Last voyage for Costa Concordia cruise ship

[michael pierzga]

Mistral blowing next week

[Yobarnacle]

Originally Posted by Wynand N

In the morning papers here as well and the fact that he abandoned the ship before all the passengers were taken off....

Reminds me of the Oceanos fiasco on our eastern coast during 1990/1? when that ocean liner went down in some bad weather and the Greek captain and crew were one of the first people off the boat and left the passengers to fend for themselves. These actions made headlines all over the world at the time.

I always said after that I would never step on a boat with a Greek Captain and it seems I must add Italian to the list

Read LORD JIM by Joseph Conrad. Then you'll add british officers to no sail list. Please don't judge the profession or nationalities by the worst examples. Many fine seamen and masters sail under all flags, safely year after year. Airline crashes are more common than marine disasters. And automobile accidents? shudder at the danger.

[CatBuilder]

A surprisingly coherent news article that mostly validates our theories:

http://m.cnn.com/primary/wk_article?...d_latest#page2

[michael pierzga]

EXXON VALDEZ ???

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hazelwood

Nationalities have nothing to do with blunders. The Italians have fine seamen. The Greeks are some of the best in the world

[Yobarnacle]

Originally Posted by CatBuilder

A surprisingly coherent news article that mostly validates our theories:

http://m.cnn.com/primary/wk_article?...d_latest#page2

The item you have requested is out of date.
Go to CNN.com

Wow. That got jerked fast. wonder why?

[Yobarnacle]

Originally Posted by michael pierzga

EXXON VALDEZ ???

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Hazelwood

Nationalities have nothing to do with blunders. The Italians have fine seamen. The Greeks are some of the best in the world

exactly! concur 100%

[Ad Hoc]

Originally Posted by daiquiri

I'm wondering if the SOLAS evacuation procedures and class regulations take into consideration that the vast majority of cruiser ship passengers are 60+ yrs old, with many well over their 70's, and hence not very agile and in good health?

No, they don't.

I raised this issue with RINA/IMO over 15 years ago, and showed a video of one of our evacuation trials. We included an blind person as well as several old people. I was highlighting the elephant in the room with current SOLAS and how it can be circumvented or just ignored, since not stated, despite the obvious.

Modern ships these days can elect for computer simulation of evacuation!

[michael pierzga]

Computer simulation makes sense for a designer . Crowd behaivor specialists can tweek the software to challenge the architects concept.

Imagine the behavior of passengers who speak no Italian and little english ?

[Yobarnacle]

Under US maritime law, and I assumed it was Solas, I'll check. A fire drill and abandon ship drill has to be performed within 24 hours of departing port. seems the Concordia postponed that little chore a bit.

[daiquiri]

Originally Posted by Yobarnacle

A fire drill and abandon ship drill has to be performed within 24 hours of departing port. seems the Concordia postponed that little chore a bit.

I don't believe that's the case, unless there are proofs for that claim. A drill is usually done immediately after leaving the port of departure.

[daiquiri]

Originally Posted by Yobarnacle

The item you have requested is out of date.
Go to CNN.com
Wow. That got jerked fast. wonder why?

Wrong link. This is the article:

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/15/wo...ons/index.html

[Yobarnacle]

As I thought!

By international law, a passenger muster drill must be conducted by the ship within 24 hours of departure[2], but many cruise lines choose to conduct the drill before the ship departs port for the first time. It is the responsibility of the crew to ensure that a muster drill is held, and that every passenger and crew member is aware that it is being held. If a muster drill cannot be held, a report in the log book must be made stating the circumstances[3].

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mu

[CatBuilder]

What bugs me is I keep reading (even in the CNN article), that the company and captain claim 300 meters 1000ft, from shore at impact.

I wouldn't take a catamaran with a 2ft draft up the coast of an island at 1000 ft out. I know I'm an anal.navigator, but I have never felt you can trust charts 100% and should err on the side of caution and improve your chances by keeping to deep water whenever possible.

There is always going to be some "uncharted" something or other, so you make sure you have 50ft of water between you and the supposed bottom.

This technique has kept me from ever grounding in 20+ years. Ok, once in the intracoastal when the channel was filled with a pile of sand, but that is an oddball situation.

Very poor seamanship, imo, to be skirting an island 300 meters out.

[michael pierzga]

As for the captain being the LAST TO ABANDON SHIP...that sounds like fairy tail safety. If you have 1000 passengers in the water it very well might be wise for the captain to abandon ship and use his skills and command knowledge to supervise the 1000 person flotilla in escape craft, floating in the darkess..

[Yobarnacle]

Originally Posted by daiquiri

Wrong link. This is the article:

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/15/wo...ons/index.html

Thanks. Already considering new regulations. Efficiency in government!