A Concordia Crew Member Posts on Facebook

[SakeDad]

I ran across this today on Facebook...

 

 

"Unfortunately I don't have my nametag to photograph, because I lost at sea, along with my camera! My name is Katia Keyvanian, I am The GSM (Guest Service Manager) embarked on the 13th of January to substitute my colleague on the Concordia. I can write only a few lines, as I have a train to catch to go home! I would love to be invited by Giletti, Mentana, Vinci and all the other journalists, who without knowledge of the facts and who without verifying their sources, only write nonsense! I wish I could respond to the flood of nonsense and lies that have been said! But for now, until I can say more I can only say this; 'We evacuated 4000 people in the dark, with the ship inclined on it's side, in less than two hours! Those who are "incompetent" are not able to do this.

It is not true that the captain was first to leave the ship. I was on the last boat and he remained attached to the railing of deck 3, while the ship was sinking. Shame on you incompetent journalists who wrote that he was the first to leave! I was on the lifeboat, that was sailing away and about to be crushed by the hoist of the sinking ship, which was about to break through our roof. We pulled a lot of guests into the lifeboat who had ended up in the sea, and as we undressed a girl in wet clothes to cover her with a blanket, a guest filmed us with his phone! Shame on you!

We executed a rescue operation at sea, and as we pulled another gentleman out of the water, me with a rope tied around my wrist for more strength to pull him up, another man was taking pictures! Shame on you! we had to manage a flock of sheep in jeopardy and then are told that we were incompetent?! Shame on you! While I was inclined to release people who were pushing and screaming, one by one into the boat, a large man who was obviously a passenger smoked a cigarette. When I asked "What the **** are you doing smoking a cigarette in this state, in the dark, with fuel that could come out of the boat?!" and his response was "I need it for stress.

I have one thing more to add, before I miss my train ......... We worked for the guests, to save them, to take them to safety, if they are saved, it is only thanks to us alone, all the crew, who did everything. We do not want to be thanked, NO, we have only done our duty, but we do not want to hear all the nonsense, lies, and more lies, just to give you the "scoop" of these so called broadcasts.

4000 PEOPLE IN TWO HOURS, IN THE DARK ... with the ship tilted, we took them WE, THE STAFF CONCORDIA TO SHORE. They did not go themselves in buckets and shovels themselves to the shore! We brought them!!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the residents of Isola del Giglio, the mayor, who came on board, to verify the situation, (not knowing who he was because he did not have a life jacket!) Thank you with all my heart all, al...l the islanders who worked for all of us, with maximum availability, giving us their colorful blankets, some even knitted of crochet, looking for cell phone chargers, and so much more. Thanks to all of them. Now I'm off to catch a train and go home. See you soon. Oh, I forgot .... one more thing I would like to say "Shame on you!!""

 

If all of this is true and comes out through the investigation it will be very interesting. But we already know that all the passengers were indeed NOT rescued in 2 hours. There are charges the Captian didn't stay until the end and so much more. But I thought it was interesting to hear from another point of view. Thoughts?:confused:

[gentlemancruiser]

sounds very fishy, lots of the statements do not match with what is already know/reported.

 

How would the mayor of Giglio board a sinking ship? Why?? The coast guard reported that it had to take over the evacuation from the captain and that he was ordered 3 times to return to the ship. Why would you undress a person in a lifeboat. There isn't any room and where did you get the blankets in a lifeboat???

 

Many guest have, independent of each other reported the many problems with the evacuations.

 

This sounds like some very twisted person posting on FB.

[Flying is for Planes]

This is from her Facebook page. So assume this to be accurate text https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=755658691&sk=wall

 

Cari Ragazzi, sono alla stazione di roma, che aspetto il treno per tornare a casa. Sono in un internet point, perchè ovviamente non ho piu' il mio computer.... fa compagnia ai pesciolini!!! dell'isola!! volevo solo ringraziare, tutti coloro che mi hanno scritto e telefonato, (finchè la batteria del mio cell. ha resistito) un abbraccio a tutti, e grazie!! ho comprato tutti i giornali possibili, anche stranieri, e leggo solo un sacco di schifezze, bugie, e fango gettato in maniera gratuita. Ho il treno tra 30 minuti.... giusto il tempo di scrivere due righe ai giornalisti!!! e se vogliono, chiamarmi o invitarmi alle loro trasmissioni...... da rispondere alla signora bionda, che si sta facendo il giro di tutte le trasmissioni, la quale è scesa tra i primi con la lancia, e se al suo salvagente non si è accesa la luce, è perchè non è finita in acqua!!! Idiot!!! Ciao a tutti!

 

 

Dear Children, are at the station of Rome, which looks like the train to return home. Are in an internet point, because obviously I have no more my computer .... the company does pescaíto!!! the island!! I just wanted to thank all those who have written to me and phoned, (as long as the battery of my cell has resisted) a hug to everyone, and thanks! I bought all the newspapers, even foreigners, and I read just a lot of crap, lies, and mud thrown in for free. I have the train between 30 minutes ... just the time to write two lines to journalists!!! and if you want, call me or invite me to their broadcasts ... ... to respond to Mrs blonde, you are making the rounds of all transmissions which fell between the first with his spear, and if his life has turned on the light, it is because it's not over in the water! Idiot!!! Hi all!

[Flying is for Planes]

Reality is 99% of the crew did the best they could, given the obvious flaws in their training and the absence of passenger drills. Dont blame the crew for the poor evacuation - your target must be Costa and the regulators who allowed this slack standards

[momtoabowhead]

Where did you see this? Are you friends with that crew member? Just curious of the validity. Who posted it?

[CoachT]

and the absence of passenger drills.

Where was there an absence of passenger drills?

[momtoabowhead]

Where was there an absence of passenger drills?

 

According to many accounts the passengers that had just boarded were not scheduled for their muster station drill until the next day. There wasn't a next day, hence the absence of passenger drills.

[Aus Traveller]

I can help remarking that they did not save 4,000 people. Many felt that had to jump overboard when there were no lifeboats for them to get into. These people made their own way to shore. In addition, tragically, some people did not make it to shore.

 

I don't know if the captain went ashore early or not, but this is the first report that claims he didn't.

[cdamion]

According to many accounts the passengers that had just boarded were not scheduled for their muster station drill until the next day. There wasn't a next day, hence the absence of passenger drills.

 

Nobody is disputing the fact that the passengers who just boarded did not participate in a muster drill, but most of the passengers on board were finishing up their cruise and had completed it. As has been posted many times, this particular cruise allows passengers to embark at several ports along the way.

 

I think if they scheduled a muster drill at every embarkation passengers would complain. Would you like if everything had to stop 5 times per cruise for a muster drill? (maybe that's what needs to happen)

[CoachT]

According to many accounts the passengers that had just boarded were not scheduled for their muster station drill until the next day. There wasn't a next day, hence the absence of passenger drills.

However the vast majority of passengers that boarded in Savona were given a muster drill. There was no absence of a passenger drill. Current IMO/SOLAS regulations require it once per week and within 24 hours of departure.

[queenofports]

I think it is definitely her. However, I believe her account of what happened is naturally going to be what she saw. The crew went through a major ordeal as well. The cruise lines go to great lengths to train their crew how to safely evacuate. But how do you ever really prepare for something that you don't officially ever practice? When was the last time you had to evacuate 4000 people from a sinking ship. Not saying everything went according to the strict safety regulations, but also feel like there are so many things we still just don't know about.

[ObscureAllure]

I think it is definitely her. However, I believe her account of what happened is naturally going to be what she saw. The crew went through a major ordeal as well. The cruise lines go to great lengths to train their crew how to safely evacuate. But how do you ever really prepare for something that you don't officially ever practice? When was the last time you had to evacuate 4000 people from a sinking ship. Not saying everything went according to the strict safety regulations, but also feel like there are so many things we still just don't know about.

 

Although they don't practice in those conditions (obviously) - they do practice loading the lifeboats with all the passengers and lowering them into the water. It's a well documented activity by cruise pax who have to go through it.

 

Granted, loading 4000 calm but annoyed people in a drill is totally different then loading 4000 panicked, screaming people on a sinking vessel... So I guess they never really practice it in that scenereo of course, but they do practice it in a drill manner. I know it's not entirely compatible but no safety practice can completely prepare you for the real thing.

 

 

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[Finnjet]

Although crews train to abandon ship, there's no way to train for dealing with 3,000+ panicked passengers who, like the crew, speak a multitude of languages. The decision to abandon ship is weighty, for sure -- doing so unnecessarily could result in a great loss of life. Although I think there certainly were great mistakes made, I think it's remarkable that so few deaths occurred.

[ObscureAllure]

Although I think there certainly were great mistakes made, I think it's remarkable that so few deaths occurred.

COMPLETELY AGREE 100%!

 

As sad as this horrible incident is and even losing one life, I am at the least happy that the vast majority made it out alive. It could have been so much worse and thanks to the people who helped rescue people (crew, passengers, residents of the city, emergency workers, all of the people who helped!) it was a miraculously better than it could have been.

 

THANK YOU to everyone who helped in this situation and to the crew who helped. I hope this girl from FB knows that there are many people out there who understand the monumentous effort they put forth and the impact it had in the survivors. I'm definitely one of them!

 

 

 

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[gnocchi_mommy]

http://www.news.com.au/world/going-down-with-the-ship-not-this-captain/story-e6frfkyi-1226244699740

 

Asked on the news channel SkyTG24 whether captain Francesco Schettino, arrested on Satruday for multiple homicide, had left the liner "well before all the passengers were evacuated", prosecutor Francesco Verusio replied: "Unfortunately I can confirm that."

The prosecutor also indicated that the ship "was not on the right course", adding that the captain was on the bridge and "therefore responsible for operations".

He said the possible responsibility of other persons apart from the captain and his number two, Ciro Ambrosio, was also being investigated.

Asked whether the crew were not properly prepared, Mr Verusio said: "It was rather the system of command which did not function as it should have done."

 

 

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world/going-down-with-the-ship-not-this-captain/story-e6frfkyi-1226244699740#ixzz1jbA7bar4

[SakeDad]

Although they don't practice in those conditions (obviously) - they do practice loading the lifeboats with all the passengers and lowering them into the water. It's a well documented activity by cruise pax who have to go through it.

 

 

Exactly WHEN do these happen? I have been a passenger many times on different lines and WORKED for months on ships as crew and have NEVER seen this happen once! Not saying it doesn't but I have never seen, heard of or experienced a whole passenger evacution safety drill....ever.

[Capricruiser]

I've met Katia Keyvanian on another Costa cruise and know she's an upright person and very competent in her job. If she said the captain was on the deck when she went ashore then he was, BUT as the reports and the Italian Coast Guard indicate, he did not remain until the last passengers were evacuated. It would appear from all accounts that if anyone is to blame, it's the captain Schettino who really blew it.

[AirStang7]

This is one of those double edged sword things. Much like the 'miracle on the Hudson' a few years ago. People looked at that and said, 'wow everybody survived' (sadly not the case here) but on the flip side 'a pack of geese can bring down a plane??'.

Similar to that, here it's 'over 99% of the onboard population made it out alive' but again, the flip side is 'if the ship sinks will we really all be taken care of?'.

Would everybody be alive if things went more smooth? In all honesty that's a difficult and complex question. I truly don't think it's possible to make it out alive unless you really pay attention and keep your wits about you. Spoon feeding from the crew isn't possible, not to mention people, especially those being untrained passengers, will do stupid and rash things that can have catastrophic consequences.

I also believe we've reached a point to where the muster drill is meaningless, at least to pax. It's a good exercise for crew, but I can't tell you the last time I saw any one passenger really paying attention to procedures. Same goes for airlines too, it's just a big snooze moment. For the most part, people will have a general idea of what to do and where to go, but when it really hits the fan the most rash and dumb decisions can be made. I hate saying this next part but it's my personal opinion that loss of life, in a very small number of course, is just going to have to be expected in incidents such as these.

[momtoabowhead]

Nobody is disputing the fact that the passengers who just boarded did not participate in a muster drill, but most of the passengers on board were finishing up their cruise and had completed it. As has been posted many times, this particular cruise allows passengers to embark at several ports along the way.

 

I think if they scheduled a muster drill at every embarkation passengers would complain. Would you like if everything had to stop 5 times per cruise for a muster drill? (maybe that's what needs to happen)

 

I was answering a question with facts, not speculating what I think should happen.

[cubella59]

She created a FB page in "support of Capt Schettino" Saturday morning.

 

As CapriCruiser indicated, she is posting from her perspective. I think from reports we've read from various authorities, it's pretty clear the Capt was not the last to leave. I've read reports where the Port Aithorities told him three time he was derelict in his duties and to return to the ship but he refused. Hard to know what really hap[pened with so many reports coming at us from so many Int'l agencies.

[cdamion]

I was answering a question with facts, not speculating what I think should happen.

 

I wasn't accusing you of speculating, sorry if it came across that way. I was asking you to speculate. What is the correct balance on the type of itinerary where people get on board at 4 or 5 different ports in a week?

 

Currently, most get on at one particular port where they hold the main muster drill. Then at the other embarkation ports where fewer passengers board, they do a smaller 'safety briefing' whatever that is.

 

Should they do a full muster every time passengers embark? That would be the safest, but I think people would complain.

[momtoabowhead]

I wasn't accusing you of speculating, sorry if it came across that way. I was asking you to speculate. What is the correct balance on the type of itinerary where people get on board at 4 or 5 different ports in a week?

 

Currently, most get on at one particular port where they hold the main muster drill. Then at the other embarkation ports where fewer passengers board, they do a smaller 'safety briefing' whatever that is.

 

Should they do a full muster every time passengers embark? That would be the safest, but I think people would complain.

 

I suppose they could attempt to do a muster with only new pax? Although, percentage wise, not many were lost. So I don't know how much additional musters would have mattered. From what I understand the law is to perform a mister within 24 hours and they were within their rights to hold it the following day.

 

I feel for those that were lost, but all in all this was a minor tragedy and could have been much, much worse. I just hope this will serve as a reminder for cruise lines and passengers alike to keep safety on the forefront of their minds.

 

It will be interesting to see the official reports of what actually caused this.

[antsnanny]

If you log onto Facebook and search "Crew of Costa Concordia" you will be able to read the posts from crew members. I for one think the crew on any cruise ship is amazing and considering that very few lives were lost, I would say that they did what they could and that saved lives. The posts I read last night are interesting, ranging from anger to sadness and most of all pride in themselves and their ship. BTY, most of the posts are in Italian but no worries, you will see the word "translate" under the post and it will translate it to English.

On the other hand, the captain bailed and if its true that he was caught by the coast guard trying to leave the scene then he set himself up for people to speculate that he was drinking. It happens all the time with car accidents, a person under the influence hits a pole, runs off the road etc. leaves the scene to avoid being tested for alcohol or drugs.

[dnbnor]

Sakdad makes a good point.

No matter how many drills/rules etc a ship has, no one can anticipate the reactions of 4,000 frightened people in a real situation.

 

Also, claiming , as another poster states, 'that the captain blew it' , let us wait for the investigation before making sweeping statements. Perhaps, the computers lost all power leaving the ship out of control. Who knows?

[cdamion]

I suppose they could attempt to do a muster with only new pax? Although, percentage wise, not many were lost. So I don't know how much additional musters would have mattered. From what I understand the law is to perform a mister within 24 hours and they were within their rights to hold it the following day.

 

I feel for those that were lost, but all in all this was a minor tragedy and could have been much, much worse. I just hope this will serve as a reminder for cruise lines and passengers alike to keep safety on the forefront of their minds.

 

It will be interesting to see the official reports of what actually caused this.

 

We'll see on Splendor in a couple months if people pay attention during muster. I do pay attention just in case. Never thought I'd see one of these modern cruise ships have to evacuate.