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Posted on 01/17/2012 2:34:31 PM PST by Red Badger
A woman from Birmingham (UK) says she feels lucky to be alive after arriving home safely from the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship in Italy.
Amelia Leon, 22, was in her cabin with her boyfriend, a crew member, when the liner struck the rocks on Friday.
[snip]
Ms Leon, a professional singer, said she felt very emotional following the shock of what she had experienced, and knowing people are still missing.
She said: "The TV went on to the floor and completely smashed and the lights went out. 'This is horrible'
"Obviously lots of people were pushing and shoving but on our lifeboat, because Claudio was in charge of letting people on, they were just throwing their babies at my boyfriend.
"There were three babies on him...they were just shoving them on and then the mothers were getting on.
"I was squashed between all these people."
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Weren't there about four thousand people who felt the same way?
Ms Leon, a professional singer, said she felt very emotional following the shock
Oh, well.. if she's a "singer" and felt "emotional".. then by all means let's hold her up as an example.
I saw a drawing today....I'm not sure the Captain is on the hook. It actually looks like he tried to beach it AFTER the rip in the hull which was BEFORE they came to a halt.
How in the world is he not “on the hook”?? He piloted that ship right into rocks! He was off course by alot in order to “show off” his ship! Then he abandoned ship!
WTH!
You read my mind.
The captain ordered the ship steered waaaaay off course to "showboat" Isola del Giglio for the chief waiter, whose family lives on the island. "Can you see me waving at you, Mamma?"
If that wasn't enough, the captain abandoned ship and refused direct orders from the coast guard to return to the ship while thousands of passengers and crew were still trying to evacuate. Remember the old adage, "the captain goes down with the ship?"
The ship's captain will be taking a long walk off a short plank soon enough.
“Oh, well.. if she’s a “singer” and felt “emotional”.. then by all means let’s hold her up as an example.”
I’m sure her family sent a chaperone for her trip with her boyfriend - unless they weren’t going overnight.../s
Look at the pictures. They were beached.
What does that have to do with mitigating the captain's liability?
Does anyone remember the movie The Poseidon Adventure with Shelly Winters, Gene Hackman, etc.? It was about a cruise ship that was turned upside down by a tsunami. The ship stayed afloat but upside down. It was quite and exciting movie.
The captain is very much “on the hook” and will face, and probably be convicted of, criminal charges.
He steered the ship off of the company approved course so he could show off the ship to his head waiters family resulting in the initial collision
Despite his remarks the rocks were uncharted they were well known to the inhabitants of Giglio and were named School Rocks. You don't name uncharted rocks.
He cravenly abandoned ship while there were still hundreds if not thousands of passengers and crew on board.
It's rumored he rifled the ship's safe on his way to safety.
He disregarded orders from the Coast Guard to return to his ship and supervise the evacuation and report it's progress.
This guy is not just on the hook, he is landed, filleted, and heading for the fire. His beaching the ship was probably to save his own life as much as anyone elses. His cowardly actions after she was beached and his incompetence leading to the need to beach her will probably outweigh any credit he gets for beaching her.
There's got to be a morning after...if we can hold on through the night...
Do you recommend shorting CCL and RCL?
“Do you recommend shorting CCL and RCL?”
Neither this nor any post by me is is a recommendation to buy or sell securities. You should consult with your financial adviser on any transactions you may consider.
I do not have any opinion on the above issues - my observation was more from a non-market related view, that carnival as a franchise is going to be hopelessly tarnished by this, and it will impact the longer-term future of the company. I would think the best way to fix this is get the name carnival out of sight, forever. I have no related opinion on how the stock will eventually behave, though it isn’t hard to imagine that this event isn’t going to produce a windfall for the price.
Is Carnival the former Cunard Line, which also had been combined with White Star Line after WWII?
Personally, I want to know where the life boat is AND the life rafts. If the ship gets into trouble, I'm making tracks for the boat deck or raft. Having seen the crews on these cruise ships, they are not sailors; they are glorified hotel staff that happen to be on a ship. A very few are capable, but most are not. The same thing can be said about the most deadly enemy a ship can face at sea — fire.
Carnival Cruise Lines’ ship Ecstasy had an engine room fire on July 20, 1998. There were 2,400 passengers and 950 crew aboard. The fire suppression systems worked. There were no casualties, but things were touch and go while the crew fought the fire. Fortunately, the ship was off Miami Beach and there was plenty of assistance available. The damaged liner returned to port about 1 am the following morning. Passengers were tired, hungry, and thirsty — but alive. I wonder how many of them thought they might have had to abandon ship while off the bright lights of Miami? Not many, probably.
On November 9-10, 2010, the 113,000 ton Carnival Splendor, with over 4,000 passengers and crew, suffered an engine room fire 14 hours after departing San Diego for a 7 day cruise off Mexico's West Coast. No casualties occurred, but the liner was dead in the water for hours before tugs arrived. Passengers were days without air conditioning, electricity, hot running water, hot food service, telephones, and limited running water and bathroom facilities. The ship was towed back to San Diego by tugboats averaging four to five knots. Fires were put out and the passengers were only inconvenienced. How many of the over 4,000 aboard were ready to abandon ship. Again, not many.
The average cruise passenger is totally unaware of how deadly events can transpire quickly at sea. The law of averages says that sooner or later, your shipboard emergency will come up. Are you ready?
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