Costa Concordia runs aground and capsizes off Italian coast

[mrslinarcos]

And this is a very close up view of CONCORDIA, I'm surprised not one thing has been done yet. Just wondering what the hold up is.
Here is the new cam view:
http://thelastsalute.eu/

[mrslinarcos]

Sarcastic news was published by "La Stampa" (here the version of Sky News):

"Costa Concordia Captain Francesco Schettino is planning a book in which he will tell his version of the events that lead to the wreck of his cruise ship, an Italian newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Schettino, who is under house arrest near Naples, has clinched a deal for the book with a US publisher, Turin daily La Stampa said without naming the publisher. (...)

In the book, Schettino, 52, will also unveil details of his relations with other crew members and a 25-year-old Moldovan dancer with whom he allegedly dined shortly before the accident, La Stampa said."

This guy is so stupid! I think he may not publish details of a case which is under investigation of the court?

If I were him, I wouldn't even tempt it now.

[pakarang]

Some close-up shots of the wreck of the ship taken recently:

http://maritimematters.com/2012/06/c...-mike-tattoli/

[ombugge]

Looks like they are getting started with the salvage operation by preparing rock anchors ashore and clearing the decks for retaining cables.
The barge Micopri 61 is on location lifting equipment on and off the wreck.

[Clipper]

Pictures of Micoperi 61 and more information (in Italian) about here role here.

My best effort at making sense of an auto-translation :

Piling platform Micoperi 61 arrives

13 June 2012

Micoperi 61, a rectangular platform of 40.5m by 28.65m with four extensible 47 m 'legs' of 1.8 m diameter allowing work at up to 32 m depth and owned by the Titan Micoperi consortium, arrived this afternoon at Giglio Porto where she was put on station adjacent to the Costa Concordia. The platform will be instrumental in the profiling and piling of the seabed as part of the preparatory phase of work, in which an arrestor system for Concordia will be established. The first stage [of the first phase?] is scheduled to complete no later than 31 August [2012].

[ombugge]

Pictures of Micoperi 61 and more information (in Italian) about here role here.

My best effort at making sense of an auto-translation :

The Micoperi 61 can be seen on some webcam picture, placed between the shoreline and the wreck. She has a crane which can be used for piling work, as well as other lifting operations.

I loaded this one on a heavy lift ship in Sikka, Gulf of Kutch, India some years ago. She had been used to support construction of a pier at a new refinery there.

Here is specs and a couple of pictures, if anybody is interested: http://www.micoperi.it/new1/micoperi-61/

[Clipper]

I loaded this one on a heavy lift ship in Sikka, Gulf of Kutch, India some years ago.

Wow!

Here is specs and a couple of pictures, if anybody is interested: http://www.micoperi.it/new1/micoperi-61/

Thank you for that.

On the same page, the article about DLB Seminole says "... installation of a new firing line ...". Do you happen to know, does this mean a pipe laying system?

[ombugge]

Wow!
Thank you for that.
On the same page, the article about DLB Seminole says "... installation of a new firing line ...". Do you happen to know, does this mean a pipe laying system?

Yes "firing line" is the term used to describe the area where pipe sections are welded together, x-ray taken and finally launched over the stern.
I have posted pictures of typical arrangement in the Firing line somewhere on CVF before. (Can't remember where and when)

[pakarang]

Looking at these images, it seems like the Concordia's radar mast has been removed:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...en-vessel.html

[ombugge]

This just in:

The latest investigations showed that the tragic accident of the cruise ship have indicated that the vessel's Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) was not working before the accident, according to information in the Italian press.

VDR hadn't been operational since the start of this year, 4 days before the tragedy that caused the dead of 32 people, and that no data at all was recorded after 11.36pm on 13 January.

Data was available only on the ship's computer, investigators don't know what happened onboard.

Information from the report shows that e-mails were sent from the Costa technical department to the company responsible for the maintenance of the VDR showing that a decision had been taken to defer repairs on the system until the ship was scheduled to arrive at the port of Savona on January 14.

Other e-mails revealed that the technical problems with the VDR were ongoing.
Costa Crociere has denied that the VDR was not operational, and Corriere della Sera has quoted the company as informing that "The black box was giving an error code that absolutely does not imply that the Voyage Data Recorder (VDR) was not working."

There is no international law or legal order that is forbidding to a ship to sail in these conditions.

Is there a cover up going on here???

[kiki42]

I noticed on Cruise Ships Facebook page , the house arrest has been lifted for the Captain.

[ombugge]

The captain is trying to blame the grounding on one or more of his Officer(s): http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...t-crashed.html

Claiming that he was not "In Command" at the time is plain stupid and may be due to bad translation or interpretation by the reporter.

The Master is ALWAYS in command and ultimately responsible, even if he was not directly giving the orders at the time.

If he was NOT actually in control of his ship when closing an island to within a few hundred meters at night and at nearly full speed, he was negligent of his duties.

The fact that his officers and some of the crew "mutinied" and started evacuation BEFORE he gave the order shows that he was not actually "In Command" -or in control- after the event, which he should have been.

His claim to have steered the ship towards shore and thus saved hundreds of lives does not hold up, based on the fact that he had no power available to influence the drift of the vessel, nor where she stranded.

No matter his previous records as a Master of this and other ships, he showed total disregard to safety and good seamanship. By trying to blame others he just confirm his new nickname.

PS>

A court hearing is due on July 21 at which the full results of technical analysis of the cruiser's black box and other instruments will be revealed

[pakarang]

Saw in the papers (news) today that the large rock we have seen embedded in the shipside will be turned into a memorial for the lives lost in the disaster.

Not sure where the memorial will be.

[mrslinarcos]

On an interview on the Today Show, it was recorded earlier in the day....Captain Schettino said he was aware of the rock...why is he conflicting what he's been saying? First he says the rock wasn't on the map, now he says he's aware of it...I'm not sure what to believe.

[ombugge]

On an interview on the Today Show, it was recorded earlier in the day....Captain Schettino said he was aware of the rock...why is he conflicting what he's been saying? First he says the rock wasn't on the map, now he says he's aware of it...I'm not sure what to believe.

I cannot see the interview here due to some restrictions, but it may be available in other places. Here is a link: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/481941...my-conscience/

According to the text on the site he keep on insisting that the electronic chart he used was inaccurate and showed less water then what was actually there. He did not specify how far from the expose rock he is referring to, but the water depth can easily be verified by running a survey of the area, which I believe has already been done.

He also claims that there was something wrong with the compass, which is plain stupid. There would have been more than one gyro on a ship like this, plus that the actual course over ground would have been shown on the chart display, based on GPS positions taken every few seconds.

But here is the best one:

He claims that his decision to turn the ship closer to land actually saved lives rather than caused the wreck.
“Otherwise we would have collided straight bounce on the rocks and that case there really would die thousands of persons,’’ he said.

If he hadn't been heading directly towards the island at near full speed, but turned at a reasonable distance away, this would not have been in the world news, as there would have been no incident to report on.

If the ship had hit the rocks bow on at 15 kts. there would have been sever damages and probably some injuries from falls and fallen objects etc. but the hull damages would have been in a less sensitive part of the ship than the Generator room and would also most likely have been limited to two watertight compartments, which is smaller at the bow, and would have uniformly flooded on both sided.
Most likely the ship would have been so hard aground that she could not sink anyhow.

Again he claim to have stumbled and fallen into the lifeboat while helping passengers to boards. What was he doing there at a relatively early stage of the evacuation? His place was on the Bridge and "In Command", directing his officers and crew to help passengers boarding lifeboats and to launch them safely.

He also claim that he could not get back on board his vessel although "he tried to persuade another boat to bring him back". If he, as the Master, could not "persuade" his crew to follow his instructions then something is not right.
Besides, his Second in Command apparently happen to have fallen into the same lifeboat. Couldn't the two of them have pushed away the Coxswain and taken control of the lifeboat themselves?

Looks like to me that this guy, by granting interviews like this, is making a noose for his own neck.

I read somewhere that according to Italian Law he faces a maximum sentence of 2,500 years in prison. If so, he will be a VERY old man before he see daylight again.

[Steve.B]

Very well said, Ombugge, the guy really should not be saying anything unless it is through his lawyers.

And i totally agree, i feel it would have been much better if he had actually hit the reef head on instead of turning away. very much the same way the titanic may well have survived if she had hit the iceberg head on rather than the glancing blow that tore down the side and flooded many compartments. But i should imagine that in such situations human instinct would tell you to at least try to steer away from danger. But, having said that, at the end of the day that ship should not have been anywhere near that rocky coastline, there's a big difference between hitting an iceberg that had roamed much further south than normal, and hitting a well charted reef a few dozen yards off a rocky coastline!

[ombugge]

Very well said, Ombugge, the guy really should not be saying anything unless it is through his lawyers.

And i totally agree, i feel it would have been much better if he had actually hit the reef head on instead of turning away. very much the same way the titanic may well have survived if she had hit the iceberg head on rather than the glancing blow that tore down the side and flooded many compartments. But i should imagine that in such situations human instinct would tell you to at least try to steer away from danger. But, having said that, at the end of the day that ship should not have been anywhere near that rocky coastline, there's a big difference between hitting an iceberg that had roamed much further south than normal, and hitting a well charted reef a few dozen yards off a rocky coastline!

No doubt it is human nature to try to steer away from a situation like this. If he had done so just a minute or so earlier he may have made it, missing the rock outcrop by inches maybe, but "a miss is as good as a mile".
Maybe even a few seconds would have made a difference. Damages may have been limited to the propeller and rudder on Port side and flooding of smaller compartments at the stern.

At the time the decision was taken and the order given, whether by the Master of the Officer of the watch, it was too late to do anything else than turn "hard astarbord".
Reversing power would have had no affect in the short time it took before impact.

Making split second decisions is part of the job as Master of a ship, but is luckily not required every day.

[Steve.B]

More action taking place at the wreck site. Maybe site preparations for the cradle install? Plus they seem to be removing more of the structures on the top decks.

View from the port webcam this morning. Does not look like tourism is affected at all by the wreck judging by the amount of small craft in the area.

[ombugge]

Latest on the Costa Concordia hearing and possible court case against the Captain and several others: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19590626

[ombugge]

Something good and realistic eventually came out of this disaster:
http://www.naftrade.com/7/post/2012/...mber_169998095

I agree with this "award". Unfortunately some of them died in the process.
Where were their illustrious "leaders"?????
Well, it appears that they happened to have stumble into a lifeboat they couldn't command.