cruiserfanfromct

CS,

Of course Schettino is going to try to save his own skin by blaming others. The fact remains that it happened AFTER and is immaterial. We don't know how well the helmsman,

spoke English. It is safe to assume he knew the difference between Port and Starboard. It could very well be that he turned the right way after the correct order was given a second time. We do know from the experts' report that the ship is in the place it's in due to the wind and currents and not by any great manuvering on anyone's part after the collision. It is also apparent, judging from the intereviews Schettino has given, that Schettino's command of English leaves a lot to be desired.

CS -

The confusion was AFTER the impact not before. This error would not have avoided the collision in any way.

Lawyers representing the victims' families said they wanted to look beyond Schettino.

 

"The reason these people died is not because of Captain Schettino, the reason these people died is because of the corporation, the negligence in their practices and safety procedures.

There was no reason for anyone to die," said Peter Ronai, a lawyer for the victims' families

 

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/10/15/uk-concordia-hearing-schettino-idUKBRE89E11520121015

Thanks for the link Sid.

Makes sense the attorneys are going after the deeper pockets of Costa and Carnival Corp. The reality is if the buffoon (s) wouldn't have caused the accident in the first place, there would be no need to implicate at the corporate level.

Looks like this circus is going to last 3-6 days. I wonder how the lawsuits against Carnival will play out if there is a decision not to proceed with a trial for the 9 individuals being investigated.

From UK's Telegraph:

Schettino due in court tomorrow. Stay tuned.....

Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino to come face to face with victims

 

Francesco Schettino, the captain of the Costa Concordia, is to come face to face with victims of the disaster for the first time as his criminal inquest opens on Monday.

 

The hearing will be held in Grosseto's Teatro Moderno, a large auditorium that can accommodate up to 1,300 people, to cater for the large number of witnesses, lawyers, survivors and their families.

 

Up to 125 lawyers will appear for the aggrieved parties and information will be provided in five languages – Italian, French, Spanish, English and German – to those seeking last minute accreditation.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9607666/Costa-Concordia-captain-Francesco-Schettino-to-come-face-to-face-with-victims.html

H24 Live will be broadcasting live:

http://www.tvz.tv/index.php?c=events&s=more&id=9936

Here is Schettino leaving for Grosseto. He has been granted permission to leave Meta di Sorrento, for the hearing.

http://video.corriere.it/costa-concordia-schettino-parte-grosseto/e2502f58-15fb-11e2-9913-5894dabaa4c4

In the case of Schettino he had a contract with his employer who then sacked him without allowing him to attend any hearing, it is claimed they sacked him in July so in that case as an Employee he is owed any wage due until that date. Schettino could claim Constructive dismissal if it exists under Italian Law.

The following is recorded on tape and will undoubtedly be presented as evidence at the pre-trial hearing on Monday.

'Madonna, What Have I Done?'

At 9:54 p.m., he ordered an officer not to tell passengers what really happened. "Say that there has been a blackout".

At 9:56 p.m., Capt. Schettino called Costa Crociere's fleet crisis coordinator, Roberto Ferrarini. "Roberto, I f----- up!," he said.

Schettino hesitated in either launching a distress call and giving the order to abandon ship.

At 10:30 p.m. officers on the bridge asked him in panic: "Captain, shall we give the general emergency signal? Shall we order to abandon ship?"

"Let's wait..." Schettino is heard saying.

At 10:32 p.m. Schettino phoned the Italian Coast Guard in Livorno. "Basically we are taking on water, but the sea is calm, God save us," Schettino said.

At 10:51 p.m., with chaos reigning the ship ("those on the bridge did not recall the emergency codes," reads the report) Captain Schettino finally said: "Come on, let's give the order to abandon ship, come on, that's enough!"

At 11:08 p.m., as a confused evacuation got under way, the Captain called his wife Fabiola. "Fabi', my career as a captain is over. We hit a reef, the ship is listing but I performed a great maneuver... everything is under control," he is heard saying.

He then reassured her in Neapolitan dialect: "Fabi', nun te preoccupa'... togliamo questo navigare da mezzo e ci mettim a fa' nat lavoro...," which roughly translates: "Don't worry, let's forget all this sailing and we can start another job."

Here's the Codacons video (see link), at 1:32 into the video, Schettino takes control at exactly 21:39:21 hours. He states "I take the conn" then gives orders to the helmsman who repeats his orders exactly. It is Schettino who first states 340 Starboard then changes it to 350 Starboard, the helmsman repeats 350 Starboard correctly. Schettino says "otherwise we go on the rocks" and laughs out loud. The impact is at 21:45:08 hours. This man is going to have a heck of a time proving he was not in command and that his orders were'nt understood -- and now he wants his old job back -- he's definitely taken chutzpah to a new level.

http://video.repubblica.it/dossier/naufragio-giglio-costa-concordia/schettino-amma-fa-n-inchino-al-giglio/107633/106013

NEW reconstruction video filmed by CODACONS which follows a step-by-step account of the events that led to the accident will be aired tomorrow, Oct 12 at 14:00 Italian time. You can view the press conference via live streaming here:

http://new.livestream.com/accounts/1493721/concordia

Here's a trailer of the film. Interesting to note that the helmsman repeats the exact orders given by Schettino:

You can also hear the helmsman repeating the correct orders here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4-AyBtbKG0

John and SB have a great cruise!!! We'll miss you -- will let you know if he got his old job back.

Nice incentive for Costa knowing if they reinstate Schettino with back pay people will be clamoring to book a cruise with him as their captain. :rolleyes:

How many bookings, with Schettino as captain, will it take to recoup the $570 million cost for the ship he wrecked and the $300 million tab for the recovery? Even if the insurance paid the entire $870 million, there is still the unquantifiable cost of a tattered reputation. Doubtful Schettino, with or without back pay, could ever repair the goodwill he destroyed.

My thought: I think it is an opinion piece based on the article that was in the German magazine we had a link to a few days back. The writer doesn't seem to believe that the removal will be complete even by the delayed time frame of May 2013.

I think you're right -- looks like an op-ed piece. Supposedly, a meeting will be held this Saturday at Giglio with Titan / Mico and the townspeople to update the locals on the recovery effort. Don't know if anything new will be announced.

FWIW, according to this article titled Costa Concordia - Recovery postponed for a year. Little confidence of success in Oggi Notizie, doesn't look like the May 2013 date will be achieved. I haven't been able to locate more information from other sources yet. Not sure if this is accurate or reliable or if it's just rumor. Stay tuned.

http://www.ogginotizie.it/173786-costa-concordia-recupero-rinviato-di-un-anno-poca-fiducia-su-riuscita/#.UGnc903A-ko

Reports coming out of Italy push the salvage operation to over a year -- will not be Spring of 2013 but later. Trying to find an article in English -- will post when found.

Schettino is now claiming credit for the Lloyd's List crew prize. Unless there is a prize for causing the accident, delaying the evacuation, getting out of dodge before all mayhem broke loose and multiple manslaughter, I don't see how he could possibly take any credit. Unfrigginbelievable! :eek:

Out of deference to the families of the dead, I don't think Lloyd's List should be doling out prizes to anyone on that ship just yet. Just sayin'.

http://www.agi.it/english-version/italy/elenco-notizie/201209282200-cro-ren1106-costa_concordia_s_schettino_claims_credit_for_crew_prize

http://news.yahoo.com/italy-cruise-ship-disaster-crew-win-seafaring-award-124209406--finance.html

Interesting -- looks like they excluded Schettino from the award since he already received this one:

http://panicdots.com/2012/01/douchebag-of-the-week-captain-schettino/

New report from Porta a Porta on Italian television, reports on the salvage operation. In Italian with images depicting the salvage procedure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy6FBUGYoZI

I, personally, do not use any glass elevators...no head for heights and that Towering Inferno film finished any ideas about using them for me. Give me a fully enclosed elevator or stairs every time....yep I have been stuck in an enclosed elevator a few times and it scared the wotsits out of me - mainly cos you are stuck in a steel box that you have no control over and its dangling several floors up in the dark/semi-darkness....but to be stuck in a glass bubble and to be able to see & hear what was happening in a situation like Concordia...nope...no can do.

 

So perhaps elevator safety in an emergency situation such as a severe list is also something that will be looked into, especially those jazzy glass bubbles.

 

One of many lessons and design considerations that will come from this accident....but I still won't use those glass elevators (when I stayed at the Mandarin Oriental for 4 days pre-cruise in 2010, the hotel had a cluster of glass elevators running up the center of the building, I used the service elevator that was tucked away in the bowels of the building cos those glass elevators were a no-go for me, the hotel management were fine about it and they said that I was not the first guest to refuse to use them, afterall its 23 floors, beehive shaped, so the service elevator was WELL used).

 

The ones trapped in the glass elevator(s) aboard Concordia would have seen and heard everything going on that night, the listing, waterlogging...and even if they knew about the hatch on the roof of the elevator...where would thay have gone even if they could have used it? The ship was heeled over thus the elevator wouls have been almost horizontal...quite a drop down into what would have been the landing on deck 4 or the atrium on deck 3, not to mention floating wreckage etc.

 

They will have been in that bubble watching everything around them and hearing all the noises associated with what was happening. At least in a standard enclosed elevator, it would be dark and thus all sense of what was happening would have been lost, so although no less frightening, at least you wouldn't see what was about to happen to you.

Reply With Quote

Do you know for certain the passengers were stuck in the glass elevator capsule and were watching the tragedy unfold as you describe it? Scanning through the Italian press there are no substantiated reports this was the case. There is only a mention of 4 found on the afternoon of February 22 (they discovered 8 total that day including the 5 year-old) but it is not clear whether they were found in an elevator shaft or inside an elevator. CODACONS is demanding a thorough investigation of this as they are not pleased with the answers of the experts' report that was presented to the judge. Your scenario above does call to mind a previous post of yours (see below).

It's like those wanting to watch the removal of the wreck...its disgusting, it's voyeuristic...like vultures waiting for a body or body part to fall out of the wreckage...without so much as a thought to those directly affected by what happened...they do not care, all they want (as per the media) is that perfect view, that perfect photo or someone's grief....it's plain sick...

And here i was thinking it was Ronnie Raygun .... search me !

Mad Maggie Thatcher called him "an amiable dunce". She would not have said that if she knew she would suffer the same fate (Dementia/Alzheimer's) at the end.

I'll take The Gipper before Thatcherism any day! :D

For those seeking news, there will be a ton of news on Oct 15 -- the next pre-trial hearing date.

Don't know if this was mentioned previously, but there have been more management changes at the Costa Crociere Group: (see link below)

Costa Crociere Group creates new position to oversee safety standards

But Clowns are still allowed .... ;)

Sure...Send In The Clowns...The Clowns who were trying to "save" people who didn't have a "clue" what their captain was doing would ultimately cost them their lives.

What, no more dancing girls on the bridge ? :eek:

 

They don't want the officers to have any fun ! :D

:D Nope -- new regulations state no more head waiters, dancers or ghosts allowed on the bridge during "delicate" :eek: manuevers. ;)

Just announced yesterday.

In addition to the other safety measures announced after the Concordia tragedy, such as:

Having more lifejackets aboard ships than are required by law; limiting access to a ship's bridge at potentially dangerous times; requiring cruise ship routes to be planned in advance and shared with all members of the bridge team and requiring emergency drills for all embarking passengers before a ship leaves port.

Here is an additional one re lifeboat drills for crew:

New cruise safety policy targets lifeboat drills

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/09/20/3012407/new-cruise-safety-policy-targets.html#storylink=cpy

An artistic view of Concordia

http://gothamist.com/2012/09/19/step_inside_the_sinking_concordia_c.php#photo-1

Thanks for link to pix SB. Here's what the New Yorker Mag says about it:

The master of brainy mazes goes purely theatrical with a colossal tableau of the gaudy interior of the cruise ship Costa Concordia, which capsized in January. The tipped space—a cadenza of chaos—spills furniture, unused life jackets, decorative bric-a-brac, and what look to be tangles of wires or seaweed in forms variously real, realistic, and handmade ersatz. Uses of the artist’s signature brown packing tape abound, as do his pedagogical manias. A full-sized reproduction of Géricault’s “Raft of the Medusa” occupies a horizontal wall, and pages of Marx’s “Das Kapital” are strewn about. To enjoy Hirschhorn’s enthusiastic riff on a disaster, it may help to ignore the fact that thirty-two people died in it. Through Oct. 27.

 

Through October 27

GLADSTONE—530 W. 21ST ST.

530 W. 21st St., New York, N.Y.

212-206-7606

gladstonegallery.com

 

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/arts/events/art/thomas-hirschhorn-gladstone-530-w-21st-st#ixzz276ugug00

The aspect that needs close investigation is that the bridge officers and crew were hobbled by the language barrier...or at least the often very strong accents.

 

Having heard Schettino in person, his accent is not always easy to understand...while he and the others speak reasonable English, the accents can often get in the way and change what words sound like or mean...albeit inadvertantly.

 

You have an Indonesian helmsman taking orders from Italian officers...those Italian officers speak English but with regional accents, they are speaking to someone from Indonesia who himself has an accent and who uses English as a second language to his own "mother tongue".

 

So it would be quite feasible that Schettino asked for a certain course to be taken and the helmsman misunderstood what was said to him...thus the ship wandered 0.5 miles off the requested course.

 

Half a mile is not a huge length physically but in this case it meant a huge difference in what was safe and what was not safe.

 

It would be interesting to see what the written course notes were against what was actually said...AND heard...by the helmsman and how the helmsman interpreted those requests in his steering.

 

I know that an order given should be repeated by the person receiving it...to avoid mistakes, if nothing else...but if you have two very thick foreign accents, which afterall Indonesian and Italian are potentially very difficult to disipher and in the heat of the moment of giving that instruction, one or both parties could potentially misread or misunderstand what was said.

 

Again, this was a common problem in airline accidents where the command of English was frequently poor and the understanding of orders/requests was often misinterpreted...such as in the Avianca crash some years ago near New York, the plane was out of fuel but due to language and training differences the crew stated they had an "urgent" need to land, when in New York's control tower assumed they were OK for a while longer cos they did not state that they had an "emergency"....both urgent and emergency mean the same thing but can be misconstrued when under stress or when two very different accents and/or training is in place.

 

I think the level of training and most importantly the level of English spoken and understood will inevitably come under scrutiny and should bring about important changes in how officers are chosen, recruited and trained...and also how junior crew such as helmsmen are chosen, recruited and trained.

 

I have said all along that it is not so much the why's and wherefore's of this accident that are important, but the lessons learnt and the procedural changes made that will inevitably make cruising safer in the future.

The lengths you go to exonerate Schettino boggles the mind. The fact that lessons were learned from this fiasco does not make Schettino the hero you paint him to be. 32 human lives is a mighty high price to pay to learn that proper procedures should have been followed.

Thick accents aside, aren't wheel orders supposed to be repeated by the helmsman to ensure that they are carried out correctly? If the orders were repeated wouldn't Schettino have picked up on the error? If they weren't repeated shouldn't Schettino have asked for the orders to be repeated until he was satisfied he understood them? Or was Casanova so preoccupied by other matters that rendered him totally oblivious to everything around him?

From Giglio News

 

Shipwreck Costa Concordia, Costa Cruises expertise experts confirms responsibility. Legambiente: "That's why we gave the black flag Costa Cruises. The sinking of Giglio must serve to strengthen controls over the quality and training of the crews of large ships "

 

"On the Costa Concordia occurred a series of incredible errors only some of which are attributable to the conduct of Captain Schettino. For the rest, we believe that they are increasingly emerging fault or responsibility of the shipping company that has had at least a superficial attitude in the selection of the crew and has demonstrated a strong underestimation of the emergency management during the most critical phase. " Sebastiano Venneri, head sea Legambiente comments on the outcome of the report of the experts appointed by the prosecutor in Grosseto on the sinking of the Costa Concordia. text confirmation, in fact, the major responsibility of the shipping company in the wreck of the Costa Concordia. Not only Schettino, therefore, that with his wicked conduct has certainly played an important role, but also Costa Cruises have contributed significantly to the disaster that has worn off the coast of the island of Giglio. In the pages of the report refers to the lack of preparation and professionalism of the officers on board, the superficiality in crew training, the confusion in the assignment of tasks and duties, ignorance and lack of proper certification by many members of 'crew, the incredible phases of emergency management that betrays a lack of proper selection of personnel on board the ship. "It 's for this reason - continues Venneri - that this summer we have assigned to the black flag of Costa Cruises new pirates of the sea. Suffice it to say that, for example, as shown in the report, the orders from the captain to the steersman Indonesian in the run-up to Lily, were not immediately understood, although pronounced in English on a ship that also would have required the Italian as the language of job."

Interesting. Also, there is a huge lawsuit against Carnival by Giglio Island tourist-related businesses that claim the disaster deterred visitors, polluted environmentally sensitive local waters and depressed property values.

How can you possibly place and faith, trust or belief in an article published in the New York Times..................;)