Last voyage for Costa Concordia cruise ship

Prize for calm in a crisis goes to the American woman who was heard yelling "this is not happening, this is not happening !!!!!

 

Sonar?

Do these cruise ships not employ sonar? Even if the captain were in dangerous waters, why would not the sonar have shown he was about to sideswipe rocks on his port side?

 

Yeah, that's why I didn't join in any captain bashing. He really blew the navigation and caused the accident, but I don't think we really know what happened yet after they put the ship in shallow water to list (and not sink). There is much more to be learned.

 

You said a mouthful there CB. We don't know what happened and may never have the full story.

-Tom

 

Maybe he shouldn't be tarred and feathered just yet--while the buck stops with the Captain-- was he like the Captain of the Titanic prodded a little by some company man or majour shareholder on board to get a little closer to the Island. I recall in the Titanic situation all the books and films hinted strongly at the fact they were out to win the Ribbon come hell or high water. I'll stand corrected but in addition to the Captain, the ships designer and majour shareholder were also on board. This plus no doubt the White Star Line ,company itself were certainly hopefull of such. Captain Smith was also in a little hot water from the Titanic's Sistership-Olympics bottom being torn up on her maden voyage so would have taken some risks to redeem himself. This seems to be born out by the fact he didn't slow down after being warned about ice. In this case (thread) was it company prodding and quazi policy to encourage in close passing of the island or Islands to increase the visibility of the ships name(advertisement). If in fact the Captain did abandon ship too early was it as a result of communications with the company to get lost fast. Afterall he is the prime represenitive of the company and prime witness against the company if indeed there was a high level rep. aboard or if it was company policy to pass close in for advertisement purposes. I have a feeling there is more than meets the eye here as this is not a logical sequence of events for professionals to take.
Small tid bit of White Star Line history- On the date of the Titanics sinking the White Star Line did win two world records --
With the Titanic sinking --White Star held the record for having killed the greatest number of it's passingers displacing it's previous greatest record in the 1873 sinking of the SS Atlantic.

 

This would be no defense. Many German officers in Nuremberg were just following orders and got the rope anyway.

 

Captain can't duck responsibility. Can't delegate it away either. Sometimes the authority doesn't rest with the responsibility.
An example.
Commercial deep sea dive vessel. Captain has ultimate responsibility, but. BUT! The JOB SUPERINTENDANT has the authority. He runs the show. And under him are the dive supervisors who also rank higher than the captain. Not by law. But by company policy. Captain is just a chaufeur or elevator operator in this hotel full of divers.

 

Thus the term " The buck stops with the captain" however in cases where the company plays a role direct or otherwise they are held accountable as an accomplice, thus publically reducing total blame on the captain understandable by any working stiff. There are times when one is jammed between a rock and a hard place, a big morgage and a family makes unwilling slaves of many men.

 

The captain was Joy Riding . His course between ports of call was non standard and he had done this many times before ? ???

This means that the Costa Cruise line must have known of his Joy Riding or SHOULD have known of his Joy Riding.

The Italian Coast Guard must have known, should have known ?

AIS tracks everything. Logbooks are kept.

I cant believe that a cruise ship captain has the authority to navigate a non standard route and Joy ride, Gunkhole , like a pleasure boat.


Perhaps Costa Cruise Lines and The Italian Coast Guard can be held responsible for poor oversight and the negligent operation of the ship. ?

 

It an't over till it's over --I'm sure more than one head will roll before it's all said and done--

 

Emergency lighting not required?

Another odd question appears in my mind - Why was there no emergency lighting in the ship's passageways to come on when the power went out? There were many reports of the passageways being in total darkness after whatever happened in the engine room that caused a loss of electrical power. Is emergency lighting not required for passageways and companionways/stairs/ladders in contemporary passenger ships? No building can be built today without emergency lighting in stairways and corridors. Emergency lighting is even required in passenger aircraft. But not ships?

 

on the one hand when something like this happens and there is loss of life its always good to have a scape goat, but on the other its only one report of him staying aboard and many of him leaving people on deck. I guess its a wait and see situation. should be interesting if its a public inquest.

 

It's not over until the fat lady sings.

 

a report was in released in China quoting a female that joined the ship around December who becried all those with a 'shame on you, shame on you, for pointing at her beloved Capt with accusations he had already left the ship.

She claimed he (Capt) stood steadfast and true at the rail of the sinking vessel insisting he would remain until the very last man, women a child had left the boat...but apparently he has an identical twin that had already disembarked only wanting dry warm socks, bugger the sinking liner and passengers, I'm off home for a glass of whatever.

Her story is a bit like chucking fresh horse dropping at an industrial size fan on the wrong side

 

Passenger ships definitely have emergency lighting...both electrified and passive, glow in the dark . How effective this lighting was when 1000 people are crammed into passageways is a good question. Concordia was a modern ship built in Europe so its design and construction would have been "Best Practice". Im sure that safety officials and naval architects are studying the accident to see if " best practise " worked as designed.