Italians showing off???

[Topsham]

No Captain would risk his career to 'show off' his cruise ship by traveling close to shore. The ships charts and systems are recorded and those in charge would want some answers if they did get that close to shore. Not to mention the coast guard would do to that Captain.

 

I believe the sounding of the ships horn in the video was to warn smaller boats in the area. This video could be taken because a Costa ship accidentally was too close to shore.

 

 

But they do! It is sometimes called 'scenic cruising'. Nothing wrong with taking a vessel inshore for such purpose providing the excursion is planned in accordance with all good navigation practice.

 

In the video the ship is probably about a half mile off the coast. Off Giglio... perfectly safe... plenty of deep water but your courses, position and spped must me monitored every inch of the way. The horn blowing is definitely for fun in this video. The correct signal to alert a small boat or other vessels is a series of five or more short and rapid blasts.

 

In a Reuters report just out they just out states that the captain was bringing his ship inshore in a 'clumsy' manner.

 

I fear this is the real cause of this accident.

[IndyDenise]

A surviving crew member, Rosalyn Rincon, 30, of Blackpool, England, said she wanted to know why the cruise ship was sailing so close to shore. She described a harrowing grounding of the vessel, whose tilting and rising water evoked the film "Titanic," she said.

"I'm pretty much angry, and I want to know why we were so close to the coast," said Rincon, who works as a dancer on the ship and was entertaining passengers by performing a trick inside a box with a magician when the accident occurred

[Nebr.cruiser]

Why did you mention the fact that it's an Italian ship

 

Because it is

 

why suggest it is showing off

 

I can think of no other reason why it has done what it has done - can you??

 

This gives readers the impression there is something wrong or questionable with Italian ships.

 

Readers can form their own impressions.

 

 

Barry

 

It may well have been 'showing off' or it may have been trying to give the passengers a scenic sail-by, as is done in many places.

[Dunelm]

I think from the comments that some of us are wondering why you would choose the phrase "showing off" in your question? .There are people of all nationalities who tend to "show off." Until we have all the facts, we cannot know the cause of this tragic accident. So, maybe it's best not to speculate.

[gentlemancruiser]

But they do! It is sometimes called 'scenic cruising'. Nothing wrong with taking a vessel inshore for such purpose providing the excursion is planned in accordance with all good navigation practice.

 

In the video the ship is probably about a half mile off the coast. Off Giglio... perfectly safe... plenty of deep water but your courses, position and spped must me monitored every inch of the way. The horn blowing is definitely for fun in this video. The correct signal to alert a small boat or other vessels is a series of five or more short and rapid blasts.

 

In a Reuters report just out they just out states that the captain was bringing his ship inshore in a 'clumsy' manner.

 

I fear this is the real cause of this accident.

 

Why would you take a scenic cruise at night, when passengers wouldn't be able to see much given half of them would be at dinner.

[Cancruizer]

Wow, looks very close to shore. Accoring to reports the Captain was at least 2.5 miles off course. Could it be that he regularly, for whatever reason (scenic cruising, showing off, proving that he knows the waters and can navigate them despite what route he is supposed to take in open waters) does this? What a way to risk 4000 people's lives!

[bazzaw]

That video is something that has happened in the past. This is not to say that it has happened again - or indeed even that the same Captain was in charge.

 

It may not even be a dangerous manouvre - and perhaps the Italians never show off??

 

It is however an indication that perhaps something is rotten in the State of Denmark?? .

 

 

Barry

[Heni1805]

In the main evening news on german tv, they said, that in past Costa ships used to get close to the island giglio, to say hello to the islanders, because a lot of the italian crew members are from this island.

This was on the german station ARD and normally they never report something without good sources and facts.

 

And in my opinion this video maybe shows exactly this procedure. That would also explain using the horn as a greeting.

 

Therefore I found this video really interesting.

[davidjplatt]

The point is that there was no reason to get so close to an island that is known to have a very rocky coastline at night when the passengers (a lot of whom were in the dining room for dinner) would have almost no visibility of a "scenic" cruise-by.

 

I have been on 14 cruises and only one ship did a somewhat close sail by. That was on a Holland America ship when we were on a day at sea and according to the captain "had some time to kill" since he had to maintain a minimum speed to have the stabilizers work.

 

We actually went into a charted harbor at St. Lucia so we were able to get a fantastic view of the Pitons. The captain certainly knew we were in no danger and knew the waters.

 

Looking at the satellite images of where the ship ran aground that captain should have never been there. He had charts of the area surrounding that island and he evidently didn't think it was an issue - extremely poor judgement on his part.

 

The bigger question is why Costa didn't have the evacuation drills before that ship sailed and why the Captain didn't give the order to abandon ship right away. I have never been on a cruise ship that didn't have the evacuation drill (complete with putting on life jackets) BEFORE the ship sailed. Every single cruise I have been on the cruise line stated that attendance at the drills was mandatory and had to be conducted before the ship sailed. From a 15,000 ton ship (Cunard Adventurer in 1973) to all of the large ships I've been on (up through the Celebrity Millenium in December 2010) every single ship conducted the evacuation drill before sailing - all 14 voyages.

 

I actually saw reviews on Cruise Critic of the Concordia indicating the evacuation drills happened near the end of the cruise. That's just plain stupid and probably a violation of international law.

 

The first travel agent that booked a cruise for me (the 1973 cruise on Cunard) when asked about Costa indicated that she would never go on a Costa ship for multiple reasons - bad service, bad food, bad sanitation, bad attitude towards non-Italians and terrible safety practices. Looks like Costa hasn't changed in almost 40 years. They are one of two major cruise lines I wouldn't ever consider sailing on. And if you haven't already guessed, the other is Carnival - did them once in 1975 because it was an outright bargain price and wouldn't ever again even at those bargain prices.

[sylmack]

 

 

The bigger question is why Costa didn't have the evacuation drills before that ship sailed and why the Captain didn't give the order to abandon ship right away. I have never been on a cruise ship that didn't have the evacuation drill (complete with putting on life jackets) BEFORE the ship sailed. Every single cruise I have been on the cruise line stated that attendance at the drills was mandatory and had to be conducted before the ship sailed. From a 15,000 ton ship (Cunard Adventurer in 1973) to all of the large ships I've been on (up through the Celebrity Millenium in December 2010) every single ship conducted the evacuation drill before sailing - all 14 voyages.

 

I actually saw reviews on Cruise Critic of the Concordia indicating the evacuation drills happened near the end of the cruise. That's just plain stupid and probably a violation of international law.

 

Drills must be held within 24 hours of boarding the ship. This is not a closed cruise like you are used to. This is an open cruise with passengers getting on and off at each port. The majority of the passengers had the drill already, only those that got on at Civitavecchia had not got a drill, and that was scheduled for the next morning. Safety demonstrations are usually played in new passengers rooms before that.

 

Be careful stating 'fact' before all the truth is out.

[rog747]

i think this video clip clearly does show a 'scenic showing off fly-by' close to the island during a previous cruise and investigators will look at this closely and get the AIS tracks from that trip and compare with the accident trip...it is a big piece of evidence that will

assist the investigation and will be damning if no technical problem is found to have caused concordia to hit rocks (whether uncharted or not)

 

i am sure these scenic sail-pasts will have been plotted and charted as thought to be 'as safe' so we will have to wait for the details as they emerge.

 

a cathay pacific senior pilot did a low pass at less than 50' over the runway with a brand new Boeing 777 at Seattle with no pax on board and got sacked...

the ceo of cathay was on board and knew it was going to happen.

 

i think posting this clip is relevant and yes Italians in history of their great shipping prowess over the last century for sure have showed off...

so have other countries lines too....so get over yourselves been too sensitive over race lol

 

however if the queen mary 2 buzzed the needles of the IOW as close as that and a video if it was posted on YouTube then the captain would be most likely be having tea and biscuits in the office with his bosses when he got back discussing his career...

[Australian family]

The captain must think he is God that he can navigate a ship over rock!

[Capricruiser]

I also live on an island, and cruise ships sail past most of the year. Most all of them sail quite close to the shore, maybe 400-500 meters, and let off three horn blasts in salutation as they sail away. Occasionally a smaller ship (not Italian) will sail between two of Capri's Faraglioni rocks which is highly illegal and quite hazardous.

I've been on cruise ships passing through the Straits of Messina (between Sicily and Calabria) many times and it's standard practice for the captain to sound his horn three times, again saluting the shore. I certainly wouldn't call it "showing off."

[bobstheboy]

Was this a normal sea lane for ships of this size ?

 

Was this ship legally allowed to be sailing in the area it hit the rocks ?

 

Did the Captain start evacuation soon enough ?

 

Why did he leave the ship whilst the search and rescue was still going on ?

 

Was the Abandon Ship procedure properly supervised ?

 

These are just five of many unanswered questions and because we all like to speculate I would bet some of the answers will not be in the Captains favour.

[cw_cw_cw]

Thanks for the vid - I think its very interesting, whether its showing of or not who cares? What it does show is that they have been close to shore before and in the best of worlds accidents happen for what ever reason with tragic consequences.

 

There was absolutely no reason for it to be that close and I have seen the tracked AIS chart and just couldnt fathom out why he head to the island - having cruised many times I have never seen a captain pass so close unless it was going to that port or through a strait - both of which you would have a pilot on board which expert knowledge of that area.

 

Have a look at the chart track

 

We have been on msc and (out of rome to marseille) just before the new year and the AIS charts for splendida shows they go on the west of Giglio.

 

I had thought that the captain had hit some unknown/mapped reef in mid sea and decided to head to the island for a safe evacuation, but this video proves they regularly take the route close the islands. Just very sad.

[Aplmac]

We have been on msc and (out of rome to marseille) just before the new year

and the AIS charts for splendida shows they go on the West of Giglio.

 

I had thought that the captain had hit some unknown/mapped reef in mid sea

and decided to head to the island for a safe evacuation,

but this video proves they regularly take the route close the islands.

Passing to the West of Giglio would make safe-navigational sense

but there's hardly any human habitation on the West coast of the island to admire us, as our ship passes close by! :)

 

 

Maybe the Capt. was just showing off to the nice folks in the town -on the East coast of the island.

.

[greenman1168]

When we lived on an island in Canada, near the channel for ships from Seattle and Vancouver to Alaska, it would occur quite often that one of the large cruise ships would come very close to the rocky shore just in front of our house. They would have had to go offcourse to do this, as our island was quite a bit to the west of the channel. One evening around dusk, a huge ship came so close, it looked like the ship was going to hit the rocks right in front of our living room window. Suddenly there was a loud noise and the water was churned up as the ship's side thrusters came on, and the ship pushed itself quickly away, broadside to the rocks. The only reason we could think of for the ship being THAT CLOSE, was that the captain was giving the passengers a close-up view of our very scenic lighthouse island...and just barely avoided crashing into it.

[polpetta27]

You can read into things anything that you want.

 

IF it had been a British ship coming within a mile of the Needles on the Isle of Wight, at cruising speed blaring it's horn to capture the attention of people on the island -- the heading of my post would have been "British showing off????"

 

Italians are not the only Nationality who can "show off"" -- but perhaps they do have a greater propensity to do so??? or not????

 

Barry

 

Okay. This post is extremely insulting and of course racist. You do not know much about the italian culture at all. You left out the fact that the people of the island took the clothes from their own souvenir shops to help cover the cold people and also opened their homes to them. Italy is in a serious financial crisis and the store owners are taking a monetary loss that they cannot afford to help people in their time of need. If you want further explanation of how poor these people are I will give you more detail as I am here in the country now. This is an example of the goodness of mankind.

 

As for "showing off".... I think all of us look at cruise ships in awe. The people of the island may not be very well cultured and seeing the beauty of the ship makes them happy and connected to the outside world. Now, I agree that clearly the captain on THIS sailing is in big trouble and I agree he is a murderer. He is in a lot of trouble abandoning ship while people had not been evacuated. If you want to speak racist generalities Italians are known for their sense of family.

 

I am sorry for your ignorance.

[fellowfloater]

Why did you mention the fact that it's an Italian ship and why suggest it is showing off?? This gives readers the impression there is something wrong or questionable with Italian ships.

 

No gentlemancruiser.... But perhaps it does suggest lack of judgement! It is pretty obvious that the ship was Buzzing the island. It is an Italian Ship with an Italian Captain in Command. Had I buzzed something in my Jumbo Jet I suspect I may well be accused (in the hearing) of using bad judgement!

[futaba951]

Drug run or some other smuggling operation.

[ez2logon]

Thanks, futaba951 for adding to the discussion:cool:

 

I don't think the intention of the OP's post is racist in nature---just informative. And that it is, in that it shows a past pattern of risky behavior. Many people want to know what that class of vessel was doing in those waters that are clearly outside of normal shipping lanes.

 

I would love for cruiselines to let me know in advance what itineraries are going to include "thrill rides" so that I can be sure to stay clear!

 

I do wish the OP's title were a bit more informative---I almost didn't open it as I am averse to crappo threads. Good find!

[Hunwolf]

Some people are reading way too much into the title. The video is interesting for sure.

 

Don't let yourself get worked up about wordsmithing especially considering that people lost their lives on a sinking ship.

[bazzaw]

 

I do wish the OP's title were a bit more informative---I almost didn't open it as I am averse to crappo threads. Good find!

 

I could have entitled the thread " Here is a video I found - make of it what you will"

 

I could also have entitled it "Is this an example of bad practice in the cruise industry, possibly resulting in the Corcordia sinking?

 

It seems that people do not like my implication that it is an Italian ship (hence with an Italian crew) doing what can be seen in the video - nor do they like my implication that it is "showing off" . Even less do they like my joining of these two together to "Italians showing off" and miss entirely the implications of the question marks following those three words.

 

Barry

[futaba951]

Thanks, futaba951 for adding to the discussion:cool:

 

I don't think the intention of the OP's post is racist in nature---just informative. And that it is, in that it shows a past pattern of risky behavior. Many people want to know what that class of vessel was doing in those waters that are clearly outside of normal shipping lanes.

 

I would love for cruiselines to let me know in advance what itineraries are going to include "thrill rides" so that I can be sure to stay clear!

 

I do wish the OP's title were a bit more informative---I almost didn't open it as I am averse to crappo threads. Good find!

 

Everyone elses GUESS is as good as mine. :)

[DMAB]

I think from the comments that some of us are wondering why you would choose the phrase "showing off" in your question? .There are people of all nationalities who tend to "show off." Until we have all the facts, we cannot know the cause of this tragic accident. So, maybe it's best not to speculate.

 

This isn't a court, it's an online forum.

 

Much truth is found through speculation.