Last voyage for Costa Concordia cruise ship

[Wynand N]

This coming Sunday Discovery showcase is showing a documentary about the last voyage and moments of Concordia with never seen video clips of the sinking on DSTV here, titled "Inside Concordia".
Should be interesting to watch...

[Starbuck1]

In 5 pieces the video can also be found on Youtube. Interesting. For TV, a pretty good job.

[IEWinkle]

Originally Posted by Wynand N

This coming Sunday Discovery showcase is showing a documentary about the last voyage and moments of Concordia with never seen video clips of the sinking on DSTV here, titled "Inside Concordia".
Should be interesting to watch...

If its the same one shown on UK Discovery see how you react to my comments to Discovery below:

Cruise Ship Disaster: Inside the Concordia

As a retired naval architect who has taken a special interest in the loss of passenger ships ever since the Herald of Free Enterprise disaster in the UK, I must comment on this documentary. For a channel that seems to pride itself on getting the scientific detail right you and your MMA deconstructors made a number of serious technical blunders on the documentary:

1. Two references were made in the first 3 minutes to the vessel's Gross Register Tonnage of 114,000 (actually 114,137) as its weight. Gross tonnage is a measure of enclosed volume at 100 cu ft /ton and is unrelated to its true weight which is defined by its Displacement (maximum) of 51,387 tonnes.

2. This was quickly followed by a discussion of the diesel generators (for both propulsion power and hotel services) shown in 3 banks of two across the breadth when in fact they are set in two banks of three, each bank in a separate watertight compartment divided by a Watertight bulkhead lying under the funnel. You also described them as being 'each the size of a school bus' when in fact Wartsila 12V46C diesel generators are 15.4 m long, 5.7 m high and 5.09 m wide and weight 265 tonne - some bus!

3. Discussion at MMA moved on to say we have 'come a long way in the 100 years since Titanic' - saying that regulations required Costa Concordia to be seaworthy if 2 adjacent compartment are flooded. The Titanic could survive 5 compartment flooding and IMO SOLAS 90 regulations would require Costa Concordia to survive only 3 (so called 3 compartment standard) - the maximum for any passenger ship under those regulations. Discussion then moved on to the fact that a '160 ft length of gash most probably flooded 3 if not 4 compartments.' In fact careful analysis of the hull damage and compartmentation of the vessel, as well testimony of the engineers escaping the inundation, indicate that 5 compartments flooded (including both engine rooms and the motor room) - technically a non-survival condition. So the question remains why did she stay afloat for over 1 hour 20 minutes in a near upright condition before the slow capsize once she reached the shore?

4. No attempt was made to 'deconstruct' the flooding and the cause of the port list slowly transferring to a starboard list. Rear Admiral Richard Gurnon's statement that 'all that water accumulation on the port side now rushes to the starboard side' is shear rubbish. The vessel flooded down rapidly (hence the early loss of power) to a very stable and contained situation where there was no room for any of it to 'rush anywhere'.
If you would like to see the detailed analysis and source material try my posts 78 and 80 and the rest of the discussion on: Simulating Costa Concordia
Progressive flooding into an area of the starboard side was in fact very gradual and should be the subject of future investigation.

5. MMA also demonstrated a type of 'freefall' lifeboat very different to Concordia's boats where nobody would have to be strapped down.

6. The MMA's team's final conclusion that: 'had she sunk there in open water all those people would have been thrown into the ocean and it would have been extremely difficult to save them. I think the loss of life would have been in the 100's perhaps a 100', must be suspect. Having already made it plain that the passengers should have been mustered by the boats as soon as the power failed, an orderly evacuation could easily have been undertaken without any loss of life in the time available before the ship grounded. The Master's inability to recognise the severity of his situation and act accordingly was the single most important factor in the loss of life.

Happy viewing!

[Submarine Tom]

Wink,

I read with interest your dissertation on the documentary.

I hate to burst your bubble but these kind of errors are common amongst documentaries and, sadly, the producers don't care. More important to them is: What was the viewership and what were the ratings.

I don't think rounding 114,137 to 114,000 is unreasonable for a layperson target market documentary.

And how could a Rear Admiral be so negligent in his assumption of what occurred?

I don't doubt you found the information unpalatable, even repugnant in it's accuracy but be glad you are the wiser.

This is a great example of not believing everything you hear.

Thanks for your insight.

-Tom

[smartbight]

ROME, March 15 - Thieves have stolen the shipwrecked Costa Concordia's bell, evading an array of lasers and 24-hour surveillance by the Italian coast guard and police,

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503543_1.../thieves-stole

[Starbuck1]

IEWinkle,
I agree with your points regarding the errors of details, especially 1-3 & 5. This forum has been well ahead of them, and your many inputs particularly useful in that. 4 & 6 are beyond anything I would expect from "fast" television aimed at the mass market. My experience with the press is that we are lucky if TV/Media gets it 70% right and not more than 15% dead wrong. I doubt if Discover channel is much better, just a little more technically oriented. I suspect most of it was written in the first week after the accident.

What I found interesting in the narrative, and the photos was hearing the actions and reactions of the passengers to the unfolding disaster, and how close some came to being casualties.

It was interesting to see the large number of crew (yellow lifejackets) remaining on board to help any remaining passengers after all the boats had left. Many of the crew did appear to act decently for the safety of the passengers. I wonder who found the rope ladders and had the sense to drop them down the flooding passages to help people get out.

I was surprised the lifeboats had no interior lights, even simple battery LED ones. It strikes me as a real risk & panic factor to not have them, or maybe someone just didn't know how to turn them on. They should be automatic.

In that same line of thought, there were no battery powered emergency lights, even little LED ones to help people find their way in dark corridors once the E-Gen went out. Like they have on aircraft. It would add a lot to safety and good passenger & crew response in emergencies.

My final reaction to the video was that Schettino looked more like a strutting Mussolini than a captain.

[nettersheim]

Originally Posted by Starbuck1

IEWinkle,


In that same line of thought, there were no battery powered emergency lights, even little LED ones to help people find their way in dark corridors once the E-Gen went out. Like they have on aircraft. It would add a lot to safety and good passenger & crew response in emergencies.

.

Solas Convention prescribes Low Location Lighting (LLL) in passenger ships for means of escape including corridors, stairways, exits, etc.

This LLL system should be of Electro-lighting or Photo luminescent principle with strip indicators placed not more than 300 mm above the floor (the idea is more fire and smoke casualty but nevertheless it works also for abandon).

[Starbuck1]

If we assume they were on Costa Concordia, did they work and for how long?

[CmbtntDzgnr]

It's gonna be "Hell's Bells" when the thieves are found out...

It might be "For whom bells toll" if they don't spirit it away to the unknown (if any) buyers.

[troy2000]

Five more bodies found; I think that only leaves two unaccounted for.

http://overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com/_ne...ordia-wreckage

[Jolly Amaranto]

Carnival ship ceased in Galveston as part of Costa suite.

http://www.chron.com/default/article...re-3450042.php

[CmbtntDzgnr]

LOL... at 7 AM, no less.

The Triumph was at Seven-Seized....

[hoytedow]

Gian sends greetings and wishes for a Happy Easter to us.

[Bluec0de]

where can i find the costa concordia decks maps b, c ?