wallets and lifejackets before going to Muster Station B on the side of the ship tipping into the air, reaching it at 10.15pm.

Mr Donoff, from Edgware, north London, said: “From what I could work out the ship had hit something. The captain was trying to take her closer to the mainland and didn’t want people to board the lifeboats until he’d managed that. As a result many of the lifeboats were rendered useless because the listing of the ship was so severe. They just couldn’t physically be lowered into the water. It was impossible to move ours and all 107 of us climbed out of the lifeboat.”

He said staff, who were cooks and waiters during the day, were trying to calm people down but “they did not know what to do”.

“I thought we would not get out – a marriage should last more than 11 days,” said Mr Donoff. “There was this mad scramble for a ladder: people got crushed pushed and goodness knows what – it was like a free for all.

“Children seemed to be treated with some sort of reverence, so they were pushed up quicker, but apart from that it was hell. Once we got to the top you could see the sea. The local lifeguards had placed a rope ladder along the side and we used our bottoms to go down one end, then turned around and scaled over what was the hull, where they helped you on little boats.

“It was a bit like crawling across an ice rink because it was wet and slippery and cold. Some people were freaking out, others were staying incredibly calm. It was absolutely treacherous and it wasn’t till 4.30am that we reached the water.

“The lifeboat crews took over and they were fantastic. They lifted people onto their boats before transferring them to other lifeboats to the mainland and evacuating them away from the ship. We are very, very lucky to be alive.”

17 PHOEBE JONES: Ship's Dancer – survivor

 

On stage in the ship’s theatre when disaster struck were the Italian magician and illusionist Maurizio di Martino – known as Mago Martin – and his assistants Phoebe Jones from Surrey and Rosalyn Rincon, from Blackpool.

Miss Jones was about to climb inside a box as part of a magic trick when the ship lurched, sending scenery crashing off the stage.

“Suddenly there was a blackout and everything from the stage crashed to one side,” said the 20 year-old from Shepperton. “The ship went on a huge, huge lean. Some people started to panic, but I was fine. Even though I was so scared I still didn’t really get what was going on.”

It was only when she reached Gigilio in a lifeboat and was transferred to a ferry that the enormity of what she had experienced began to sink in.

“When I got onto the ferry and realised I was actually on a hard surface and safe, that’s when I realised,” she said. “We watched everything from that ferry and that night we just watched the Concordia sink.”

She was met by her parents, Howard and Loraine, at Heathrow Airport last Saturday and posted a message on Facebook to let friends know she was safe.

“So glad to be home,” she wrote. “Thank you all so much for everyone’s love and messages, I will be in touch as soon as I can. My heart goes out to all of Costa Concordia and to those still suffering. And to all the heroes, whose actions made such a difference to the disaster. The wonderful Costa Concordia. An incredible ship, once full of incredible people. My heart goes out to everyone.”

Miss Rincon, 30, who is half-Venezuelan, was inside a long box, shaped like a coffin, when the ship lurched. “I shouted to the magician – get me out get me out and he flipped a catch to release me. We ran to our cabins for our life vests.”

18 MONIQUE MAUREK: Passenger – survivor

 

In the theatre were Monique Maurek, 41, and her husband Anton. “There was a loud tearing sound and we felt a crunch,” said Mrs Maurek, an undertaker from Rotterdam, Holland.

“At first we thought it was part of the magic show. But then the boat started tilting to one side and woman on a wheelchair came sliding past us at speed and that’s when the panic started. The magician ran off. He just disappeared.

“We didn’t have lifejackets and people were shouting that we should go up to Deck 4 to get some. There were people stuck in the lifts screaming so we climbed up the large staircase. When we got outside – on the side of the ship furthest away from the water – we managed to get some of the last life jackets. There was a panic and my husband pushed me into a lifeboat to make sure I got on. Other people fell on top of me and I was screaming. People were falling out of the lifeboat in front of us down into the water.”

The lifeboat was stuck and it took four crew members 20 minutes to force it down into the sea before the Maureks escaped.

19 ROSE METCALF: Ship's Dancer – survivor

 

While panic spread around her the 23 year-old gave up her place in a lifeboat.

She had been drinking coffee in the Salon Londres bar at the stern, waiting to have her picture taken with passengers, when it struck the reef. As she was wearing evening dress, Miss Metcalf, from Wimborne, Dorset, decided to return to her cabin, number 3507 on Deck 3, to change into warmer clothes and her lifejacket.

From there she went to her muster point, at the very front of the boat, and took a roll call of passengers as the boat started to list. It was clear that not all the lifeboats would be able to launch, and there would not be enough space for everyone so she stayed on board. Eventually she clambered up to Deck 5, where she managed to wave to attract a rescue helicopter at 2.30am.

Miss Metcalf, from Wimborne in Dorset, said. “We knew there would be too many people for the life rafts. We were literally throwing each other. We were creating human chains to try to pass people over gaps that if they dropped down there was no recovery from. There was panic, people were white – crying and screaming. I decided to wait until the water was high enough so I could jump or swim, but I didn’t want to be inside.

“I was making sure the people on my life raft had their jackets done up. I was trying to keep people talking, was trying to keep the mood calm and keep practical. My heart was racing, but I was calm to everyone else.”

20 CAPTAIN FRANCESCO SCHETTINO: survivor

 

The key to the night’s tragic events lies in the actions of the captain, now under house arrest facing charges of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship.

At around 9.05pm he was seen leaving the Concordia Club on Deck 11, in the company of Domnica Cemortan, an off-duty Moldovan member of the crew, and another officer.

A witness said the party had drunk at least a decanter of red wine, raising questions over Capt Schettino’s insistence that he drank no alcohol that night.

Prosecutors have established that the captain was at the controls of the Concordia 37 minutes later, when he steered the huge cruise ship onto rocks off the island of Giglio as he was allegedly trying to perform an "inchino" – or sail-past salute – for a former Costa Cruises captain and for the ship’s chief steward, Antonello Tievoli.

This risky manoeuvre appears to have been established practice for some Costa captains.

Also on the bridge was Miss Cemortan, who investigators now want to interview to shed light on what happened.

By 9.45pm the ship was listing by seven degrees and some passengers, beginning to realise that something was badly wrong, made phone calls to relatives, leading to the coastguard in Livorno being notified that the cruise liner was in trouble.

Mr Schettino only called his employers at 10.05pm – 23 minutes after the collision – reporting a problem with the ship. However when the Livorno harbour master’s office radioed a minute later the ship said it had suffered a “blackout”.

Twenty minutes later Livorno radioed again and Capt Schettino, 52, admitted water was entering the hull – but said there was no emergency. By 10.30pm the ship was listing by 20 degrees and he finally issued a May Day signal, waiting a further 20 minutes – at 10.58 – before ordering the ship to be abandoned.

Capt Schettino should then have waited for the ship’s passengers to be evacuated before leaving himself. However, witnesses saw him wrapped in a blanket getting on a lifeboat just over an hour after ordering the evacuation.

The captain told magistrates that when he did get onto a lifeboat it was only because he had “tripped” and fallen into the rescue craft while trying to help with the evacuation.

At 1.46am he picked up another call from the port authorities and was for a second time angrily ordered to return to his ship by Gregorio De Falco, the Livorno harbour master. However he was later spotted by a police patrol boat heading towards land in a life boat.

At 5am Capt Schettino called his 80-year-old mother Rosa, telling her: “Mamma, there’s been a tragedy. But don’t worry, I tried to save the passengers. I won’t be able to phone you for a while. Just stay calm,”

21 DOMNICA CEMORTAN: The Mystery Blonde – survivor

 

The crew member who was on leave was allegedly invited onto the bridge as the Concordia sailed perilously close to Giglio, in what was apparently a "salute" to an old friend of the captain’s and a favour to the ship’s chief steward, Antonello Tievoli, whose family home is on the island. It is now alleged she was there because Capt Schettino was trying to impress her.

Miss Cemortan, 25, a dancer and passenger rep on the Concordia, was seen drinking wine and chatting with the captain at around 9pm, 42 minutes before the Concordia ran aground.

Italian judicial authorities now want to interview her as she may be able to shed light on what happened on the bridge when the giant cruise ship collided with a rocky outcrop, ripping a massive gash in its hull.

After staying on the bridge to issue instructions to passengers in Russian – her second language – Miss Cemortan was evacuated by lifeboat.

Before returning to her family home in Chisinau, Moldova, she defended the actions of Capt Schettino, saying he had saved lives by steering the stricken vessel towards Giglio’s tiny harbour and grounding it close to the shore.

“Look at how many people are alive because of him. It’s a tragedy that people are missing, but he saved over 3,000 people on that ship because of his actions,” she said. “He did not abandon ship before everyone else. He would not have done that. He knows what his duty is. He is one of the best captains in the company.”

22 ANTONELLO TIEVOLI: Chief Steward – survivor

 

Shortly before the ship hit the reefs the captain allegedly called Mr Tievoli to the bridge saying: “Antonello, come see, we are very close to your Giglio.”

Captain Schettino was attempting an "inchino" – a sail-past – in which the huge cruiser would show off its lights and sirens to the island. At 9.08pm, just one hour before the ship ran aground, Mr Tievoli’s sister, Francesca, posted on Facebook: “In a little while the Costa Concordia will sail so close so close ...”

Witnesses claimed Mr Tievoli, standing on the bridge, said to the captain just before the accident happened: “Careful, we are extremely close to the shore.”

Nick Squires on Giglio

9:05PM GMT 20 Jan 2012

In a damning criticism, the president of Costa Cruises, Pier Luigi Foschi accused Francisco Schettino of having "character problems" and failing to tell the company the whole truth of the scale of the accident for crucial minutes before an order to abandon ship was given.

The death toll so far is 11, with 21 people from half a dozen countries still missing.

"Had it been abandoned before, we would not have lost human lives," Mr Foschi said.

Mr Schettino insisted through his lawyer yesterday that he kept his superiors fully informed of the unfolding drama, while Costa Cruises accused him of gross negligence and trying to cover up the accident.

Bruno Leporatti, the 52-year-old captain's lawyer, said: "It goes without saying that Francesco Schettino kept Costa informed of everything that was happening on the ship," as the 114,500 tonne ship started taking on water after hitting the rocks off the island of Giglio last Friday evening.

The exchanges between him and port authorities will have been recorded in the ship's Voyage Data Recorder, the nautical equivalent of a plane's black box, which are being scrutinised by Italian police and prosecutors.

But Mr Foschi contradicted Mr Schettino's account yesterday, saying the commander had only contacted the company at 10.05pm – 23 minutes after the ship smashed into the rocky shoals.

He said the Captain had told the company's command centre that the ship had simply suffered an electricity "blackout", rather than a catastrophic breach that led to it being grounded on a rocky shelf near Giglio's tiny port.

"Personally, I believe he was not honest with us," said Mr Foschi. Asked if he thought the captain was drunk or on drugs, he said: "I believe he was not emotionally balanced. He was seeing his ship sinking in front of him." He strenuously denied suggestions that the company had connived with the captain not to order the ship's evacuation in order to avoid a massive compensation payment to passengers.

An Italian shipping lawyer explained: "If the vessel had been abandoned the captain would have lost command of the ship," an Italian shipping lawyer said.

"It would have passed to the captain of the port and the company would have lost the value of the vessel immediately."

Mr Foschi said: "I assure you absolutely that no one thought in financial terms. That would be a choice that would violate our ethics." Costa Cruises had only realised the enormity of the situation when the captain finally gave the order to abandon ship at 10.58pm – 76 minutes after hitting the rocks, he said.

A source within Costa Cruises told The Daily Telegraph: "What is now critical to the investigation is that 70 minute period between the collision and the captain giving the mayday call. The question is, what was the ship saying to the command centre – was it accurate or misleading?

"The sense within the company is that the command centre was entirely misled in those early stages. The captain was telling us 'It's an electrical blackout, we'll get back to you.'"

Mr Schettino is under house arrest at his home in Meta di Sorrento near Naples and is likely to face charges of abandoning his ship, causing a shipwreck and multiple counts of manslaughter.

The firm considers itself an injured party in the accident, which industry experts say could turn out to be the biggest maritime insurance claim in history.

"This will probably be the largest compensation in the history of maritime accidents," said Antonio Coviello, an insurance expert with Italy's National Research Council. "Just compensation for passengers who lost their belongings will be around 30 million euros" (£26 million).

Yesterday new video footage emerged which showed a member of the crew telling frightened passengers in life jackets that "the situation is under control", even as the liner was taking on water.

"We have resolved the problem that we had, and we invite everyone to return to their cabins," the crew member says in Italian, in mobile phone footage taken by a passenger that seemed to confirm the procrastination and state of denial among the crew.

Meanwhile a remote-controlled submarine robot was yesterday being used to assess the feasibility of using chains to attach the capsized, 17 storey ship to its resting place in order to stop it sliding deeper into the sea.

Securing the vessel would allow a Dutch salvage firm, Smit, to start pumping out the 2,400 tones of heavy oil contained in its fuel tanks.

Rescue operations had to be suspended again because of choppy seas, with experts saying the giant liner was slipping off a rock shelf at a rate of about 1.5 cms an hour.

If the ship is dislodged, it could roll down a rocky shelf to a depth of 300ft, possibly rupturing its oil tanks, in what would be a nightmare scenario for Giglio, surrounding islands and the Tuscan coast.

It could become Italy's worst maritime disaster since the sinking of the Amoco Milford Haven, which was carrying 114,000 tonnes of oil, near Genoa in 1991.

It took 17 years to clean up after that accident.

 

By Nick Squires, Giglio

2:18PM GMT 20 Jan 2012

Domnica Cemortan, a former dancer, reportedly had dinner with Capt Francesco Schettino on the night that he smashed his cruise ship into rocks off the coast of Giglio, forcing the evacuation of its 4,200 passengers and crew.

"I'm not the captain's lover," Ms Cemortan, 25, told Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper on Friday.

"You know why? He was always showing me photos of his daughter when she was little. A man who wants a lover doesn't behave like that." Responding to suggestions that she did not have her own cabin on the cruise, which began just two hours before the fatal collision, she said she still had her cabin pass in her pocket.

The young woman, who has worked as a dancer on cruise ships, was reportedly seen sharing a decanter of wine the captain half an hour before the Costa Concordia sailed so close to the island that it hit a rocky outcrop which tore a huge gash in its hull.

She denied that and said she was instead having dinner with several of the ship's officers until around 9.30pm in one of the luxury liner's restaurants. "It's false to claim that the captain was with us," she said – despite photographs taken by passengers which appear to show her dining with the captain.

When the cruise ship collided with rocks off the coast of Giglio at 9.42pm last Friday, she said she was asked by the captain to go the bridge to help translate announcements into Russian.

Around 100 Russian tourists were on the week-long cruise around the Mediterranean.

"Sure, I was close to Capt Schettino – I was translating what he was telling me to say. I translated into Russian what he and his second in command were telling me in Italian – that passengers should return to their cabins because it was just a power failure. I repeated that last phrase maybe 10 times." She said she regarded the captain as "a hero" because he had managed to steer the stricken ship a few hundred yards along Giglio's coast until it ran aground on the coast, close to the island's tiny harbour.

She contradicted reports that the captain abandoned ship well before hundreds of passengers and crew.

"I'm sure that he was still on the bridge (around midnight) because it was at that time that he told us to leave, to abandon ship. I and another colleague said that we wanted to stay. But he told us to run. I saw him a long time later, on the island."

Ms Cemortan was born in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, and studied dancing there.

But she has spent much of her life in Bucharest in neighbouring Romania and has dual citizenship.e_SClBCapt Schettino is under house arrest at his home in Meta di Sorrento near Naples and faces at least 12 years in jail if convicted of abandoning his ship and multiple counts of manslaughter.

Italian judicial authorities want to talk to Ms Cemortan and believe she may be able to shed light on what happened that night.

By Nick Squires, Giglio and Martin Evans in Chisinau, Moldova

8:00AM GMT 21 Jan 2012

Domnica Cemortan, 25, was seen enjoying dinner with Captain Francesco Schettino, just 30 minutes before the liner careered into rocks and sank off the Italian island of Giglio.

She was also seen on the bridge of the ship alongside the captain as the chaotic evacuation got under way.

Her apparently close relationship with the 51-year-old captain has led Italian investigators to question whether the collision may have been a result of him sailing too close to the land in order to show off.

But speaking from her native Moldova, the mother-of-one last night vehemently denied there was anything improper in their relationship.

She also defended his and the crew's actions throughout the tragedy claiming they had successfully saved thousands of lives.

Miss Cemortan, who has a two-year-old daughter said: "I am not the captain's lover. You know why? He was always showing me photos of his daughter when she was little. A man who wants a lover does not behave like that."

Other rescued passengers claimed they had seen Miss Cermanto and the captain sharing a decanter of wine at around 9pm last Friday.

But while admitting having dinner with several of the ship's officers, Miss Cermanto insisted the captain was not with them.

"It's false to claim that the captain was with us," she said.

Miss Cemortan has been employed by Costa cruises for around five years working as a dancer and also helping translate for the large number of Russian passengers on board.

It is thought she speaks four languages having spent time in Romania, France and Italy.

However during the fateful voyage Miss Cemortan was not on board as an employee but travelling as a passenger in order to celebrate her 25th birthday.

Her family in the Moldovan capital of Chisinau said she had been at home earlier this month to celebrate her birthday but had travelled to Italy a fortnight ago to join the week-long cruise.

Responding to suggestions she did not have her own cabin while on board, Miss Cemortan said that was not true insisting she had her official cabin pass as proof.

Describing the moment the vessel struck rocks and began to flounder, Miss Cemortan said she had been asked by the captain personally to join him on the bridge in order to translate information to the 100 or so Russian passengers on board.

"Sure, I was close to Capt Schettino – I was translating what he was telling me to say," she said. "I translated into Russian what he and his second in command were telling me in Italian – that passengers should return to their cabins because it was just a power failure. I repeated that last phrase maybe 10 times."

And she claimed that rather than abandoning ship before his passengers as widely suggested Schettino had remained on the bridge with the rest of his crew.

"I'm sure that he was still on the bridge (around midnight) because it was at that time that he told us to leave, to abandon ship. I and another colleague said that we wanted to stay. But he told us to run. I saw him a long time later, on the island."

Miss Cemortan, who has joint Romanian and Moldovan nationality, was born in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova, and studied ballet there.

She grew up in a deprived suburb of the city in a flat with her mother Vera, her aunt and her disabled uncle.

Her father died around 10 years ago and her daughter now lives with her mother while she is away at sea.

Last night her aunt said she had gone into hiding to get over the trauma of the experience.

Breaking down in tears she said: "She is very upset by what has happened. She used to live here but she moved away with her mother.

The last time we saw her was on January 6 when she came to celebrate her birthday but now she just wants to be left alone to get over all that has happened."

It is thought Italian judicial authorities will want to talk to Miss Cemortan as part of their investigation into the maritime disaster.

By SHÂN ROSS

Published on Monday 23 January 2012 16:11

THE captain of the stricken cruise liner Costa Concordia may have been “distracted” by too many people being on the ship’s bridge, it has emerged, as two more bodies were recovered from the wreckage.

The revelation about Captain Francesco Schettino was made by third-in-command Silvia Coronika in a statement to investigators, who said Schettino took the disastrous course by showboating, to impress the head waiter of the ship.

Two more bodies were recovered from the ship capsized off the Italian coast yesterday, bringing the death toll to fifteen, as divers continue their grim search.

Bodies of the two women were found in the internet cafe in a submerged section of the ship and were located after further holes had been blown into the superstructure of the Concordia by navy divers.

Last week, it emerged that purser Antonello Tievoli, head waiter, had been invited on to the bridge by the skipper as the ship sailed past his home island of Giglio. There have also been suggestions that Costa cruises rep Domnica Cemortan, 24, may have also been close by on the command deck.

In response to questioning by prosecutors Ms Coronika said: “The people on the bridge who arrived with Schettino were a disturbance to the sailing.” She went on: “There was such a lot of confusion and my recollection is a little unclear because of all the chaos from the shouting and the various messages that were going backwards and forwards.”

Ms Coronika described how the Concordia captain was distracted and said: “I just want to say that there was a number of people present on the bridge with Schettino and who were not relevant to sailing the ship, including the purser.

“There were people asking what island it was, the purser was chatting away, in short they were disturbing the navigation of the ship and it led to a drop in attention.”

Schettino has claimed that his bosses ordered him to carry out the “sail-by salute” as a publicity stunt and that it had been advertised in the ship’s newsletter.

Meanwhile Italian prosecutors are investigating claims from eyewitnesses to the evacuation that wealthy Russian passengers aboard the Concordia “bought” places in lifeboats ahead of women, children and the elderly.

The prosecutors have allegedly taken evidence from some passengers that “the disabled were left to fend for themselves” as well-off Russians thrust bundles of money into the hands of eager crewmen as the ship listed and began to sink.

Franca Anichini, 52, who lives directly on the harbour on the island of Giglio where evacuees from the ship were brought after the disaster on 13 January, said: “I went to the boats as I saw them coming in expecting to see women, children and the injured but all I saw were healthy men and elegant women in evening gowns who were speaking Russian.”

Dramatic testimony also came from engine room chief Giuseppe Pilon: “I heard some loud bangs and at first thought they were the cages moving in the luggage hold. I went to the central control room and asked an officer what was happening and he just shouted back ‘There’s water, there’s water.’

“I said to control that the watertight doors were shut as they should have been. I just managed to get the words out and then there was a total blackout.”

He went on: “I told Schettino the situation, telling him the engine room and the back, the electric circuits and the stern decks. I told him that we had lost control of the ship. I told him of the seriousness of the situation several times afterwards.”

Discovery of the women’s bodies came minutes after Franco Gabrielli, the commissioner in charge of the rescue effort, confirmed that the ship was stable and there was no danger of it slipping from the rock shelf.

[Hebersgyll]

.....Join the 'Justice for Schettino' campaign.

 

Look at this way.

 

The ship was always doomed to sink. The failure of the champagne bottle to break at the launch proves that beyond any doubt.

 

The Costa Cruise company ordered him to sail this way. It was a publicity stunt. And it worked. Look at all the publicity we got!

 

There was a fish-tailed mermaid sitting on that reef we hit, attracting the ship to her bosom. Her 'force of distraction' affected the ship's gyro compass and caused false readings on the speedometer!

 

That Sarkozy, his Italian model wife, Carla Bruni and our dearly beloved Silvio Berlusconi were all involved in this. It was that Distraction Law again, all done to divert attention from the Eurozone crisis and that German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, grabbing all the headlines with her 'Stability' ideas.

 

Ask Vladamir Putin He knows all about it. He had his Russian mafia on board. They (and their Dutch friends, The Smits) have always been eager to get their hands on the Concordia and all the priceless riches it carried and now they have succeeded!

 

So why blame Captain Schettino for what happened? He is a brilliant seaman and navigator. Apart from that time he got fined for sailing too close to shore he has never ever been lost at sea before and nor has he sunk any ships previously! So why is everybody pointing the finger at him and saying he is to blame?

 

He just happened to be on the bridge at the time. It was a coincidence!

 

Justice for Schettino, I say!!