Italy cruise ship Costa Concordia aground near Giglio

I'm sure you all have heard the latest:

In a translation released by Reuters, Gregorio De Falco, the port captain at Livorno, is heard ordering Schettino - who said he was in a lifeboat - back to the Costa Concordia:
Coast Guard: "Listen Schettino, there are people trapped on board. Now you need to go on your life boat, under the bow of the ship on the side. There is a ladder. You need to climb up the ladder and board the ship. Get on board and report to me how many people there are. Is that clear?. . . . "
Schettino: "At this moment the ship is tilted."
Coast Guard: "I understand. Listen, there are people who are coming down the ladder on the bow. Go back in the opposite direction, get back on the ship, and tell me how many people there are and what they have on board. . . . Tell me if there are children, women and what type of help they need. And you tell me the number of each of these categories. Is that clear? . . . Listen Schettino, perhaps you have saved yourself from the sea but I will make you look very bad. I will make you pay for this. Dammit, go back on board!"
Schettino: "Please . . . "
Coast Guard: "There is no please about it. Go back on board. Assure me you are going back on board!"
Schettino: "I am in the life boat, under the ship, I haven't gone anywhere, I'm here."
Coast Guard: "What are you doing?"
Schettino: "I am coordinating . . . "
Coast Guard: "What are you coordinating there? Go on board! Coordinate the rescue from on board! Are you refusing?"
Schettino: "No, I am not refusing."
Coast Guard: "Tell me the reason why you are not going back on board."
Schettino: "There is another life boat ... "
Coast Guard: "You go back on board! That is an order! There is nothing else for you to consider. You have sounded the 'abandon ship.' Now I am giving the orders. Go back on board. Is that clear? Don't you hear me?"
Schettino: "I am going on board."
Coast Guard: "Go! Call me immediately when you are on board. My rescue people are in front of the bow."

The Coast Guard said Schettino defied their entreaties to return to his ship as the chaotic evacuation of some 4,200 people was in progress.

unbelievable.

source

If you read their track record it's appalling to say the least, near misses, crashing into piers etc.......

Originally posted by bigyin
reply to post by scotsdavy1

 

hmmm ... ic... well I just thought I would mention it.

Maybe I heard him wrong. The programme will be on HERE soon

Ok I've had time to review the programme aand if you go to the LINK at around 16:12 the article talks about the fact that the ship was on it's normal route and in fact the ship had sailed closer to the shore on previous occasions so there was no reason for anyone to expect there to be rocks.

There does seem to be conflicting information coming out about this.

Originally posted by bigyin

Originally posted by bigyin
reply to post by scotsdavy1

 

hmmm ... ic... well I just thought I would mention it.

Maybe I heard him wrong. The programme will be on HERE soon

Ok I've had time to review the programme aand if you go to the LINK at around 16:12 the article talks about the fact that the ship was on it's normal route and in fact the ship had sailed closer to the shore on previous occasions so there was no reason for anyone to expect there to be rocks.

There does seem to be conflicting information coming out about this.

Judge Montesarchio said the 51-year-old captain admitted that he deviated from the ship’s programmed route, coming 0.28 nautical miles from the coast. He then allegedly refused pleas from a Coast Guard official to return to the ship, the document shows. He “underestimated the damage” and gave the evacuation order more than an hour after the ship hit rocks by the island, delaying rescue operations, according to the document.

On Lake Lansing they always put milk jug bouys by the rocks so we know where they are.

You have SO got to be kidding me. Below is a recording of a Costa Concordia officer telling the Coast Guard they've just got a blackout:

Sheer Madness

(—Toggle down the page for the brief text that explains the collision had occurred 30 minutes prior to the call.)


And is if that wasn't enough:

Investigators probe role of young Moldovan woman

Italian investigators are probing the mystery of a young Moldovan woman who was reportedly on the bridge of the Costa Concordia cruise ship when it smashed into rocks off the coast of Giglio island, forcing the evacuation of its 4,200 passengers and crew.

The 25-year-old blonde, identified as Domnica Cemortan, was invited onto the bridge as the cruise liner sailed perilously close to Giglio, in what was apparently a ‘salute’ to an old friend of the captain’s and a favour to the ship’s head waiter, whose family were from the island.

She was reportedly the guest of one of the ship’s officers and may be the woman that passengers saw drinking and chatting with Capt Francesco Schettino on Friday evening, a few hours before the Costa Concordia ran aground.

Italian judicial authorities, who are investigating the accident and the captain’s conduct, want to interview Ms Cemortan, who according to her Facebook page was born in Chisinau, Moldova, and lives in Bucharest, Romania.

They believe she may be able to shed light on what happened on the bridge when the giant cruise ship collided with a rocky outcrop, ripping a massive gash in its hull.

Adding to the mystery, she was reportedly not on the official list of passengers and crews.

As news broke that Italian prosecutors wanted to talk to her, she apparently went online and changed her city of residence from ‘Bucharest, Romania’, to ‘Zanzibar, Tanzania’...

This guy seems so utterly reckless that even the most extreme conspiracy theory starts to look realistic. Taking into account the lengthy denials (at the time) that anything was wrong other than a blackout: could it be that he was deliberately steering the ship onto the rocks so as to be able to claim that in the confusion of a blackout the ship ran aground? I know that may be taking it a bit far, but initial reports were full of his denials that he had done anything wrong. And taking into consideration the reports about what he had been doing before everything went wrong, it also seems highly unlikely he was 100% sober...

BLACKOUT

Reported 20 minutes after it started and lasting for an hour sounds a lot like an EMP blast. True or false, it isn't here we will be able to find out.

GS

Originally posted by Getsmart


BLACKOUT

Reported 20 minutes after it started and lasting for an hour sounds a lot like an EMP blast. True or false, it isn't here we will be able to find out.

GS

Now thats thinking outside the box. Its like "lets test this latest greatest weapon out on a few civilian targets to see how effective it is and there wont be much for us to worry about because most people will never suspect what we're really doing,what really caused this terrible "accident"...I wonder who or whom did it?

And now suddenly this "beautiful blonde" woman,is any one really surprised? Comes out of the woodwork defending the captain and probably lying for him as well,which is exactly why i posted the following about 5 days ago...

It doesnt take much of an imagination to visualize what the captain and some of his crew might have been doing instead of properly controlling the ships course...

reply to post by pause4thought


I really wasn't going to comment on this mess, as the truth seemed quite evident; but after learning of the death of that beautiful four year old girl, I need to vent my anger and discust.

If you have had a chance to work in maritime circles, you begin to realize that corruption is a mantra for these executives, who considerthemselves kings in their own right. This vessle had an agreed upon route that kept it well beyond the dangers of these shoals. These are some of the most travelled upon and pristine waterways, and just about every inch of that tuscany coastline is detailed and documented.

Back in August when this approach was first undertaken, it's sinking would have pushed the second wave of Italian austerity moves out of the news. The actions of the captain would have been justified because of the festival taking place, and the company could have placed blame squarely on him. He takes the fall, insurance cliam of 900 million dollars paid, and the costa company is liquid again.

Miraculously they hit nothing. Lloyds sanctions them for a near miss. Certainly no one would make a second attempt at such a blantant cash grab.

It seems to have become open season on ships. A very old practice of cash by sinking. Anglo-easterns M/T Prem Divya , a fuel ship suffers a "careless torch "welder induced fire. From an actuarial standpoint, the odds of a welding induced fire occuring onboard a feul transport vessle are actually less than onboard a standard dry bulk vessle. This is because the crew are highly vigilant of the likelyhood of explosions. The majority of the losses of these types of fuel transport ships are caused by volumetric shifts which alter the stoichoimetry into a favorable state for combustion, and ofcourse electrical and equipment failures causing fire fall behind respectively.

Then you have M/V rena, a Greek owned vessle, end of it's service life, sanctioned for immediate repairs, suddenly takes a T bone strait in high steem approach, under clear shies, with all systems in apparent function, to an extremly old and well known reef.

It amazes me how disconnected these executive are from the people. They really believe we, the lemmings, are too stupid to know the difference between negligence and a strategy of fraudulence and greed. To make a second attempt is just arrogance.

Notice how captain coward blames everything under the sun accept Costa, and Costa puts the blame solely on the captain. Classic fall guy strategy. Now watch, he'll "hang himself from grief" and dissappear from the limelight.

Nevermind the 70 truckloads of fuel waiting to spill over those that historic coastline, nevermind the total disregard for the ecosystem, it'll get fixed at a tremendous cost, and companies like Smit will be living high on the hog. Claims will get paid, Lloyds will put up the pretense of disputing the claim, but will settle up in a back room. And besides, the second attempt made many people rich from the losses to it's American parent company.

What about that four year old girl. Drowing in the cold waters on a January night. How much is that worth.

This is your new world order. These are their chosen leaders. This is why we revolt. No amount of money will ever justify taking a new bride from her husband and a child from its parents.


AX
FTNWO

Oh and I heard the Captain put ashore with the contents of the main safe, so that will spark the endless treasure stories.

reply to post by AlphaExray


That was a truly powerful post. Very poignant. And completely apropos.

Back in August when this approach was first undertaken, it's sinking would have pushed the second wave of Italian austerity moves out of the news... Miraculously they hit nothing...

Agreed:





Have you seen this too?





(There is at least one more in a similar vein.)

Lloyds sanctions them for a near miss.

Wow — did that actually happen?!

Frankly there is so much in your post to ponder it has left me pretty speechless.

What about that four year old girl. Drowing in the cold waters on a January night. How much is that worth.

May she rest in peace.

(And may the truth come out.)

reply to post by AlphaExray


So many times...

just follow the money.

Evil bastards.

I don't know if it's live, but if you google it, you can get a web cam shot of the harbour and the ship lying on its side.
A woman has been found dead in a corridor wearing a life jacket making the total so far to 12.
Ship is to the left of the pic and it is live......


Harbour

Can anybody explain to me why the damage on the Costa Concodia looks old and rusty?

I've been trying to work this out since the accident happened and can't find the answers.

Please look at the below pictures and let me know your thoughts.

There is no shiny metal, there is rust all over the parts that should be shiny.

reply to post by scotsdavy1
Kind of weird that this cruise ship incident was almost exactly 100 years from when the titanic and most of its passengers went to their watery graves in april 1912...

reply to post by deanjames88
I think that this cruise ship and perhaps every ship thats in salt water all the time will aquire surface rust on their hulls,because i dont think their hulls are made out of stainless steel because its too expensive,but i could be wrong?

Originally posted by AlphaExray
reply to post by pause4thought

 

It amazes me how disconnected these executive are from the people. They really believe we, the lemmings, are too stupid to know the difference between negligence and a strategy of fraudulence and greed.

Its money that makes our fallen world spin round and those gangster executives and their shady lawyers and whoever else could care less if the mainstream knows what they are doing.Because they know that the average person is powerless to do anything against their nefarious ways.They know they'll still get their expensive wines and lots of loose women to enjoy in their new sports cars and mansions no matter how loud the public outcry is.There are a lot more people than we would like to know who will do anything for an envelope filled with $100 bills...

reply to post by blocula


But surely some of that rust would have been scraped off by rocks and left bare metal.

Its all rust!

Originally posted by deanjames88
reply to post by blocula

 

But surely some of that rust would have been scraped off by rocks and left bare metal.

Its all rust!

Oh i see,so what your saying is that the hole,meaning the metal in and around the hole,looks too old? Too rusted?

Not to dispel any strange suspicions, but the Mediterranean is one of the saltiest seas in the world, and surface rust happens as soon as the low grade irons used in huge ships such as this are exposed to salt and ambient air. It doesn't surprise me, even after a few short days.


GS

reply to post by blocula


Yes and that rust was showing straight away on all photos of the accident from day 1, would it rust that quickly?