Costa Ship grounded or sinking

[wrp96]

They have 24 hours from sailing to hold the lifeboat drill. Since they were going to be boarding more passengers the next day in Savona (the ship had 3 embarkation points), they probably only did one drill in Savona instead of doing one in Rome and then one the next day in Savona.

[hubofhockey]

Panicked or did the smart thing?

The ship is a stones throw from shore.

 

My question is "how do you know the water is deep enough to jump?"

 

Gramps

 

In one case, a man in his 70s had a heart attack when he jumped into the icy waters and the temperature of the water cause the shock and the fatal heart attack. Sad.

 

[dr__dawggy]

I guess there are a few cruisers who still believe people won't panic under any extreme circumstances if they're properly educated. No matter how well trained some people will become hysterical irregardless of the situation, muster training or not.

 

While I do not disagree with your comment, CNN is reporting the ship had not mustered passengers for the evacuation drill, a factor that almost certainly increased the panic on board.

[ONT-CA]

A question for those of more nautical understanding:

 

Would the ship have been under the control of a Pilot at that time?

[gooch47]

The ship would have been under the direction of the pilot, but the captain would still have been in "charge."

On a Princess ship, in a situation like this would people still have had to go to the muster stations in the theater, etc? Or would they go directly to the lifeboats?

Can you imagine trying to evacuate several hundred people from the theater with most if not all of them in a panic? But I'm not sure if going to the actual muster stations would have helped in this situation either. The account I read said people were crawling on their hands and knees trying to claw their way up severely tilted hallways. At that point wouldn't the muster stations on the port side have been unusable anyway?

[WarEagle76]

They have 24 hours from sailing to hold the lifeboat drill.

 

Aware of that, however I've never been on a cruise (and been on a few) where the emergency procedures were not held prior to departure for those who boarded at that port. There is usually a follow-up the next day for those that missed it (especially for late departures such as in San Juan) and on cruises where additional passengers picked up at down-line port, an additional session was held for them. Further reports have stated that for 45 minutes after incident crew stated "nothing wrong" to passengers and per the Italian Coast Guard, no "Mayday" call made by captain, they only learned of the incident after initial rescue started by other boats in the area. What a fiasco and so sad for those aboard.

[6pack]

Watching the BBC and I couldn't believe how the passengers would not follow direction of the crew. They described it as a mad rush knocking people over to get onto the life boats. They wanted to load women and children first, however the passengers just pushed themselves onto the life boats. I find this very disturbing. This kind of behaviour ultimately leads to panic and unnecessary deaths

[ONT-CA]

Can you imagine trying to evacuate several hundred people from the theater with most if not all of them in a panic?

 

In three or four languages

[compozer]

My heart goes out to all the families involved. Just hate to hear things like this.

 

On a cruise several years ago, my dh and I had many discussions regarding this topic because there were so many elderly passengers on our cruise. We aren't that young so I'm not saying anything bad about older people. We could hardly get into the theater at the muster drill because of all the wheelchairs, scooters and walkers. They announced that there was enough staff to help everyone off the ship but when I looked at some of the spouses, I thought "Wow this could be a nightmare if something really happens". Many people said that on the October Sapphire La rt to Tahiti cruise that the average age was close to 80 - it is scary to think what could have happened on that cruise.

 

We had a wheelchair person in the cabin across the hall from ours and had talked that we would knock on their door to check on them if something came up. Should there be a buddy system in place in each section on the ship? BUT when people panic, not sure if it would help. And if it is during the dinner hour, you have no idea where your neighbor is. I think we would keep a level head - both of us were teachers and have always jumped in to help others in need - but until it happens to you - you don't know.

[san diego sue]

And the Captain was one of the first off the ship.

 

I have sailed Costa but about 10 years ago (several times). The crew

didn't speak English. We had room stewards that only spoke Italian.Annoucements were made in several languages.

News has said that the experienced cruisers went straight to decks with lifeboats. Others didn't know what to do.People had to crawl on their knees to get out. People were told to return to cabins instead of evacuation areas. Crew waited too long to release lifeboats, and then too late for many lifeboats as the ship listed.

I for one can't swim, so if ship was close to shore or not, if I would have been there, I would have drowned if I couldn't get in lifeboat.

We cruise today on HAL. Not a good feeling before sailing.

Glad that HAL does their drills right at the lifeboat stations.

[Pam in CA]

Panicked or did the smart thing?

The ship is a stones throw from shore.

At least one person died from the shock of the cold water. Jumping into icy cold water, even when you are so close to shore is not the smartest thing. I read that some may have fallen into the water which given the list, is believable. One family from MA reported that they could only launch a few lifeboats so they had to keep coming back to the ship to pick up more people. The ship kept listing more as people waited so it must have been very, very frightening.

 

This is all speculation but one report I read said that it's possible the ship's electrical system malfunctioned, they lost control and that's why the ship ran aground. They'd still have to be pretty darned close to land, though. It'll be interesting to see what the investigation reports.

[TorontoTL]

On Princess ships they always say at the Muster Drill, that we are to get our life jackets and head to our Muster Stations when we hear the ships alarm. We are to stay at our Muster Stations until the crew direct us to go to the lifeboats.

 

This is a terrible tragedy, my heart goes out to all who were affected by it, in particular those who lost their lives or were injured.

[cruzinchris]

Here's AP article from my local newspaper:

 

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20120114/NATION/201140372/1478/rss

[6pack]

No Mayday was issued to the coast guard until 45 minutes after the incident. The Captain waited too long to give the order to evacuate the ship. Engineers in the field indicate prolonging the order to abandon ship caused the vessel to continue listing which made it difficult if not impossible to lower some of the life boats. The more I hear the more concerning I find this.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16561904

[compozer]

Glad that HAL does their drills right at the lifeboat stations.

 

 

When we started crusing, years and years ago, all the drills were at the lifeboat stations but then again, the ships were much smaller too.

[Pam in CA]

Glad that HAL does their drills right at the lifeboat stations.

That wouldn't have helped in either this situation or the Star fire as half of the lifeboats were unusable. I've been on a HAL ship when the alarm went off in the middle of the night; people weren't sure what to do or where to go because they didn't want to go out in the rainy weather if they didn't have to. Some ran to their lifeboats in their nightclothes, completely unprepared. After almost five minutes, the Captain was on the PA to say to stay in your cabin but that was a long five minutes of chaos. It was a transformer in the buffet and all was well but it highlighted to me the sanity of having passengers go to a designated area that's easy to remember and out of the elements to await instructions.

 

This whole thing is a tragedy and you can be sure that the international maritime regulations will be revised, at least in part.

[1 HappyCruiser]

While I do not disagree with your comment, CNN is reporting the ship had not mustered passengers for the evacuation drill, a factor that almost certainly increased the panic on board.

 

That may very well be so but even if they had a muster drill prior to the event when a thousand people begin to panic, all logic goes out the window. It becomes every person for himself whether you know what to do or not.

[jefa]

This is the part I don't understand, why were muster and emergency procedures not completed prior to departure. One report stated that muster was put off until today so as not to interfere with dinner Friday night:eek:.

 

"The evacuation drill was only scheduled for Saturday afternoon"

 

From what I am hearing on the news, this was the last night of a cruise which had started in Savona, so the majority of cruisers had already had muster when they had boarded at the beginning of the week.

 

A terrible trajedy.

[oskidunker]

I guess since it didn't sink, it can be repaired.

[houch]

Been reading about this all morning. My prayers go out for all involved. I also wondered about them not having the muster drill before leaving port. However I am not sure I would want to go to the inside center of the ship with it listing. I think I would want to be outside by the life boats. As several have said, we don't really know how we will react until we are in that situation. I, for one, don't ever want to find out.

 

I am still looking forward to my May cruise in the Med. I still drive my car in spite of all the car crashes. If I would let this stop me from cruising I guess I wouldn't get in my car anymore either.

 

Still it's a frightening event I hope I never experience.

[truckmaker]

The photos that Shogun included show a huge gash along the port side of the hull under the waterline, with a monstrous impacted boulder. Meanwhile footage shows the ship listing to the startboard side and ultimatly settling to the bottom and resting on that side. Is it just me or isn't that counter-intuitive? Wouldn't the weight of the water inside the hull, and the rock, tend to force a port side list? Please help me undertsand this. Thank you.

[jodi58]

Been reading about this all morning. My prayers go out for all involved. I also wondered about them not having the muster drill before leaving port. However I am not sure I would want to go to the inside center of the ship with it listing. I think I would want to be outside by the life boats. As several have said, we don't really know how we will react until we are in that situation. I, for one, don't ever want to find out.

 

I am still looking forward to my May cruise in the Med. I still drive my car in spite of all the car crashes. If I would let this stop me from cruising I guess I wouldn't get in my car anymore either.

 

Still it's a frightening event I hope I never experience.

 

 

I agree with you Houch! and may I add that once panic sets in, all bets are off, people shoving, elderly and impaired passengers having trouble getting their muster station..this is where a professional, trained staff would make all the difference in the world.

[cruisergal 1]

Just heard from my friend, who's close friend was on this cruise. They were in the middle of dinner when they heard a crash and lights flashing on and off. People started running around in chaos, to get to the lifeboats. The first place these friends went too, already had a few feet of water, and lifeboats were difficult to lower into the water. They ran to the other side and people were cramming and jumping onto the lifeboats, and it looked dangerous to them because of the chaos, so they decided to jump as they were close to land. They made it safely, but the woman cut her feet badly on the coral.

 

They are being looked after, and given lots of attention. But not speaking the language is causing lots of confusion. Especially with no passports or any identification. They are Canadian, and fortunately the Canadian Consulate is very involved in getting all the necessary information needed to get them back home. This was their first cruise.....how sad!

[Shogun]

Hi Truckmaker

 

It may be that with the ship listing so badly that the ship flooded it ballast tanks to try and keep the ship up right, but instead it tipped over.

 

 

yours Shogun

[spingal]

The ship would have been under the direction of the pilot, but the captain would still have been in "charge."

 

I didn't think they were docking so I am not sure a pilot would have been aboard.