Costa Concordia sinking (merged threads)

[Seavoyage]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2012/jan/17/costa-concordia-captain-phone-call-video

 

 

Apologies if this is a repost....

[IRL_Joanie]

My God.

 

My reaction to reading that translation was the same as yours!!

 

My second reaction was and still is to Volunteer to Lead the Firing Squad!!

 

Joanie

[Krazy Kruizers]

I was just listening to the evening world news.

And they are now saying that the captain is out of jail and is on house arrest.

I don't like that!! JMO.

[Seavoyage]

I am with you KK - after listening to that converstion with the Port Captain - that Sh....... guy aka so called captain should right now be forced to go back to that ship and fulfill his duties!!! What a JERK!!

[sppunk]

On CNN, Anderson Cooper is interviewing a survivor, who got on in Barcelona. That was 5 days prior to the incident.

 

She says they never had a muster drill.

[kazu]

Now I am starting to wonder about a cruise line that would make this man captain:eek: what procedures do they have anyways?????????????

 

(talking about Costa of course not Carnival as a whole).

 

With a 5 year old in the missing - I find this really abhorrent.

[ASIWISH]

I may be crazy, and in the minority, but I am still hoping that the transcripts are taken out of context - as it sounds a little like the Coast Guard is berating him and show-boating a bit. Really not giving him much of a chance to answer...

 

Mainly, because I can't believe Costa - or Carnival - could employ a man like this in such a position for such a long time.

 

I'm withholding judgement for a while still....

[RunsWithFlyingDolphins]

Alright so I don't have an update today but probably tomorrow. Anyway, I love the earlier headline on http://www.huffingtonpost.com . It reads 'GET ON BOARD, DAMMIT!'. Thought that was kind of comical. Read the article (w/ Audio from captain) at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/17/costa-concordia-cruise-ship-audio-francesco-schettino_n_1210920.html .

And they have a slide show of many of the amateur videos... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/17/costa-concordia-cruise-ship-videos_n_1211790.html?ref=world

And then a full page cruise ad was placed next to the article about the Concordia in a Swedish newspaper (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/16/costa-concordia-cruise-advertisements_n_1209475.html)

[DizzyDallasDi]

Alright so I don't have an update today but probably tomorrow. Anyway, I love the earlier headline on www.huffingtonpost.com . It reads 'GET ON BOARD, DAMMIT!'. Thought that was kind of comical. Read the article (w/ Audio from captain) at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/17/costa-concordia-cruise-ship-audio-francesco-schettino_n_1210920.html .

And they have a slide show of many of the amateur videos... http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/17/costa-concordia-cruise-ship-videos_n_1211790.html?ref=world

And then a full page cruise ad was placed next to the article about the Concordia in a Swedish newspaper (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/16/costa-concordia-cruise-advertisements_n_1209475.html)

 

Good lord, the cruising ads next to the article about the Concordia is just so wrong on so many levels. The newspaper knew what they were doing....I guarantee it. I'll bet my next paycheck the advertisers gave the newspaper "you know what" for their ad's placement. And, I'll bet the next paycheck that these advertisers get some free ads in the future.

[RMLincoln]

I may be crazy, and in the minority, but I am still hoping that the transcripts are taken out of context - as it sounds a little like the Coast Guard is berating him and show-boating a bit. Really not giving him much of a chance to answer...

 

Mainly, because I can't believe Costa - or Carnival - could employ a man like this in such a position for such a long time.

 

I'm withholding judgement for a while still....

 

I'm wondering how they kept him employed! He's done a lot of "unauthorized" things and shown a very cavalier and cowboy attitude. I would have hoped that in six years as a captain Costa or Carnival would have demoted him or fired him before he killed somebody, but alas.... makes me wonder who else are they hanging onto who shouldn't be captain. m--

[TiogaCruiser]

I was just listening to the evening world news.

And they are now saying that the captain is out of jail and is on house arrest.

I don't like that!! JMO.

 

Agreed. And it seems he should remain locked up in jail and on watch for his safety..... For several reasons........... jmo

[kazu]

Oh - oh - it's getting worse. When the deputy mayor went on board to try to figure out things he found no officers. Says most of the crew were not sea men. Here's the link http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/17/most-of-the-costa-concordias-crew-were-entertainers-or-bartenders-not-qualified-seamen/

[kazu]

And worse - the captain claims he tripped and 'fell' into the lifeboat.

 

he admits to doing the 'bow' and coming to close but since he had done it THREE OR FOUR TIMES before, he thought he would be ok.

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9022170/Costa-Concordia-captain-says-he-tripped-and-fell-into-life-boat.html

 

So, this wasn't the first time he was reckless:mad:

[FrankNJ]

Interesting article , but of course most of the crew are not trained seamen. The guys that make your bed and serve your lunch may have been taught a few things but they are by no means trained seamen. Neither are the cooks or show people , or cruise directors etc.

 

That is why the captain , his officers , the security officer and his men are so important.

Unfortunately , on the Concordia , all of these "brave" officers abandoned the ship and the passengers ( with a few exceptions)

 

Last year on a Hal ship we had lunch with the hotel manager who explained to us that

"he is not navigationally trained". That was the term he used .

I have always had great respect for the captains and officers on the Hal ships and I consider them trained professional seamen. I don't know what to call that bunch on Concordia. I never would have sailed Costa to begin with.

[THE BUDSYS]

Thanks for the interesting link Kazu. It gives me a new perspective regarding the ship staff. Just as in the old days the airline industry promoted the idea of glamorous stewardesses today they stress that flight attendants are there primarily for our safety. Maybe the cruise industry ought to take note. You won't hear me complaining if my ice bucket wasn't refilled because our room steward was at a safety meeting. Somewhat along the same line, I read in the post by the Australian lady who was on the Concordia that a waiter was assigned to drive their lifeboat but he was too short to see out the window to steer. Another crew member had to sit on his shoulders and give him directions. Don't you think this problem would have been discovered when they "practiced". If the people in charge put as much "attention to detail" into the safety plans as they do the linens and china I'd feel a whole lot better.

[arewethereyet]

If you were at this Captain's table and he spoke to you in a friendly way, most of you would gush about what a great guy Captain (fill in the blank) is. The point is you wouldn't have any idea that he was such a loose cannon - and dangerous to you and his ship. After all, he's been a Captain for (again, fill in the blank) years. Nobody would retain a Captain who was dangerous - right?

 

Wrong. We put our trust in the assumption that our ship is in the hands of competent, responsible people. But, we don't know that for sure. It only takes one disaster like this to prove the point.

 

And, yes, I have two cruises reserved in the next 5 months, and I will be going on both.

[GeriatricNurse]

If you were at this Captain's table and he spoke to you in a friendly way, most of you would gush about what a great guy Captain (fill in the blank) is. The point is you wouldn't have any idea that he was such a loose cannon - and dangerous to you and his ship. After all, he's been a Captain for (again, fill in the blank) years. Nobody would retain a Captain who was dangerous - right?

 

Wrong. We put our trust in the assumption that our ship is in the hands of competent, responsible people. But, we don't know that for sure. It only takes one disaster like this to prove the point.

 

And, yes, I have two cruises reserved in the next 5 months, and I will be going on both.[/quote]

 

Would either one (or both) of them happen to be with 'Costa!? ;)

[Seago2]

My reaction to reading that translation was the same as yours!!

 

My second reaction was and still is to Volunteer to Lead the Firing Squad!!

 

Joanie

 

Joanie, if it interests you to read translations (as it does me) you might find this interesting/horrifying:

 

http://translate.google.it/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.corriere.it%2Fcronache%2F12_gennaio_18%2Fsarzanini-cosi-ha-abbandonato-300-persone_8bd3aae8-419d-11e1-9408-1d8705f8e70e.shtml&sl=it&tl=en&hl=&ie=UTF-8

[arewethereyet]

If you were at this Captain's table and he spoke to you in a friendly way, most of you would gush about what a great guy Captain (fill in the blank) is. The point is you wouldn't have any idea that he was such a loose cannon - and dangerous to you and his ship. After all, he's been a Captain for (again, fill in the blank) years. Nobody would retain a Captain who was dangerous - right?

 

Wrong. We put our trust in the assumption that our ship is in the hands of competent, responsible people. But, we don't know that for sure. It only takes one disaster like this to prove the point.

 

And, yes, I have two cruises reserved in the next 5 months, and I will be going on both.[/quote]

 

Would either one (or both) of them happen to be with 'Costa!? ;)

 

No. I won't go on some lines. Costa is one of them.

[DFD1]

Sounds like the Italian Judge is as bad as the Italian Captain. House Arrest?? I think not!

[Y's Owl]

One of the better improvements HAL did over the years was to put your lifeboat number in large print on the front of your keycard. Does anyone know if Costa does the same because that may have helped cut down the confusion of where to go when it was time to head to your muster station?

[Mary Ellen]

Somewhat along the same line, I read in the post by the Australian lady who was on the Concordia that a waiter was assigned to drive their lifeboat but he was too short to see out the window to steer. Another crew member had to sit on his shoulders and give him directions. Don't you think this problem would have been discovered when they "practiced". If the people in charge put as much "attention to detail" into the safety plans as they do the linens and china I'd feel a whole lot better.

Capt. Albert's blog in July 2010 had information about the training HAL's lifeboat handlers undergo. It is a six week course. One of our favorite Ocean Bar stewards had just completed it. Here is a link to that entry. On a number of our HAL cruises we've watched the crew "practice" with the life boats in the water. Our confidence in HAL crew dealing with an emergency remains strong.

[sail7seas]

We have had life boat commanders who were bartenders and dining stewards. They are trained and constantly drilling to keep their training fresh and make it automatic they do what is expected of them in an emergency.

 

We have never once been on a HAL cruise when we did not hear an announcement the crew was having one sort of drill or another .....'no action required by guests'. It's either fire fighting, or man overboard, or whatever refresher they are exercising.

 

[sail7seas]

A point I'd like to make is that we are all here yapping about crew training, how good are officers including Captains and everything else on the other side of the guest/cruise ship situation.

 

We as guests need to shut our mouths and listen when there is an overhead announcement being made. I have been so frustrated time and again when I hear the Captain or CD is speaking and the noise (at pool or in Lido particularly) that I could not tell you if it was a 'come see the show tonight' announcement or was some information of more importance. If it is so loud with mouths wagging, how can you know if it was important information or just the CD reading the daily program?

 

If you don't want to listen, others do.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

We too have gotten very disgusted with people talking -- and sometimes loudly -- while there are announcements being made. When the captain talks -- I certainly would like to hear what he has to say.

As the years go by we are seeing more and more rude people.