Concordia -- Email from a passenger

[KuffMUp]

indeed, the capt fled (no words); but they must have a second in command and a third, who are of the personality and experience to take control, no?

 

The 2nd and 3rd in command were abandoning the ship with the captain. He confirmed that in his phone calls with the coast guard. If all the officers fled with the captain, there isn't much for communicating.

 

There was an off duty captain on board who made the decision to make the call to abandon the ship, but without any backup from other officers, he had a lot on his plate.

[sunshine002]

I would agree , I would even change clothes real quick and put on some pants with cargo pockets or jacket , I wear an ostomy bag and would be in a panic if were to leave without an extra supplies just sayin that would cross my mind even in a rush. If I were I my room I would fill my pockets with my most needed things , I would think. I wasnt there and Hindsight is always 20/20 but I dont find it hard to believe someone thought ahead.

 

I would of agreed with you until yesterday. I read that one of the musicians died who was from Hungary. He had a life vest on and was helping others. He then decided to to go to his cabin to either get his violin or violin case and was not seen again.

[yankeechick78]

I would of agreed with you until yesterday. I read that one of the musicians died who was from Hungary. He had a life vest on and was helping others. He then decided to to go to his cabin to either get his violin or violin case and was not seen again.

 

I just heard this tonight. Awful. Had he not gone back to his cabin he probably would have survived! He is a hero! He helped save lives.

[mscruisefanwoman]

I, too, am so happy your friend made it home safe, and so sad for those lives that were lost. I'm also concerned for the mental and emotional toll this must be taking on the suvivors and their families.

 

About planning for disaster....how do you plan to help every passenger when you lose 1/2 of your lifeboats? I think that's why people panicked because they knew it was every man for themselves when their assigned lifeboat was underwater. The crew must have realized this also. I'm sure there were many heros, and many zeros in the tragic event. In the future they do need to focus on training their staff AND CAPTAINS on what to do if for some reason there is a lifeboat shortage. In this case, obviously with ropes, and rope ladders, they could have had some people climb to upper decks and wait for helicopters (which I understand was exactly what one family did).

 

I don't know how you can think of every possible disaster that could happen and plan for it, but with the billions of dollars the cruise industry makes, this should be priority number one.

[kenish]

Posted to the wrong thread!!

[Karennella]

Wow, I am completely surprised by this...

 

Michelle, is there word that all 21 Aussie passengers are safe and home now? Do you know?

Apparently one couple from our area of Sydney, who are both over eighty, are home safely and several other people have been interviewed in the media here. Some may have chosen to continue their trips, as a short cruise like that is generally part of a longer trip.

[oceanwavegirl]

I am so sorry to hear this. This makes me ill, and upset that this huge company would not help. Shame on them! I am very glad your friends made it home and are safe.

 

big shame file for that Company COSTA disgraceful when you think in good faith people PAY their cruise fare and hope to think they are dealing with professional people

:mad: shame file allright !!

 

God bless all the courageous Crew and Passengers who did their best

[dc-snoopy]

You know it surprises me that a company like Costa that regularly broadcasts announcements in multiple languages does not have automated announcements for emergency situations including "abandon ship" that is prerecorded in multiple languages and can be turned on from the bridge and repeated. While the captain, 2nd in command and 3rd in command may have abandoned their passengers, someone had to be on duty in the bridge and whoever makes the call to abandon ship, should be able to turn that recording on. There is no excuse for not having prerecorded emergency messages that can be broadcast in all appropriate languages. What would you do if you had to get messages out to the crew and passengers and the person on the bridge only speaks one language? That's just careless of a company as large as Costa.

 

As for preparedness, I do scan all important documents before traveling, especially out of the country. I put a copy on my laptop and have a copy on a flash drive that I always keep in my pockets. I'm not sure if the flash drive would still work if I had to swim to shore, but that is one of the backups that I have, including a photo of my wife and my passports. I'm told that being able to provide that photo to a US embassy will greatly facilitate getting a replacement passport. I like the idea of mailing these same files back to my on-line e-mail account so that it is accessible from any Internet connected computer. I'll remember that for the next time we travel out of the country. Thanks for whoever posted that.

[sfwriter]

You know it surprises me that a company like Costa that regularly broadcasts announcements in multiple languages does not have automated announcements for emergency situations including "abandon ship" that is prerecorded in multiple languages and can be turned on from the bridge and repeated.

 

I thought there was a power outage at that point, so was that even possible?

[Aus Traveller]

Isn't the emergency signal to go to muster stations seven blasts on the ship whistle, not a verbal message? From there it is up to the person in charge of the muster station to move people to the lifeboats when the order comes to evacuate the ship. (By the way, I hope I never have to do this!!)

[peterv]

I, too, am so happy your friend made it home safe, and so sad for those lives that were lost. I'm also concerned for the mental and emotional toll this must be taking on the suvivors and their families.

 

About planning for disaster....how do you plan to help every passenger when you lose 1/2 of your lifeboats? I think that's why people panicked because they knew it was every man for themselves when their assigned lifeboat was underwater. The crew must have realized this also. I'm sure there were many heros, and many zeros in the tragic event. In the future they do need to focus on training their staff AND CAPTAINS on what to do if for some reason there is a lifeboat shortage. In this case, obviously with ropes, and rope ladders, they could have had some people climb to upper decks and wait for helicopters (which I understand was exactly what one family did).

 

I don't know how you can think of every possible disaster that could happen and plan for it, but with the billions of dollars the cruise industry makes, this should be priority number one.

 

This same comment keeps popping up in these threads.

 

All the lifeboats, except for 3 on the port side were launched, those 3 were deployed, but not launched. No lifeboats were underwater.

 

The ships lifeboats saved most of the passengers, however if they gave the abandon ship order earlier, all of the passengers would have been saved, the 1 hour delay is what caused the deaths.

[ducklite]

I, too, am so happy your friend made it home safe, and so sad for those lives that were lost. I'm also concerned for the mental and emotional toll this must be taking on the suvivors and their families.

 

About planning for disaster....how do you plan to help every passenger when you lose 1/2 of your lifeboats? I think that's why people panicked because they knew it was every man for themselves when their assigned lifeboat was underwater. The crew must have realized this also. I'm sure there were many heros, and many zeros in the tragic event. In the future they do need to focus on training their staff AND CAPTAINS on what to do if for some reason there is a lifeboat shortage. In this case, obviously with ropes, and rope ladders, they could have had some people climb to upper decks and wait for helicopters (which I understand was exactly what one family did).

 

I don't know how you can think of every possible disaster that could happen and plan for it, but with the billions of dollars the cruise industry makes, this should be priority number one.

 

Every ship has lifeboat and raft capacity for 150% of the souls on board. So even if they couldn't launch all of the boats from the one side, they could still accommodate everyone. They did get about half of the life boats off the starboard side.

[mscruisefanwoman]

The two elderly people with their life jackets on who drowned in the dining room (which was my muster station) may have not known in all of the confusion that although they were following orders, they should have just gone and got on any remaining life boat, regardless of whether it was assigned to them. We'll never know if they believed their life boad was operable or if they thought someone was actually going to come and guide them (as they were instructed in the drill).