Costa Concordia Life Boats

[navybankerteacher]

The news stories and video clips showed passengers still on board after all the life boats which could be launched had gone -- reporting that a number of those stranded passengers swam for shore. There was no indication that any of the life boats returned to the ship to pick up additional passengers -- did any of them make return trips?

[BruceMuzz]

The news stories and video clips showed passengers still on board after all the life boats which could be launched had gone -- reporting that a number of those stranded passengers swam for shore. There was no indication that any of the life boats returned to the ship to pick up additional passengers -- did any of them make return trips?

 

Very few passengers actually swam to shore.

The Concordia Lifeboats that were launched made many round trips to get most everyone ashore safely.

 

When the World trade centers were attacked, they had the entire NY City Police Force, the entire NY City Fire Department, FEMA, hundreds of Federal Agents, the Mayor of New York, the Governor of New York, and many people in Washington all supervising. All of these people were highly trained and ready for emergencies. Additionally there were hundreds of very brave civilians helping out.

The attack happened on a bright and sunny autumn morning.

There was no cold sea water, wind, or darkness involved. Communications were not great, but everything was working.

The attack happened around 8:30 in the morning. The first building collapsed 9 hours later.

Over 3,000 lives were lost, despite the valiant attempts of so many brave people.

 

Concordia is almost exactly the same size as one of the Twin Towers.

Concordia ran aground in the evening, lost power and communications, with very little light. Much of the ship was submerged within a short period of time. It was dark, windy, cold, and wet. There was no organized supervision. The crew was not nearly as well trained as the NYC Police and Fire Departments. Passengers were speaking 5 different languages.

Waiters, entertainers, and housekeepers organized themselves and evacuated nearly 4,000 people safely from ship to shore in just two hours.

Thus far 16 lives have been lost, with the strong possibility that the final number may be double that.

What the crew did on that night was nothing short of a miracle.

[KirkNC]

Not only lifeboats made return trips but many private vessels joined in the rescue

[DanJ]

I suggest you re-visit the timeline of when the towers collapsed.

 

However I do agree given the conditions, and abandonment of the senior officer(s), that it is a miracle more lives weren't lost on the Concordia.

[jocap]

If you watch the AIS videos, yu'll see ships in the area immediately diverting to the wreck, and others leaving Civitavecchia within a short time.

I read that the mayor of the island was on board rescue boats for hours.

Jo.

[CruiserBruce]

I suggest you re-visit the timeline of when the towers collapsed.

 

 

I agree. 9 hours after collision, the towers collapsed? More like 45 or so minutes for one, about 90 minutes for the other, IIRC.

 

Had all those responders there? Not possible. Generally speaking, Federal agents, such as FBI, don't have a roll in emergency response for fire and rescue. FEMA wasn't there in those first 45-90 minutes after the planes crashed. The capacity of the Towers was approaching 50,000, although it is generally believed perhaps only half that number was actually in the Towers when the planes struck.

 

On the other hand, I agree with the concept many things went very right with the evacuation of the Costa Concordia. Too many people are transfering the poor behavior of the Captain onto all the other crew. And, as it is well known, grounding a vessel is a common tactic to try and maintain the vessel in an upright position to allow for evacuation. So, yes, colliding with the rock was stupid. However, grounding the vessel was not.

[BruceMuzz]

Gentlemen,

 

My mistake. Not coming from the USA, I don't have much knowledge of the details of the 9/11 event.

I had to look it up. The first building fell 102 minutes after the airplane collision.

[bus man]

Gentlemen,

 

My mistake. Not coming from the USA, I don't have much knowledge of the details of the 9/11 event.

I had to look it up. The first building fell 102 minutes after the airplane collision.

 

Perhaps you are unaware of the reason why the death toll in the Twin Towers was so high. It is simply this: when the first plane hit the North Tower, all elevators and stairways were severed. So not only were the people at the point of impact (floors 93-99) killed, but everyone above them up to the top (110th floor) were trapped. The death toll in the South Tower was considerably lower, because hundreds of people evacuated in the interval between when the two buildings were hit. Also, a single stairway remained intact past the point of impact, enabling a handful of people from above to escape.

[DanJ]

Gentlemen,

 

My mistake. Not coming from the USA, I don't have much knowledge of the details of the 9/11 event.

I had to look it up. The first building fell 102 minutes after the airplane collision.

 

I'm not from the US either. Anyway, the first tower hit fell 102 minutes after it was hit, but the second tower hit was the first to fall, 56 minutes after it was hit. This was primarily because the first plane hit higher up and straight on, whereas the second plane hit lower down and off center, thus making that tower more unstable, but also allowing that one stairwell (presumably opposite the impact zone) to be left intact.

 

However, I'm not really sure why the comparison of evacuating thousands of people out of a really tall building to evacuating thousands out of a really long ship. First, the ship has lifeboats down it's length, on both sides. People in the building have to go one place, down, and sometimes a long way down. How well would a ship evacuation go if they had to do it like they do loading tenders, where everyone has to go down to one door and load one boat at a time?

[sarafinadh]

Very few passengers actually swam to shore.

The Concordia Lifeboats that were launched made many round trips to get most everyone ashore safely.

 

Thus far 16 lives have been lost, with the strong possibility that the final number may be double that.

What the crew did on that night was nothing short of a miracle.

 

I have not seen any numbers on how many are estimated to have swum, but I would love to.

 

And yes, I agree it was a miracle. It could easily been so much worse.

 

Every time I see someone comparing this event to the Titanic I sigh... The Titanic had 2,200 aboard. 1500 of them drowned. 700 survived.

 

This was about as far from the Titanic as you could get, and that is something to be very grateful for.

 

Clearly there were many passengers and crew and people from the island who facilitated the evacuation under challenging circumstances. On the other hand they were close to shore, in reasonably temperate weather with water temperatures in the 50's, not the low 30's in the middle of the Atlantic, as was the case when the Titanic sank.

[DanJ]

On the other hand they were close to shore, in reasonably temperate weather with water temperatures in the 50's, not the low 30's in the middle of the Atlantic, as was the case when the Titanic sank.

 

I whine when I get in the pool at 76 degrees. I can't imagine what the shock of 50 degree water, combined with the fact I need to swim for my life, not just for my tan, would do to my system.

[sarafinadh]

Well, for one person it caused cardiac arrest... : -P

 

It was around 56°, which is what it is usually in the SF bay. And we have a swimming club, The Dolphin Club, that swims in the bay every day. I have swum in the bay when it was only a bit over 60°. When you drop something off the dock, if ya REALLY want it back you go after it right away. Not fun, but barring serious pre-existing heart conditions, it won't kill you.

 

Not my chosen temp either, but a bit of adrenalin will carry you quite a ways. With a life vest on and reasonably competent swimming skills it's not a big reach. Looking at the satellite photos the closest shore location is about 150 feet, or around the length of a 50m olympic swimming pool. You would have to swim more than that depending on where you entered the water.