how did it sink to the opposite side on the hole in the hull with the with the huge piece of rock sticking out of it??? i would think it would of gone down on that side
Posted on 01/14/2012 9:54:27 PM PST by GATOR NAVY
Upon departure from the port of a Giglio, an island off the northwestern coast of Italy, the cruise ship Costa Concordia struck a reef, tearing a 50 meter-long gash in her hull. Reports indicate the ship’s captain, Commander Paolillo, attempted to steer the ship toward shallower waters to enable an easier lifeboat evacuation. A reported 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew were onboard when she grounded.
UPDATE: The captain of the cruise ship COSTA CONCORDIA has been arrested by Italian police as an investigation into Friday night’s grounding is launched. Officials said Saturday that captain of appears to have taken the vessel very close to the shore for reasons that are still unknown.
Weather at the time of the incident was calm with waves were under 3 ft. There is word that the ship had made an emergency stop in Marseille on January 8th but those reports have not been confirmed.
Here’s the ship’s track via MarineTraffic.com:
Don’t know; I haven’t looked. I just heard about the Korean couple on our 11PM news.
“That’s a huge mess to clean up.”
Yep, but not impossible. Just finished “Resurrection” by Daniel Madson on the salvage operation following Pearl Harbor.
The Oklahoma was cleared from a similar position. The SS Normandie in New York harbor was cleared from a tighter position and similar attitude with the added complication of fire damage. Italy is not without experience at these jobs, the Loeonardo de Vinci salvage between the wars would be a good example.
Although in the meantime, Giglio seems to be in Asbury Park, NJ s situation with its own Morro Castle.
I’m interested in following this story and would like to be informed about the facts of the investigation. It’s a shocking catastrophe.
If you decide to do a ping list on this topic, please add me to it. I personally like cruising and plan to leave March 17 on the Celebrity Silhouette.
Used to be, in any news story involving a ship, they’d give length and displacement as amatter of course. It’d be nice to know what size ship we’re talking about here.
how did it sink to the opposite side on the hole in the hull with the with the huge piece of rock sticking out of it??? i would think it would of gone down on that side
should be replaced by
Cheers!
Top heavy.
“how did it sink to the opposite side on the hole in the hull with the with the huge piece of rock sticking out of it??? i would think it would of gone down on that side”
Probably has something to do with a wing tank on that side suddenly emptying due to now having a hole in it. The other side would still be loaded, thus heavier. The result would be water entering, and running downhill to the undamaged side, making it list even more in that direction. By the time the hole cleared the surface, the low side was deep enough for other sources from above to continue the flooding.
See USS Perry’s mine damage of Okinawa in WWII for an example where the hole cleared the water before the ship rolled totally over or sank, allowing the crew to get off. (she floated for some hours like that before structural failure sent her to the bottom)
thx...
Imagine trying to negotiate your way out of the interior of the ship when the floor is pitched 80°. Hall ways would become near vertical shafts with nothing for a foothold except perhaps door frames. Scary stuff. It’s like The Poseidon Adventure in 10 feet of water.
The recovery will be intersting.
A great article on that topic!
High Tech Cowboys of the Deep Seas: The Race to Save the Cougar Ace
http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/magazine/16-03/ff_seacowboys?currentPage=all
They’re a motley mix: American, British, Swedish, Panamanian. Each has a specialty — deep-sea diving, computer modeling, underwater welding, big-engine repair. And then there’s Habib, the guy who regularly helicopters onto the deck of a sinking ship, greets whatever crew is left, and takes command of the stricken vessel...
Within minutes of notification, TITAN can mobilize specialized equipment and a worldwide network of highly qualified salvage masters, engineers and naval architects, along with technical and operations personnel catered toward any salvage operation. This ensures TITAN’s clients the fastest, most professional emergency salvage response service available, regardless of the location and scope of the incident.
You are spot on.
IIRC, there was a discussion of this in the last day or so where one of the passengers who got out described almost exactly what you said.
Only no annoying theme music.
Cheers!
Thanks, AlexW. As you say, things went wrong and it will be sorted out.
Or did the ship not make her turn to the north as scheduled, and nearly ran into the island, then 'shot the slot' between those offshore rocks? That allegedly occurred in that long space between the last (blue track) position mark on the WNW heading, and the next off Punta del Lazzaretto, well to the NW of the port? The only data that is correct are the AIS triangles showing position and course.
The lines are attempted interpretation. The Marine Traffic charting (blue line) simply connects the AIS data points but is obviously wrong
The red line may be a WMG but it is a reasonable interpretation from the ship position and course given by the AIS, and does take into account the fact that the ship did hit those rocks
The intent was a turn NW to give a close to shore passage. They left the turn too late.
I don’t believe it. You’re saying it acquired this great gash, then sojourned well past the harbor to the north, executed a 180, then got itself hung up on rocks remarkably similar to the ones that caused the gash earlier.
I guess this is in fact close to what happened. A few points turned me around ( ha ha . ) First, they weren't headed for Giglio, so it wouldn't make sense for them to be trying for the harbor while under normal conditions.
Then the accounts from the passenger POV made it seem like it just ran hard aground and everybody started to scramble. These accounts can't be read as a timeline, though. It is possible to infer a lapse of time between the initial shock and the evacuation at the final position, as seems to be the case. It's not really very far to sail - just about a mile, maybe, so even at slow speed it could have been just 10 or 15 minutes.
Finally, I read a more complete account from the navigational POV which does outline these events.
Excellent graphics & video! Thanks a bunch for posting this!
It was launched in 2006.
Daily Mail UK reports islanders saying cruise ships often “buzzed” the island, blowing their horns & flashing lights to entertain island tourists. Island officials are appreciative of these “fly-bys”. But islanders said they had never seen a cruise ship so close before. Giglio was not a port of call for the ship.
These ships have computerized radar, & GPS navigation systems. Given a course, these ships will sail themselves. There are extensive warning systems linked to radar & GPS that will alert the crew to impending disaster LONG before it could happen, giving plenty of time to correct course.
Even recreational fishing boats have these systems, though steerage is usually manual, as directed by the nav system. They will warn you of shallow water, reefs, rocks, ... anything that is a known obstruction.
I'll bet every alarm on the bridge was blaring loud & long before the grounding. I'll bet the helmsman & the navigator were protesting loudly. I’ll also bet the captain had a few champagnes & disregarded numerous serious warnings.
The only other possible explanation is that they lost all navigation systems & steerage prior to making the critical turn to the north.
Hey, I read that too recently.
Another excellent WWII 1st person salvage is "Under the Read Sea Sun" by Ellsberg. Find it on Amazon.
What did you read?
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