Angling for the tourist dollar?
Posted on 01/13/2012 6:37:29 PM PST by Perdogg
A cruise ship with up to 4,000 people on board ran aground on the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast, on Friday night, and UK media reported that at least two people died.
The Telegraph said some passengers jumped from the steeply listing Costa Concordia and swam a short distance to the island. A photo in the Telegraph showed the brightly lit ship teetering just outside a harbor wall.
Sky News quoted coast guard officials as saying two people died.
(Excerpt) Read more at overheadbin.msnbc.msn.com ...
This ship did not roll over. The Eastland rolled over at the pier in 1915.
Angling for the tourist dollar?
Quick Google Earth measurements show the harbor to be 150ft wide (at the openeing) and 500ft deep. The ship is 180ft wide and 950 ft. deep!!!
Like Stratigerist pointed out, it looks like the ship was not supposed to stop there. It may have scraped the ground while passing the island (which was on the way to its destination) a few miles after passing the port and then tried to return to the port for easier evacuation. Then, during the evacuation it started listing.
From an Italian newspaper:
http://www3.lastampa.it/cronache/sezioni/articolo/lstp/438156/
The ship was expected to stop in Savona for the first leg of the cruise “The Scent of Citrus”, and had left about two hours prior from Civitavecchia. The island of Giglio, where passengers were evacuated before being transferred to other places with greater capacity, was close when the “temple of floating fun”, for reasons yet to be ascertained, ran aground at Punta Gabbianara, with high cliffs, a favorite of divers. Concordia began to take on water and to lean to the right because of a gash that opened in the stern. The mayor, Sergio Ortelli, has made available the schools, kindergartens, hotels, “everything that has a roof” and the pastor opened the church to accommodate passengers of the ship. Later, some of them, transfer by ferry to Porto Santo Stefano.
The incident came during dinner, when 4,200 people on board the Costa Concordia (over 3,000 passengers and a thousand crew) are at their tables in restaurants. A shake then the light goes out. Passengers are told to wear life jackets and move closer to the boats, “as a precaution.” Some on board thought of the Titanic, which in three months, April 15, will marks the hundredth anniversary of the sinking. It seemed, at first, that this adventure had ended without serious consequences, just a scare. But then, during the evacuation, something goes wrong: many passengers fell into the water, perhaps some jump out of fear while the boat was leaning more and more, and had to contend with the sea and the cold of the night.
I agree. It sounds like they ran aground outside the harbor and only came in closer afterwards.
From the article
..."ripping a gash 50 meters (165 feet) across" on the left side of the ship, and started taking on water.The cruise liner's captain, Paolillo said, then tried to steer his ship toward shallow waters, near Giglio's small port, to make evacuation by lifeboat easier. But after the ship started listing badly onto its right side, lifeboat evacuation was no longer feasible, Paolillo said.
I'm also curious as to how they hit on the port side but are listing to starboard. Poor damage control?
The harbor entrance is approximately 50' wider than the cruise ship, from lighthouse to lighthouse. From the line across the entrance, from lighthouse to lighthouse, to the beach at the bow of that ferry is about 525', or just over HALF the length of the cruise ship.
No way was he trying to enter that harbor; he hit an offshore shoal, then tried to cozy up to the breakwater.
Paolillo, the coast guard official, speaking from the port captain's office in the Tuscan port of Livorno, said the vessel "hit an obstacle" -- it wasn't clear if it might have hit a rocky reef in the waters off Giglio -- "ripping a gash 50 meters (165 feet) across" on the left side of the ship, and started taking on water.
The cruise liner's captain, Paolillo said, then tried to steer his ship toward shallow waters, near Giglio's small port, to make evacuation by lifeboat easier. But after the ship started listing badly onto its right side, lifeboat evacuation was no longer feasible, Paolillo said.
More like the “Pilot” will be splainning to someone, then unemployed
Don't know what you're looking at, but that ship is listing to port. In the photo, we are looking at the stern of the ship.
In the last photo, you can see the damage to the hull. From what I read at the Daily Mail, the ship is currently lying pretty much flat on her side.
Sad to hear people were killed. Prayers for the deceased and their families.
All Iranian submarines accounted for?????
The Italians and the Greeks? NO WAY!
In cruises I’ve been on, with a port that small they ferry people back and forth with the life boats while the ship remains a little bit further out from shore.
Look out for James Cameron making a movie about this involving cliches of class warfare, love story, blue aliens, time traveling killer robots, evil white people, and chicks he’s dating showing off their bodies.
Thanks for the details. The mind boggles at what these ships can do these days.
Seems like an awful accident. Right next to the pier
I wonder why they would have a lighthouse there? Oh, I know...it warns of a dangerous location.
http://news.sky.com/home/world-news/article/16148897
Three people have died and at least 50 more are missing after a cruise ship carrying thousands of passengers, including 24 British holidaymakers, ran aground off Italy’s coast
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9014743/Six-feared-dead-and-thousands-evacuated-as-cruise-ship-hits-rocks-off-coast-of-Italy.html
‘Six feared dead’ and thousands evacuated as cruise ship hits rocks off coast of Italy
http://213.158.162.45/~egyptian/index.php?action=news&id=22951&title=70%20missing%20from%20Italy%20cruise%20ship%20accident
On the basis of information supplied by the operators of the Costa Concordia, which said 4,234 passengers and crew were on board, “We have found 4,165, which is a difference of about 70 people,” Giuseppe Linardi said, adding that a door-to-door search was under way on Giglio.
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