Concordia Special

[janneke]

I personally have been on a ship (not Costa) that did a very close sail by an island as a special treat for the passengers on the ship. We sailed extremely close to shore and did a complete 360 degree turn in front of the island between two mountain peaks. The captain announced the sail-by beforehand. The last time I sailed on the same ship by the same island, we were miles offshore.

 

Was this by any chance on a cruise around the British islands, where the ship passed by the island of St KILDA?

I was on that cruise back in july 2010 and what you described is EXACTLY what happened to us!

I must admit that this was a wonderful experience. And watching the Gannet birds populating the rocks was just amazing! And the ship was really CLOSE by the rocks!

[IndyDenise]

This has been brought up before and I simply do not believe Costa (or any other cruise line) tracks their ships in real time. It is possible to do so (indeed, people on CC track ships all the time using AIS), but I just don't see it. They have people they trust to be in charge on the ships and there is nothing they can do from land... according to reports, while the captain was in contact with Costa's head of Marine Operations, he wasn't telling him the full truth. Only one compartment was flooded, then two were flooded but the ship wasn't sinking and by the time he told him the ship was listing, he had initiated abandon ship.

 

____________

 

Actually, the passengers initiated abandon ship...the captain FINALLY let them.

[Ozcruiser1]

I find myself wondering about a number of things after watching the Discovery show.

 

First, there has been on these boards some discussion about the ship's anchor, but I don't recall anything mentioned about it on the show. When was it (they?) dropped, and why?

 

And maybe an answer to that -- if the ship was without power, why did it turn to starboard (away from the island) as it lost headway. One would think that listing to port, with a jagged hole on the port side, and the wind from starboard, it would turn to port. Were the rudders still operable (can they be operated on emergency power?), and was the ship intentionally turned away from the island? Perhaps in an effort to turn it around? Or did it turn because its starboard anchor was dropped?

 

Lots of unanswered questions . . .

There was an earlier post on the CLOSED thread

post # 4140

page 207 on the closed forum

 

It would tend to conform that the anchor was NOT used to turn the ship

 

I have copied that post shown in red text here so you dont have to search.

dmwnc1959

 

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/01/inside-the-wreck-of-the-costa-concordia/100229/

 

daveyjonesrugrat

Thank you for these photo's some of them were extremely good for sourcing information. One picture I did notice was number 29 of the ships anchor.

 

If you look behind the near anchor chain on the right of the anchor you can see a pile of chain on the seabed. This draws me to the conclusion that the anchor was not used to turn the vessel as I had previously believed as the chain would have been fairly taunt and not piled up like that. That, to me, indicates that the anchor was released when the vessel had already stopped. Any other mariners agree with my call?

[BeyondKen]

The most amazing "new news" in the Discovery program - new to me anyway - was that the captain didn't in fact turn the ship around and beach it, but rather that the ship was totally drifting and without engine power, and it was only the large superstructure catching the wind, and it was the wind turning it around and pushing it toward that "shelf" the ship came to rest on.

Watching the AIS track of the Concordia (narrated by a ship's Captain) the ship makes a sharp 180 deg turn just before drifting to shore, long after losing power:

 

http://gcaptain.com/gcaptains-john-konrad-narrates-the-final-maneuvers-of-the-costa-concordia-video/?37941

[graphicguy]

Watching the AIS track of the Concordia (narrated by a ship's Captain) the ship makes a sharp 180 deg turn just before drifting to shore, long after losing power:

 

http://gcaptain.com/gcaptains-john-konrad-narrates-the-final-maneuvers-of-the-costa-concordia-video/?37941

 

Thanks for that Ken. That's what I was looking for.

[tntornadox]

____________

 

Actually, the passengers initiated abandon ship...the captain FINALLY let them.

 

My point was he had finally ordered abandon ship, as only the Master can do.

[MorganMars]

Oz,

 

The testimony of both Schettino and Bosio was that they had dropped two anchors. See page 3 at http://download.repubblica.it/pdf/2012/traduzione_ordinanza_grosseto.pdf . There were a number of news reports that said this was done 15 minutes after the impact and others that said that Schettino had admitted to lying about it. Since I don't read Italian, I cannot confirm any of the reports, but it is probably buried somewhere in the transcripts which can be found at the following links:

 

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://download.repubblica.it/pdf/2012/inchieste/cap-3.pdf&embedded=true

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://download.repubblica.it/pdf/2012/inchieste/cap-2-pag-72-77.pdf&embedded=true&pli=1

http://www.repubblica.it/static/speciale/2012/inchieste/documenti-schettino/capitolo-1/index.html

http://inchieste.repubblica.it/it/repubblica/rep-it/2012/01/23/news/concordia_la_versione_di_schettino-28610754/

 

MorganMars

There was an earlier post on the CLOSED thread

post # 4140

page 207 on the closed forum

 

It would tend to conform that the anchor was NOT used to turn the ship

 

I have copied that post shown in red text here so you dont have to search.

dmwnc1959

 

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/01/inside-the-wreck-of-the-costa-concordia/100229/

 

daveyjonesrugrat

Thank you for these photo's some of them were extremely good for sourcing information. One picture I did notice was number 29 of the ships anchor.

 

If you look behind the near anchor chain on the right of the anchor you can see a pile of chain on the seabed. This draws me to the conclusion that the anchor was not used to turn the vessel as I had previously believed as the chain would have been fairly taunt and not piled up like that. That, to me, indicates that the anchor was released when the vessel had already stopped. Any other mariners agree with my call?

[nybumpkin]

Watching the AIS track of the Concordia (narrated by a ship's Captain) the ship makes a sharp 180 deg turn just before drifting to shore, long after losing power:

 

http://gcaptain.com/gcaptains-john-konrad-narrates-the-final-maneuvers-of-the-costa-concordia-video/?37941

That's the video that started the speculation about using the thrusters; however, as Capt. Konrad noted in his disclaimer, everything was dependent on analysis of the black box data. I tend to go with the folks at Mass Maritime that the "sail" effect is what actually turned the ship 180 degrees, not the use of thrusters. However, considering Capt. Konrad did this analysis just days after the grounding, he did an admirable job.

[Highlander0108]

Oz,

 

The testimony of both Schettino and Bosio was that they had dropped two anchors. See page 3 at http://download.repubblica.it/pdf/2012/traduzione_ordinanza_grosseto.pdf . There were a number of news reports that said this was done 15 minutes after the impact and others that said that Schettino had admitted to lying about it. Since I don't read Italian, I cannot confirm any of the reports, but it is probably buried somewhere in the transcripts which can be found at the following links:

 

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://download.repubblica.it/pdf/2012/inchieste/cap-3.pdf&embedded=true

https://docs.google.com/viewer?url=http://download.repubblica.it/pdf/2012/inchieste/cap-2-pag-72-77.pdf&embedded=true&pli=1

http://www.repubblica.it/static/speciale/2012/inchieste/documenti-schettino/capitolo-1/index.html

http://inchieste.repubblica.it/it/repubblica/rep-it/2012/01/23/news/concordia_la_versione_di_schettino-28610754/

 

MorganMars

 

Not that I want to defend the captain, but perhaps they let the anchors out a certain distance to offer drag and then, when the ship grounded, they fully deployed them to prevent the ship from shifting. Those pictures do not show anchors that have been dragged or they would have been burried in sand and with the chains taught as others have pointed out.

[MorganMars]

Here are pictures of the two anchors that I posted some time ago. Analyze, at will, please.

 

Not that I want to defend the captain, but perhaps they let the anchors out a certain distance to offer drag and then, when the ship grounded, they fully deployed them to prevent the ship from shifting. Those pictures do not show anchors that have been dragged or they would have been burried in sand and with the chains taught as others have pointed out.

[BillB48]

I was wondering if anyone could answer my question? On the Discovery program on the Costa Concordia, several times I noticed the flag painted on either the port or starboard bow superstructure was fuzzed out. Here is the flag I am referring to in the picture down below, denoted by the arrow. Any suggestions/answers?

 

 

 

[Vampire Parrot]

I was wondering if anyone could answer my question? On the Discovery program on the Costa Concordia, several times I noticed the flag painted on either the port or starboard bow superstructure was fuzzed out. Here is the flag I am referring to in the picture down below, denoted by the arrow. Any suggestions/answers?

 

The flag is the Flag of Europe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Europe

 

VP

[Davyjonesrugrat]

Not that I want to defend the captain, but perhaps they let the anchors out a certain distance to offer drag and then, when the ship grounded, they fully deployed them to prevent the ship from shifting. Those pictures do not show anchors that have been dragged or they would have been burried in sand and with the chains taught as others have pointed out.

The anchors dont appear to have been used during the turning of the ship, or the stopping of the ship but as a last measure. If you look at one of the many pictures, from the divers searching for the bodies it shows the anchor chains piled in a heap and not tight as would have been expected.

 

Rgds

:)

[BillB48]

The flag is the Flag of Europe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Europe

 

VP

 

Correct, I was just curious why the Discovery channel blurred the image of the flag on their program. I can't imagine that showing the image of the flag that was on the ship would be disrespectful. I did not save the program so I can't be sure they blurred it in every instance of the archival shots.

[Vampire Parrot]

Correct, I was just curious why the Discovery channel blurred the image of the flag on their program. I can't imagine that showing the image of the flag that was on the ship would be disrespectful. I did not save the program so I can't be sure they blurred it in every instance of the archival shots.

 

The Discovery Channel is showing the program in the UK on Sunday at 2200GMT, I'll be recording it and I'll make a point of watching out for blurring of the Flag of Europe.

 

If there are obvious updates in the UK version of the program from when it was originally shown in the US I'll post on this thread - unless someone else beats me to it!

 

VP

[greg-nc]

Correct, I was just curious why the Discovery channel blurred the image of the flag on their program. I can't imagine that showing the image of the flag that was on the ship would be disrespectful. I did not save the program so I can't be sure they blurred it in every instance of the archival shots.

 

It probably has something to do with the EU demanding payments for use/display of the flag for commercial purposes. Or possibly disallowing the use of the flag for commercial purposes.

[glrounds]

I was wondering if anyone could answer my question? On the Discovery program on the Costa Concordia, several times I noticed the flag painted on either the port or starboard bow superstructure was fuzzed out. Here is the flag I am referring to in the picture down below, denoted by the arrow. Any suggestions/answers?

 

 

 

 

The naming of the Concordia was to honor the EU, IMHO.

 

from Wikipedia:

The name Concordia ("concord" in English) was intended to express the wish for "continuing harmony, unity, and peace between European nations."

 

 

[BillB48]

I have seen the European Union in a similar location on other ships, but I don't recall which ones at the moment.

 

Look forward to your report Vampire Parrot.

[Vampire Parrot]

The naming of the Concordia was to honor the EU, IMHO.

 

from Wikipedia:

The name Concordia ("concord" in English) was intended to express the wish for "continuing harmony, unity, and peace between European nations."

 

I hadn't thought of that! I had noticed that in the last 5 or so years, Costa ships have Flag of Europe displayed on the shoulder, and very splendid it looks to. Very much in keeping with the clean, classic look of Costa's fleet.

 

I wondered if Costa Concordia was the first in the Costa fleet to display the Flag of Europe, but she isn't, somewhere I've got a photograph of Costa Fortuna taken in 2004 (wow, I'm getting old) displaying the Flag of Europe on her shoulder. in any case, thank you(!) for letting us know that Concordia's name is to honour European harmony, unity and peace.

 

VP

[TMLAalum]

I went to the Discovery Channel's website and saw that this special will air on Sun. 2/26 at 9am Eastern time; however, my DVR shows that "Gold Rush" is scheduled for that time, so who knows?

[CruisersNC]

I went to the Discovery Channel's website and saw that this special will air on Sun. 2/26 at 9am Eastern time; however, my DVR shows that "Gold Rush" is scheduled for that time, so who knows?

 

 

According to tvguide.com......The cruise disaster show is on at 9AM on Discovery....and Gold Rush is on at 9PM. Enjoy the show!

[sparks247]

See following site for the AIS track of the CC:

http://www.qps.nl/display/qastor/2012/01/17/20120117_stranding

 

Some-one commented that the vessel turned around using the bow thrusters, which is highly unlikely. At that time the engine room was flooded and only power available was from the emergency generator for emergency lighting, Nav equipment, internal and external communication etc. It would not have sufficient capacity to drive the thrusters.

It appears that they dropped one or both anchors which made the ship turn around. There was a stiff ENE breeze (20-23 mph) at the time of the incident which pushed this giant vessel towards it's current resting place, just North of the port and possibly punched some additional holes in her bottom. (Strictly my opinion).

 

Freefall lifeboats are ok for cargo ships and offshore platforms but not for cruise line passengers. All seats (extra high) are facing forward, every-one is strapped in a harness and the lifeboat drops nose first into the water.

 

Just looked at underwater video from the Italian Police and noticed that both anchors are on the bottom close to the bow and appear to be dropped when the ship came to rest at its current position.

As other mentioned the anchors were obviously not used to turn the ship around. May have been caused by wind, current and ship's dynamics.

[cjbx]

This show repeats tomorrow 2/27 at 11PM eastern on Discovery