The Sinking of the Concordia

Ooops! Yes Baz you are correct, I really must put a new battery in my brain!

Hudson?

Well the good Captain Schettinos alleged behavour could be contrasted with Capt. Chesley B. Sullenberger who had to ditch his aircraft in the Potomac.

What did he do? Not dive out of the nearest exit. He and his Co Pilot disregarding their own safety walked the entire length of a sinking aircraft to see if everybody was out before leaving.

[QUOTE=fv24;1847357] The Italians, however, seem to be treating this purely as a criminal trial.

In Italy it IS a criminal offence to leave your ship before all the passengers, or those that can be found have disembarked.
The Captains coarse was pre sailing computerised, and he should have ONLY have taken the action he did, if…1) Bad or severe weather was coming making it his decision to alter coarse, for the SAFETY of his passengers.
and 2) He changes coarse for the safety of the passengers. for some other reason.

Whether you look at Italian Maritime Law. or International Maritime Law, he has comitted a crime in the eyes of his Peers.
Jim.

Lincoln .7

I was just thinking to myself.

If this had been an aircraft accident, the forum thought police would have
been telling us how distasteful these comments are, and how we shouldn’t
speculate as to the causes.

It’s a funny old world. 😉

Leadership

Leadership – the one thing that no-one seems to have mentioned.

I don’t think that anybody expects the captain to go down with the ship, but in these sort of situations surely the captain must set an example, and be seen to to be in control of the situation. The captain departing the ship, for whatever reason, before all the passengers and crew have been evacuated must inevitably be seen as “I’m all right Jack” and the signal that it’s every man for himself.

Meanwhile, more passengers and coming forward with different stories.

Hmmm, and all seem to point to a complete screw up apart from the ‘mystery Moldovian woman’ who happened to be on the bridge with the captain even though she (allegedly) is not crew or even on the passenger manifest.

All leaks, but not as big as the leak that sank the ship…

“according to a leaked interrogation transcript” There’s your clue.
A conversation like that should never be “leaked”. Who knows whether or not it is true?

Yes, the Captain has the ultimate responsibility. But is he the devil that he’s being made out to be? Who knows.

My gut tells me he’s being made a scapegoat. All these “leaked” bits of information are all suspiciously trying to paint the same picture.

Meanwhile, more passengers and coming forward with different stories.

but you my friend are the same as i !! a keyboard warrior !!

Yes indeed, it would appear that yours is one without a “Shift” key !!!!!

Planemike

I am more than capable of self rational thaught (sic) – the Captain is guilty by his own admission (The ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, has admitted to making a navigational error, Italian media reported. He told investigators he had “ordered the turn too late” as the luxury ship sailed close to an island, according to a leaked interrogation transcript.).

The degree of his guilt and his responsibilty for the deaths of 30+ people will no doubt be revealed in the fullness of time.

Insult my intelligence if you wish – sticks and stones and all that…

Why the sarcasm.
.

bacause like a great deal of the population he is incapable of self rational thaught and would believe it if less than honnest news agencies told him the sky was green and grass was blue !!

Hmm, with no steering and no propulsion? Must have been towed there by the gallant captain in a lifeboat – that’s what he was doing!!!!

Three cheers for Il Capitano!!!

Why the sarcasm.
The ship DID turn around and DID ground itself in shallower water.

again this morning there is more footage with the news agencies broadcasting it in a negative way !!

it involves a female member of the crew instructing passengers to keep calm and return to thier cabins !!

the news sold the negative side

my first thaughts were ” but what if this film was shot at upper deck levels !! the lifeboats are at the lower deck levels if the cabins were on the lifeboat deck level it would make sense for crew to calmly send them to thier cabins to get them nearer the lifeboats without panic

the news decided to instantly condemn without actualy checking all facts i’d guess

and lets not forget shall we ” captain smith also turned too late , but a company CEO was also a contributing factor by insisting he sailed too fast !!”

we don’t know all facts hell the investigators don’t yet , if as it seems he has made grave errors i’d image the lives lost will be punnishment enough for him

but on the same token we should not be led by press and news agencies as they depict to full impact and not always correctly

lets remember the uk newspapers are currently in court being charged with multiple cases of phone hacking ( not only celebrities but murder victims et al …… would you realy trust individuals like that to report the truth ???

[s]omeone on board made a fairly quick assessment of the situation that had suddenly arisen and, despite apparently having lost propulsion (and hence steering), managed to get the ship turned around and closer inshore.

And by all accounts, that was the Captain…

Hmm, with no steering and no propulsion? Must have been towed there by the gallant captain in a lifeboat – that’s what he was doing!!!!

Three cheers for Il Capitano!!!

I think due process abandoned ship at about the same time as Captain Schettino ‘fell’ into a lifeboat. He has already admitted that he was grandstanding and that he ‘made the turn too late.’ That is an admission of guilt.

It’s an admission of making mistakes, that is for sure.
Still does not qualify you to call him names and state it as fact.

He is a lucky man. He is alive, well and even at home. At least thirty of those people who entrusted their safety and indeed their lives to him were spectacularly failed.

Regards,

kev35

The man is under house arrest. He can’t go anywhere else. What has that got to do with anything? Your taking circumstances and making them fit your argument.
We do not know the circumstances of those 30 people. Did they ignore instructions to go to the boat deck? Did they speak different languages to everyone else and not realise the life vests were a serious sign of trouble?

At least one person has stated their friend when back to their cabin for their belongings (A violin I think), despite the ship being dark and listing heavily. That person is on the list of the dead.

If people do not respond to instructions and go do their own thing, that isn’t exactly the fault of the Captain or whoever is in charge. Free will is something we are all born with.

Lets wait and find out why those people were still inside the ship while the other 3970 were on deck or in boats.

Regardless of the actions taken by certain individuals after the ship reached her current resting place, someone on board made a fairly quick assessment of the situation that had suddenly arisen and, despite apparently having lost propulsion (and hence steering), managed to get the ship turned around and closer inshore. It was this action that probably accounted for the vast majority of those on board successfully getting ashore.

And by all accounts, that was the Captain. But, we do not know for sure yet.

This Captain will be remembered in the same light as the skipper of the Oceanos.

Who gave the world these stirring words:

“When I give the order abandon ship, it doesn’t matter what time I leave. Abandon is for everybody. If some people want to stay, they can stay.”

This Captain will be remembered in the same light as the skipper of the Oceanos.

I see the Police are looking for the Blonde woman. The Captain was ashore it seems and his fellow officers shouted at him to get back on board.
2 Salvage Companies are vying to get the contract to empty the ship of fuel, get the ship righted, after initial repairs, and then taken for a possible total re fit. I guess a lot of what we have heard is speculation as there will be nearly 4,000 Statements to be taken, and due process will take 2 or 3 yrs. The Italian Judicial system is not known for it’s speed.
It’s going to be a long wait, As Fox Moulder says, “The truth is out there”.
Jim.

Lincoln .7

Kev, I’m afraid to say this, but all I see here is you being as prejudice and unreasonable as the people I’ve seen you taking to task for on therese forums. Whatever happened to due process?

I think due process abandoned ship at about the same time as Captain Schettino ‘fell’ into a lifeboat. He has already admitted that he was grandstanding and that he ‘made the turn too late.’ That is an admission of guilt. He did not turn the boat in time. He may not have foreseen what was to happen next but he is no less guilty for that. He was playing with a multi million pound cruise ship and 4,000 lives. Had he have been where he was supposed to be none of this would have happened. The evidence available so far, including Captain Schettino’s admission of culpability, means that I cannot have any sympathy for him. He had a duty of care to the 4,000 or so people on that cruise, that duty was not carried out. He is a lucky man.
He is alive, well and even at home. At least thirty of those people who entrusted their safety and indeed their lives to him were spectacularly failed.

Regards,

kev35

Regardless of the actions taken by certain individuals after the ship reached her current resting place, someone on board made a fairly quick assessment of the situation that had suddenly arisen and, despite apparently having lost propulsion (and hence steering), managed to get the ship turned around and closer inshore. It was this action that probably accounted for the vast majority of those on board successfully getting ashore.

There’s been a lot of talk about the way that the ship rolled over yards from the shore. If the water had been a little deeper, it is quite possible that she might have reached the 20 degree list that she acquired fairly early on, and remained at that angle. Because the water was fairly shallow where she ended up, I think that it’s likely that – as she was still filling with water and losing what buoyancy and stability she still had left – she began to roll over further with the curved underbody resting on the bottom already.

From what I have read in the press and online, there seems to be one major difference between how this tragedy will be treated in Italy, compared to how it would have been handled in, say, the UK. Had British authorities been involved, the accident and events following would be examined in detail by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch, a body who generally do not apportion blame but make suggestions to prevent another tragedy of the same type from occurring again. The Italians, however, seem to be treating this purely as a criminal trial.

What lessons – if any – will be learned from this remain to be seen.