'Harrowing experience' for passengers

[Lily]

"Three people are confirmed dead after a cruise ship carrying more than 4,000 people ran aground off Italy.

There were scenes of panic as the Costa Concordia hit a sandbar on Friday evening near the island of Giglio and listed about 20 degrees.

Most people reached land by lifeboats but some swam to shore.

The BBC's Alan Johnston said it must have been an extraordinarily harrowing experience for passengers on board."

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16562270

apnews.myway.com//article/20120115/D9S93D782.html

[Lily]

The captain's in jail.

"Prosecutors who are investigating the captain for manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing a shipwreck stepped up their scathing criticism of his conduct."

apnews.myway.com//article/20120116/D9SA6H3G0.html

[Lily]

"ROME (AP) - Italian coast guard officials say the number of people missing from the shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner has risen to 29.

A top coast guard official, Marco Brusco, said on state TV that 25 passengers and four crew members are unaccounted for three days after the ship crashed into a reef off the Tuscan coast and capsized.

Earlier in the day that number stood at 16.

Brusco didn't immediately explain the rise.

But at least three Italian families have said that even though their loved ones have been listed among those safely evacuated, they hadn't heard any word from their relatives.

Brusco indicated about 10 Germans were among the 29 missing. He says he holds a "glimmer of hope" that some of the missing might have survived."

apnews.myway.com//article/20120116/D9SA9IRO0.html

[Lily]

This disaster just gets worse and worse. What a shame for all the wildlife living in the area.

"ROME (AP) - Italy's cruise liner tragedy turned into an environmental crisis Monday, as rough seas battering the stricken mega-ship raised fears that fuel might leak into pristine waters off Tuscany that are part of a protected sanctuary for dolphins, porpoises and whales."


apnews.myway.com//article/20120116/D9SA9TGG0.html

[BlueLotus]

"...fears that fuel might leak into pristine waters..." I thought I read that they had pumped out the fuel to avoid such a disaster?

[Lily]

"ROME (Reuters) - The Italian coast guard angrily ordered the captain of the capsized Italian cruise ship to go back aboard to oversee the evacuation, But he did not, according to a recording of their dramatic exchange played on national television.

The recording reflected the chaos and confusion in the minutes after the Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,000 passengers and crew, hit a rock off the Tuscany coast Friday night and keeled over.

Captain Francesco Schettino, who had already taken to a lifeboat, can be heard talking to Gregorio De Falco, a coast guard official based in the western Italian port of Livorno.

Eleven people have been confirmed killed and 23 are still missing."

news.yahoo.com/coast-guard-ordered-ship-captain-back-board-124134509.html

[Lily]

"ROME (AP) - An Italian coast guard official vehemently demanded that the captain go back to his crippled cruise ship to oversee its evacuation, but the captain repeatedly resisted, according to a shocking audiotape made public Tuesday.

Prosecutors have accused Capt. Francesco Schettino of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning his ship before all passengers were evacuated during the grounding of the Costa Concordia cruise ship off the Tuscan coast on Friday night.

The death toll nearly doubled to 11 on Tuesday when divers extracted five more bodies from the ship's wreckage. All were adults wearing life jackets and were found in rear of the ship near an emergency evacuation point, according to Italian Coast Guard Cmdr. Cosimo Nicastro. He said they were thought to have been passengers."

apnews.myway.com//article/20120117/D9SARVK80.html

[Lily]

"The captain of a capsized cruise liner reportedly sailed the ship close to the rocky shores of Giglio to please his head waiter who comes from the island, Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera reported Monday. (OMG! )

Officials and witnesses said earlier that the disaster may have been caused by a risky practice of close-passing the island of Giglio in a foghorn-blasting salute to the local population."

www.foxnews.com/world/2012/01/15/third-person-found-alive-after-search-for-survivors-deadly-shipwreck-resumes/

[BlueLotus]

Why does none of that surprise me?

Pffft, those poor people!
Hope he understands how karma works because he just jacked his all up one side and down the other!

[Lily]

"Captain being placed under house arrest."

apnews.myway.com//article/20120117/D9SATCGG0.html

[Lily]

A disaster like this is bad enough when due to natural causes such as weather, etc. and could not be avoided. But this boggles the mind in its utter stupidity. It was so unnecessary!

[Lily]

I've been on a couple of cruises (Alaska), one on the Holland America line, (Dutch officers) and the other on the Royal Viking. (Norwegian officers) Both were impressive. And you just knew that if a tragedy did occur they would not desert the ship. They would remain until all the passengers had been assisted to safety.

I was also on three transatlantic voyages, on a Polish ship. While not as luxurious as the other ones, and despite some language barriers, the officers seemed efficient. I recall the captain took a detour of around 500 miles to avoid the worst of a pretty horrible storm. (It was December) There was a tour of inspection every day when the captain marched around with a couple of officers checking that everything was as it should be. They were clearly ex military. And we had lots of lifeboat drills. There again, I can't imagine this captain deserting the ship, ever!

[Lily]

"Italian cruise ship tally: 11 dead, 21 missing"

OMG, this is a terrible tragedy. That captain should be strung up from the yardarm! As it is he faces 12 years in prison. But the way he deserted the sinking ship, don't be too surprised if he scarpers again. He's out of prison now and under house arrest in his home near Naples. I don't imagine it would be too difficult for him to do a bunk from there. As one senior Italian judge asked: "Why is he not still in prison?" Good question.

apnews.myway.com//article/20120118/D9SBHK383.html

[BlueLotus]

ROFL have you heard the latest. The captain now says he "tripped and fell into the life boat"
What a loser! I hope someone catches him in a dark alleyway.

[Lily]

Jan 18, 2012 16:46:57 GMT -5 BlueLotus said:

ROFL have you heard the latest. The captain now says he "tripped and fell into the life boat.

Yeah right, and I'm the Sultan of Brunei.