- Passengers tell of ‘chaos’ as crew members said ‘go back to your cabins’
- Survivors leapt for their lives into the icy sea as the liner rolled onto its side
- Captain of the ship in custody with another crew member
- Boat was ‘four miles off course’ when it hit rocks
- Bodies of two French passengers and a Peruvian crewman recovered
- One victim, 65, died from heart attack following shock of cold water
- Liner had listed so badly ‘lifeboats had difficulty being launched’
- 37 Britons on board but none believed to have died or been injured
By
Ian Gallagher and Nick Pisa
Last updated at 11:27 PM on 14th January 2012
Divers were last night searching the Italian luxury cruise liner that capsized in the Mediterranean, amid fears that passengers were left trapped inside.
More than 4,000 people were rescued when the Costa Concordia ran aground off the coast of Tuscany on Friday, leaving two passengers and a crew member confirmed dead. But last night up to 40 people were still missing.
The Concordia’s captain, Francesco Schettino, and first officer Ciro Ambrosio were detained last night at the police station in Porto Santo Stefano on the Italian mainland, as they faced continuing questioning about the events leading up to the disaster. Prosecutors are investigating possible charges of multiple manslaughter and abandoning the ship while passengers were still in danger.
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Italian cruise ship ‘Costa Concordia’ carrying more than 4,000 people ran aground and keeled over off the Italian coast near the island of Giglio in Tuscany, Italy, last night
The Costa Concordia after the evacuation off the Itaiian coast had been completed. Tonight Captain Francesco Schettino was being quizzed by police
The cruise ship that ran aground is seen off the west coast of Italy as a helicopter hovers above to try and find passengers
The damage to the vessel can be seen quite clearly
The captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, Francesco Schettino is taken into custody in Grosseto, Italy
Italian news agency Ansa said 4,165 out of the 4,234 people on-board were safe but did not know the whereabouts of the remaining 69
Lifeboats are pictured in the foreground. Among the dead was a man around age 65, who officials believe may not have been able to withstand the cold of the sea at night
Prosecutor Francesco Verusio said the
Concordia had approached the tiny island of Giglio ‘the wrong way’,
while sources said that the 52-year-old captain, from Naples, had
abandoned the ship at around 11.30pm local time – about an hour after it
struck a rocky outcrop and started taking in water – while the last
passengers were not taken to safety until 3am yesterday morning.
As the liner lay virtually flat on its
starboard side last night, a 160ft gash visible on its upturned hull,
rescue workers raised the possibility that there may still be bodies in
the submerged section.
Fire services spokesman Luca Cari said
specialist diving teams would ‘check all the interior spaces of the
ship’ and added: ‘We don’t rule out the possibility that more people
will be lost.’
One report said last night that 29
Filipino kitchen workers were feared trapped in the bowels of the 951ft,
£390 million Concordia.
Last night concerns were raised about the chaos and confusion on board and the delays in evacuating the vessel.
It was also suggested that the passenger list may not have been kept up to date, which might account for some of those missing.
Recounting scenes reminiscent of the
film Titanic, survivors spoke of crawling in darkness along upended
hallways and stairwells as crockery and glasses smashed around them.
The Concordia’s grounding should serve as a wake-up call to the shipping industry and those who regulate it, the maritime professionals’ union Nautilus International said
Passengers spoke of having to crawl along near vertical hallways and stairwells to escape the ship as it began to take on more and more water
There were also reports of passengers
wearing life jackets over evening dress jumping overboard into the cold,
night sea and trying to swim ashore.
One of the most dramatic accounts of
the night came from 22-year-old Rose Metcalf, from Dorset, who was among
the last few people to leave the vessel.
She was one of eight British dancers
working on the Concordia and spoke of hanging on to a water hose which a
friend had tied to the ship’s handrail when it began to list.
Later, after being rescued by
helicopter, she left a message for her father saying: ‘I don’t know how
many are dead. I am alive . . . just. I think I was the last one off.’
All 37 Britons on board were believed safe last night.
The ship was on a Mediterranean cruise
starting from the Italian city of Civitavecchia with scheduled calls at
Savona, Cagliari and Palermo, all also in Italy; Marseilles in France;
and Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
As divers searched areas of the ship that were now underwater, there was some concern for their safety if the vessel shifted.
‘It is a very delicate operation
because the ship might move or sink farther,’ said a spokesman for
Italy’s coastguard. ‘This could endanger the divers, trapping them
inside the wreck.’
Many of the passengers were sitting
down to eat in the Concordia’s restaurants when they heard a loud bang
followed by a ‘terrible groaning’ noise.
Diners were instructed to remain
seated even as the ship began listing. According to the captain, the
ship had an electrical problem. But although it soon became clear that
the problem was far worse, passengers continued to be told for a good 45
minutes that there was a simple technical problem.
Even when the situation became clearer
crew members delayed lowering the lifeboats even though the ship was
listing badly. ‘We had to scream at the controllers to release the boats
from the side,’ said Mike van Dijk, a 54-year-old from Pretoria, South
Africa. ‘We were standing in the corridors and they weren’t allowing us
to get on to the boats. It was a scramble, an absolute scramble.’
Robert Elcombe, 50, from Colchester
but who now lives in Australia, said he and his wife Tracy got into a
life boat – but were ordered out again when staff said it was ‘only a
generator problem’ that could be fixed. He said: ‘But as we got back
inside the ship it tilted so steeply that I had to grab hold of people
to save them as they flew down the corridor. It was real Titanic stuff.
We lost everything: passports, luggage, money. But at least we’re
alive, unlike some people.’
Close-up: A woman looks at the cruise ship as it lies half in the water off the coast of Italy. Three people have been killed
Disaster: The Costa Concordia lies partly submerged this morning after hitting rocks. So passengers were rescued by helicopter
A woman is cared for by a rescue worker and a child is taken to safety. Thousands of people have been affected by the incident
Waiting game: A passenger took this photo of a group of passengers in life-jackets on board the liner as they waited to be rescued
Rescue workers helps a woman as she is lead to safety at Porto Santo Stefano. Lifeboats had difficulty launching
Passengers arrive at Porto Santo Stefano
The evacuees were taking refuge in schools, hotels, and a church on the tiny island of Giglio, a popular holiday isle about 18 miles off Italy’s central west coast
Georgia Ananias, 61, from Los Angeles,
recalled crawling along a hallway as the ship began to upturn. She said
an Argentine couple handed her their three-year-old daughter, as they
were unable to keep their balance. ‘I grabbed the baby. But then I was
being pushed down,’ she said. ‘I didn’t want the baby to fall down the
stairs. I gave the baby back. I couldn’t hold her. I thought that was
the end and I thought they should be with their baby. I wonder where
they are.’
Passengers Alan and Laurie Willits
from Ontario said they were watching the magic show in the ship’s main
theatre when they felt an initial lurch, followed a few seconds later by
a shudder.
They said the ship then listed and the
theatre curtains seemed like they were standing on their side. ‘And
then the magician disappeared,’ said Mr Willits.
When he left the stage it panicked the audience members who fled for their cabins.
LEVIATHANS THAT PLOUGH THE SEAS
Owned by giant US cruise line Carnival, the Costa Concordia is the world’s 26th largest passenger ship.
But despite a 114,500 gross tonnage, 951ft length and a capacity for 3,206 passengers and 1,023 crew, she is a relative minnow compared to the two biggest ocean liners, Oasis of the Seas and its sister ship Allure of the Seas, operated by Royal Caribbean International. They displace 225,282 tons each and are 1,187ft long. Each accommodates 6,296 passengers and 2,165 crew.
Third is the 155,873-ton Norwegian Epic, operated by Norwegian Cruise Line, while Queen Mary 2, flagship of Cunard – like PO also part of Carnival – is seventh at 151,400 tons.
The top ten liners by size are: 1/2 Allure of the Seas/ Oasis of the Seas, Royal Caribbean International. 3 Norwegian Epic, Norwegian Cruise Line. 4/5 Freedom of the Seas/Liberty of the Seas, Royal Caribbean. 6 Independence of the Seas, Royal Caribbean. 7 Queen Mary 2, Cunard. 8/9 Navigator of the Seas/Mariner of the Seas, Royal Caribbean. 10/11 MSC Fantasia/MSC Splendida, MSC Cruises.
A Carabinieri boat approaches the Costa Concordia as it lies partly submerged in the water off the coast of Tuscany
Collision: Rocks embedded in the ruptured side of the Costa Concordia reveal the extent of the damage to the hull
There were reports last night that
captain Schettino, had been dining with passengers when the accident
happened – but the ship’s operating company, Costa Crociera, said he was
on the bridge.
He then discovered that the ship was
four miles off course, but was unsure why. One theory is that an
electrical fault had wiped out the ship’s navigational power and
steering control. Captain Schettino told investigators that charts
showed he was in waters deep enough to navigate.
He was quoted as saying: ‘The area was
safe, the water was deep enough. We struck a stretch of rock that was
not marked on the charts. As far as I am concerned, we were in perfectly
navigable waters.’
Francesco Paolillo, a coastguard
commander, said the vessel ‘hit an obstacle’, ripping a gash across the
left side of the ship, which started taking on water. He said the
captain tried to steer his ship toward shallow waters, near Giglio’s
small port, to make evacuation by lifeboat easier.
But when Captain Schettino realised the severity of the situation, he gave the order to abandon ship with seven short whistles.
Within minutes the Costa Concordia,
began to list dramatically, reaching an angle of 20 degrees in just two
hours. The angle became too steep for lifeboat evacuation, and instead,
five helicopters from the coastguard, navy and air force airlifted the
last 50 passengers still aboard.
By early morning, nine hours after the incident, the Costa Concordia, was at an angle of more than 80 degrees.
Officials last night said the dead were a Peruvian crew member and two French tourists.
One Italian passenger said: ‘There was just utter chaos and panic. No one from the crew seemed to know what they were doing.
‘No one counted us, neither in the
life boats nor on land,’ said Ophelie Gondelle, 28, a French military
officer. She said there had been no evacuation drill since she boarded
on January 8.
The evacuees initially took refuge in
schools, hotels and a church on the tiny island of Giglio, about 18
miles off Italy’s west coast. Mayor Sergio Ortelli issued an appeal for
‘anyone with a roof’ to open their homes to survivors. By yesterday
afternoon they had all been flown to the mainland.
Gashed open: The hull of the massive Costa Concordia was gashed open as it ran aground, killing at least eight and injuring dozens more
Operation: Rescue boats of the stranded cruise ship Costa Concordia arrive in the harbour and dozens of passengers are pictured on the quayside
Coastguard officials confirmed that 3,200 passengers were onboard at the time along with 1,000 crew members and all had been evacuated by lifeboat and taken to the island of Giglio
CRUISE SHIP INDUSTRY HAS BOOMED WITH MILLIONS OF PASSENGERS ENJOYING HOLIDAYS
By Polly Dunbar
Since the 1980s, the cruise
industry has boomed, with more than 19 million passengers taking one
last year and nine or more newly-built cruise ships of 100,000 tonnes or
greater being built every year for the past decade.
Traditionally, the vast majority of
cruises have been taken by Americans to the Caribbean islands, but the
Mediterranean market is rapidly expanding, with Italy the prime
destination.
Cruise liners are designed for
pleasure voyages, in which the surroundings and the luxurious ameneties
are the major focus of the experience, rather than the transportation
itself.
As a result, they are built
differently from ocean liners, which usually have high freeboards and
stronger plating to withstand adverse conditions encountered in the open
ocean, such as the Atlantic, and lower fuel consumption. Cruise ships
also have U-shaped bottoms, whereas ocean liners – including the
1,132-ft RMS Queen Mary II, which is often used for cruising – usually
have deep V-shaped bows to help them power through the waves.
However, as an industry, cruising
has a safety record generally regarded as excellent. Over the past two
decades, an estimated 90 million passengers have enjoyed a cruise
without major incident. The overwhelming majority of deaths on cruise
ships are from natual causes or suicides.
Although cruise ships appear to be
top heavy, most of their weight is at the bottom, while the structure
towards the top is designed to be comparatively lightweight.
According to Malcolm Latarche,
editor of the global shipping magazine IHS Fairplay Solutions, the
950-ft Costa Concordia, which was built in 2005, was designed to
standards comparable with ocean liners.
‘The Concordia was capable of
travelling across the Atlantic, or anywhere in the world. It was
considerably smaller than the Queen Mary II, but it was built to the
same standards,’ he said.
‘Modern cruise ships are built to be
as sturdy and safe as possible. They have to be – they can be carrying
thousands of passengers.’
Mr Latarche believes the Concordia
disaster may have been triggered by an electrical fault, which caused a
loss of power in the ship and led it to crash into rocks.
‘Although the damage caused to the
ship was severe, there are many safeguards in the design of a state of
the art cruise ship to prevent it turning over. There is a second hull
within the outer hull. Inside the inner hull there is a steel structure
like an ice tray to contain the water and prevent it spreading through
the ship.
‘In this case, the master rightly
attempted to return it to the shore, but it seems to have keeled over
because it hit shallow water on the coast. An ocean cruise ship is not
designed to float in 20ft of water. It needs much more than that to
remain upright.’
Passenger ships – defined as any
ship carrying more than 12 passengers – must comply with International
Maritime Organisation regulations, which cover every aspect of the
construction and operation.
According to Mr Latarche, the fact
that the average tonnage of cruise ships has doubled in the last decade
makes a full-scale evacuation at sea almost impossible.
Under new regulations introduced by
the IMO in 2010, the very latest ships are now designed to be able to
return to port even in the event of a major fire or loss of power on
board, in order to make evacuation unnecessary.
The Concordia was commissioned five
year prior to the new rules, but, Mr Latarche said: ‘Even if the most
sophisticated ship in the world went into shallow water, the likelihood
is it would turn on its side.
‘This was a unique situation in which a number of circumstances all came together.’
- Anyone concerned about British
passengers should contact either the British Embassy in Rome on (+39) 06
4220 0001 or the Foreign Office in London on 0207 008 1500
Survivors have said ‘it seemed just like being on the Titanic’ when the ship ran aground
Rocks emerge from the damaged side of the luxury cruise ship – the gauge is a hundreds and sixty feet long
WAS THERE A HUGE POWER FAILURE?
By Christopher Leake and Polly Dunbar
Captain Francesco is being quizzed after he was arrested
The captain of the Costa Concordia
may have been correct in his belief that his ship met its fate off the
western Italian coast because of a power failure.
Passengers rescued
from the stricken liner reported there had been a power blackout and a
large booming noise, which indicated the vessel may have suffered an
engine room explosion.
Last night Malcolm Latarche, editor
of the global shipping magazine IHS Fairplay Solutions, said the
problem may have been caused by a phenomenon known as ‘harmonic
interference’.
Mr Latarche said it was possible
the cruise liner experienced the same problem that saw the Queen Mary 2
lose power in September 2010 as she was approaching Barcelona. On that
occasion, the QM2 was able to carry on into open sea.
The expert said
the harmonic interference – a type of power surge – could have caused a
malfunction in the generators feeding the ship’s six diesel electric
engines with which the back-up systems could not cope.
This would have caused the ship to lose navigational power and steering control and veer off course, he said.
Asked
for his assessment of the incident, Mr Latarche said: ‘I would say
power failure caused by harmonic interference and then it can’t propel
straight or navigate and it hit rocks.’
He added that once a ship
experienced problems with the electrical supply to its main propulsion
motors, it could lead to a problem with steering.
Mr Latarche said:
‘It seems that this may have happened quite close to land, in shallow
water. When you can’t steer you are going to run aground and hit rocks
at some point.’
The Costa Concordia, built in 2005, was designed to standards comparable with ocean liners.
Even
though it had a rounded hull compared to the stronger V-shaped hull
fitted to the Cunard flagship QM2, experts say it was capable of
crossing the rough seas of the Atlantic.
Mr Latarche added: ‘Although the
damage caused to the ship was severe, there are many safeguards in the
design of a state-of-the-art cruise ship to prevent it turning over.
‘There
is a second hull within the outer hull. Inside the inner hull there is a
steel structure like an ice tray to contain the water and prevent it
spreading through the ship.
‘In this case, the Master rightly
attempted to return it to the shore, but it seems to have keeled over
because it hit shallow water on the coast. An ocean cruise ship is not
designed to float in 20ft of water. It needs much more than that to
remain upright.’
According to Mr Latarche, the fact
that the average tonnage of cruise ships has doubled in the past decade
makes a full-scale evacuation while at sea almost impossible.
Under regulations introduced by the
International Maritime Organisation in 2010, the very latest ships are
now designed to be able to return to port even in the event of a major
fire or loss of power on board, in order to make evacuation
unnecessary.
The Concordia was commissioned five
years prior to the new rules but Mr Latarche said: ‘Even if the most
sophisticated ship in the world went into shallow water, the likelihood
is it would turn on its side. This was a unique situation in which a
number of circumstances all came together.’
Last night, Italian investigators
trying to establish the cause of the accident arrested the Captain,
Francesco Schettino, and were considering bringing manslaughter charges.
The investigators will study repair log books and fault reports for the
vessel dating back several years. They will also examine the experience
of the officers and crew and examine the roles played by everyone on
the day that the liner came to grief.
Since the Eighties the cruise
industry has experienced a boom. More than 19 million passengers took a
cruise last year and nine or more cruise ships of 100,000 tons or more
have been built every year for the past decade.
Although cruise
ships appear to be top- heavy, most of their weight is at the bottom,
while the structure towards the top is designed to be comparatively
light.
Traditionally, the vast majority of
cruises have been taken by Americans to the Caribbean islands, but the
Mediterranean market is rapidly expanding, with Italy the prime
destination. Cruise liners are designed for pleasure voyages, in which
the surroundings and the luxurious amenities are the major focus of the
experience, rather than the transportation itself.
As an industry, cruising has a
safety record generally regarded as excellent. Over the past two
decades, an estimated 90 million passengers have enjoyed a cruise
without major incident. The overwhelming majority of deaths on cruise
ships are from natural causes or suicides. Passenger ships – defined as
any ship carrying more than 12 passengers – must comply with
International Maritime Organisation regulations, which cover every
aspect of the construction and operation.
Passengers of the cruise ship are taken for emergency care after the ship started to sink
A photograph of the ship taken soon after it began to sink
‘It seemed just like the Titanic,’ say survivors
Many passengers likened the tragedy to the sinking of the Titanic exactly a century ago.
Although the death toll from Friday’s
accident was small in comparison to the 1,514 who perished when the
doomed liner went down on April 15, 1912, there are many parallels.
As the Costa Concordia listed amid
panicked cries, passengers in evening wear crawled along upended
corridors, just as they did in 1912. Meanwhile, a small number of
people, apparently unable to reach lifeboats, jumped in desperation into
the cold night sea.
Questions about lifeboats were also
raised by both disasters. The Titanic carried just 20 lifeboats – in
line with regulations at the time – but that was enough for only about
half the 2,223 people on board. And one of the chief complaints
yesterday was that the crew delayed lowering lifeboats until the ship
was listing too heavily for many of them to be released.
American passenger Valerie Ananias,
31, said the scenes on board were ‘exactly’ like those from the
Hollywood film Titanic. ‘We were crawling up a hallway with only the
light from the life vest flashing,’ added her 61-year-old mother
Georgia. ‘We could hear dishes crashing and people slamming against
walls.’
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@Muammar Gaddafi: Are you kidding? Do you think people deserved to die because they are rich? Anyway, these people probably aren’t rich – they are probably just normal human beings who have worked hard for a living and get a decent enough wage that allows them to take a holiday. Is that a crime? You disgusting person
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“It seemed just like the Titanic” Errr… not quite! For instance, in this case, the captain was the FIRST PERSON to abandon the ship, leaving passengers to fend for themselves!
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Maybe Cameron and Merkel can bail out the cruise line as well as the whole country
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Thankfully it wasn’t a Titanic. God Bless the Emergency Services crews that worked hard to save over 4100 people. And strength to the families of those who are missing.
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A captain abandoning his ship with passengers still on board, what a coward!.
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***tom burford*** don’t rag on beth, if you had read the article, you would have seen where passengers said that there was no evacuation drills or anything………You don’t know, tom, You weren’t there
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‘ Pity Bev from Gillingham wasn’t in charge.
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One can only pray their are some air pocket survivors.
– Tallulah, Hove, UK, 14/1/2012 23:28………………….yeahhhhhhh!!!! THERE ARE! Radio just said two people found alive inside the ship! There is real hope.
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Seeing as cruise ships are for old people it’s amazing how many people survived
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No one can say that safety drills are always done. There are instances everyday where companies fail to follow procedure. The person who said it was not done could have been distracted and not heard about the drill although I don’t see how that is possible though.
It is possible that the crew was not trained properly for emergency situations but I don’t think you can understand how they feel and what’s going through their mind unless you are in the same situation. Different people act differently even with training. Some of the crew could have panicked just as badly as the passengers and forgot what to donut then some may have just been concerned for themselves. We will never know the full truth.
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