Costa Concordia

ITALY-SHIPPING-DISASTER-CONCORDIA-ANNIVERSARY

Overview –

The Costa Concordia disaster was the partial sinking of the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia when it ran aground at Isola del Giglio, Tuscany, on 13 January 2012 with the loss of 32 lives. The ship, carrying 4,252 people from all over the world, was on the first leg of a cruise around the Mediterranean Sea, starting from Civitavecchia in Lazio, when she hit a reef during an unofficial near-shore salute to the local islanders. To perform this manoeuvre, Captain Francesco Schettino had deviated from the ship’s computer-programmed route, claiming that he was familiar with the local seabed.

The collision with the reef could be heard onboard and caused a temporary power blackout when water flooded the engine room. The captain, having lost control of the ship, did nothing to contact the nearby harbour for help but tried to resume the original course it was on prior to the U-turn back to Giglio. In the end, he had to order evacuation when the ship grounded after an hour of listing and partly drifting. Meanwhile, the harbour authorities had been alerted by worried passengers, and vessels were sent to the rescue. During a six-hour evacuation, most passengers were brought ashore. The search for missing people continued for several months, with all but two being accounted for.

Costa Concordia, operated by Costa Cruises, is one of the largest ships ever to be abandoned and she dominated international media in the days after the disaster. Schettino was arrested on preliminary charges of manslaughter in connection with causing a shipwreck, failing to assist 300 passengers, and failing to be the last to leave the wreck. He was later charged with failing to describe to maritime authorities the scope of the disaster and with abandoning incapacitated passengers.Costa Cruises offered compensation to passengers (to a limit of €11,000 a person) to pay for all damages including the value of the cruise. One-third of the passengers took this offer. The company also at first offered to pay Captain Schettino’s legal costs but later declined.

There were immediate fears of an ecological disaster, as the partially submerged wreck was in danger of slipping into much deeper water, with a risk of oil pollution that would have devastated this popular tourist zone. This event was averted, with all the fuel and oil being extracted safely by 24 March 2012. Costa Concordia has been officially declared a “constructive total loss” by the insurance company, with her salvage expected to be the biggest operation of its kind (the ship’s tonnage is 114,137 GT). On 16 September 2013, the parbuckle salvage of the ship began. The operation started late due to bad weather, and the wreck was set upright in the early hours of September 17. The ship is due to be refloated and towed away to be cut up for scrap.

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Timeline –

January 13, 2012

The liner sets sail from the port of Civitavecchia near Rome, carrying 4,229 people from 70 countries. Many passengers are sitting down to dinner when the ship strikes a rocky outcrop off the Tuscan island of Giglio, after captain Francesco Schettino orders a sail-by. The blackout sparks panic and the ship begins to list. Evacuation gets under way in the darkness more than an hour after the collision, by which point the lifeboats on one side of the tilting liner are unusable. People jump into the freezing waters to escape while Schettino is found ashore.

January 13, 2012

The liner sets sail from the port of Civitavecchia near Rome, carrying 4,229 people from 70 countries. Many passengers are sitting down to dinner when the ship strikes a rocky outcrop off the Tuscan island of Giglio, after captain Francesco Schettino orders a sail-by. The blackout sparks panic and the ship begins to list. Evacuation gets under way in the darkness more than an hour after the collision, by which point the lifeboats on one side of the tilting liner are unusable. People jump into the freezing waters to escape while Schettino is found ashore.

January 14

Prosecutors detain Schettino and his first officer on charges of manslaughter and abandoning ship, as survivors tell of scenes “like the Titanic”.

January 17

Schettino is released and placed under house arrest at his home on the Amalfi Coast near Naples.

Italian media leak a transcript of a telephone conversation during the evacuation between a shaken Schettino on shore and a furious port official who orders him to “get back on board for f—‘s sake”.

January 27

Costa Crociere, the ship’s owner, agrees to pay uninjured passengers at least 11,000 euros each in compensation.

February 12

Salvage workers begin pumping 2,400 tons of fuel from the liner in a bid to avoid an oil slick off Giglio’s pristine coastline.

May

The plan to remove the beached wreck of the Concordia is unveiled. Floating the vessel, which weighs 114,500 tons and is the length of almost three football fields, will be the biggest ever salvage operation of a passenger ship. The plan is delayed to September 2013.

September

A pretrial report says Costa may have failed to act promptly in the disaster, while still heaping much of the blame on Schettino – “Captain Coward” and “Italy’s most hated man” for the local press.

April 10, 2013

Costa Crociere accepts limited responsibility for the disaster and is controversially fined just one million euros. It will no longer be investigated in criminal court over the disaster.

July 17

The trial of Schettino begins in the city of Grosseto. He requests a plea bargain deal, saying he is ready to serve three years and five months in prison.

July 20

A court accepts plea bargains for five other suspects – the head of ship owner Costa Crociere’s crisis unit, the luxury liner’s Indonesian helmsman, Schettino’s deputy and two more crew members. The prison sentences range from six months to two years and 10 months.

September 16

Salvage workers begin attempt to raise the ship.

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Commercial Diver Work –

Much of the underwater work is being done by the 111 specially-trained salvage divers from 8 different countries, speaking different languages. The commercial divers are geared up with communication equipment, a camera, a light, air, backup air, a support team of at least 5 people on deck and are under the constant watch of a dive supervisor.

Although each diver has a 45 minute maximum in the water, divers rotate in and out and are working around the clock, along with the rest of the crew on this project 24 hours a day – 7 days a week.

The crew is also working against Mother Nature. Bad weather and winter storms weaken the structure and threaten to ruin the entire operation. Right now, the time frame is to rotate the ship next summer.

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Infographic –

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