News Update Costa Concordia Accident Cruise Ship Sunk 2012 Disaster (AIS data video)
About the history of events leading to the Concordia tragedy and the latest news on Costa Concordia disaster. The Costa cruise ship Costa Concordia sunk on the evening of Friday 13th (this combination again), off the Tuscan West Coast of Italy near the island of Giglio. The Costa Concordia sinking is a tragedy - lost lives, huge financial losses, and also as a major cruise ship safety issue. The Concordia ship general specifications: gross tonnage 114,500 tons, length 952 ft (290 m), max passenger capacity 3,780 guests and 1,100 staff and crew, maiden voyage July 14th 2006. Its owner - the Costa Cruceros brand, is a subsidiary of the largest cruise ship company in the world - Carnival Corporation & PLC. The Europe's cheapest passenger cruise ship travel operator, Costa cruise company operates predominantly in the Mediterranean with a fleet of 15 big cruise ships.
The hour of the Costa Concordia tragedy was 22:00 local time (UTC+1), 2 hours after the ship cruise had begun from Civitavecchia (the port for Rome) on a 8-day round-trip itinerary, scheduled to visit Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Caligari and Palermo.
Above video is based on historical AIS data provided by VesselFinder.com
As witnesses report "it all started with a loud bang, the huge ship shuddered to a halt, plunged into darkness". This was the beginning of the 2 long hours of panic. It must have been a Titanic-like experience for all the 3206 passengers and 1023 crew members on board the unfortunate ship when she starts to sink. News teams reported some of the passengers jumped overboard and swam to shore as the vessel took on a 20-30 degree list to starboard presenting a real danger of sinking. As to nationality, most of the passengers were Italians (989), 569 Germans, 462 French, Spanish (177), 129 US citizens. Now the Concordia cruise ship is capsized, resting against a small breakwater.
The Money talks. One of the most expensive cruise ships in the world, the Costa Concordia cost to build is US $570 million (euro 450 million). And the sunken Costa cruise liner could become "the biggest insured loss in maritime history". The vessel was insured for US $513 million (euro 405 mill), the list of insurers includes XL, RSA, Generali, Allianz. Experts expect the insurance loss from the ship to be between US $500 million and $1 billion. While these numbers are big enough, they could grow even bigger if over 2,300 tons of fuel on the ship start to leak - in such a case a substantial pollution liability claim would be issued. This possibility was the reason the Carnival Corp shares to plummet by 18% on the London Stock Exchange. Carnival officials said the Costa Concordia sinking will cost the company from US $155 to $175 million (euro 118 to 133 million), including insurance deductibles and loss of use. Because of the Concordia disaster, Carnival considers lowering the cruise prices fleet-wide to keep up bookings, which will lower the company's net revenue for this fiscal year, and the earnings per share.
Investigation reports show the Concordia's notorious captain Francesco Schettino veered from the approved ship course and approached Giglio to perform a "salute" to a former Costa Cruceros captain. Mr Schettino turned off the alarm for the computer navigation system and navigated the ship "by sight". He obviously ordered to turn too late, the ship ended up in too shallow water where struck a rock from the Le Scole reef, tearing open an almost 160 ft (50m) gash in the hull. Captain Schettino remains under house arrest, facing charges of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck by unauthorised and unapproved deviation from the course and abandoning his ship before all passengers were off.
As a direct result from this so absurd accident, there is a currently ongoing review of the European Union's passenger ships safety legislation, in particular prioritizing on the issues of stability and design of passenger ships and crew and staff training, more specifically - safe operations and emergency evacuation procedures.
Last Updated: 16 February
The death toll is 17 (6 German, 4 French, 3 Italian, 2 Peruvian, 1 Spanish, 1 Hungarian), 15 are still missing (6 Germans, 4 Italians (including a 5-year-old girl), 2 French, 2 Americans from Minnesota, 1 Indian). The sunken Concordia may have had unregistered passengers on board, as well. On January 31 authorities officially ended the search for bodies in the submerged parts of the Concordia wreckage - the deformed hull and bad underwater conditions have been deemed too dangerous for divers. Searching continues in waters up to 7 sq miles around the ship.
Costa Cruceros offers EUR 11,000 (nearly US $15,000) per passenger as compensation for all damages, and will reimburse them the full cruise cost along with all travel expenses and any medical expenses after the accident. And naturally, when an opportunity presents itself - 6 of the passengers are now suing Carnival and demand compensation totaling US $460 million (the lawsuit had been filed in a Miami court).
On 26 January started the fuel-pumping preparations. Workers of the contractor for the fuel-extracting (the Dutch shipwreck salvage firm SMIT International) hitched to the toppled vessel a barge with a crane and other equipment and started underwater inspections for the precise locations of all the 17 fuel-tanks of Concordia, containing nearly 2 million litres of heavy diesel fuel. Experts have identified an initial 6 fuel tanks (containing more than 50% of the ship's fuel) that'll be worked on. The procedure would take 2-4 weeks, and generally consists of drilling into the tanks, attaching valves onto them, then the sludge-like oil must be heated, then hoses will be attached to the valves to vacuum out the oil as seawater is pumped into to displace it.
The fuel extraction started on February 11, and it is an almost entirely weather-dependent process. The position of the half-submerged cruise liner offers some relief - it's on the Italian coast side of Giglio, so it's relatively sheltered from getting really heavy seas. After pumping the fuel out, the ship must be uprighted and when afloat to be towed.
The fate of Costa Concordia. - one of the largest cruise ships in the world and a really great entertainment ship. On 3 February was decided that the ship will not be cut in pieces, but "will be refloated and removed whole". The words of Costa Cruceros CEO mr Fischi on the subject are "We believe that the wreck can no longer be put in use". The recovery of the Costa Concordia will be the largest ever ventured. The ship's salvage is expected to take from 7 to 10 months, 10 salvage firms will bid for the contract, which will be awarded by late March.
The ominous Concordia - facts to fiction. The date was Friday 13th (oh, boy) and the year is 2012 (some noticed that RMS Titanic sank almost exactly 100 years ago - on April 14th 1912). The name is Concordia (some remembered the Concorde aircraft crash on July 25th 2000). And of course, the inauspicious launch - the failure of the ceremonial Champagne bottle to break on the bow of the new ship on September 2nd 2005.
We wish happy and safe cruising to all adventurous souls. Do not allow sad events to dim the joy of life. Embrace the inevitable, hope for the best, be grateful for everything in your life.
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