Cruise Liner Costa Concordia Aground in Italy - 30 Dead & 2 Unaccounted For

[MuffyBee]

http://www.windsorstar.com/travel/Photos+remains+Costa+Concordia/9435638/story.html
Photos: The remains of the Costa Concordia
January 30, 2014

See photos at link. 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/captain-francesco-schettino-refused-chance-to-return-to-sinking-costa-concordia/story-fnizu68q-1226811676979
Captain Francesco Schettino 'refused chance' to return to sinking Costa Concordia
January 28, 2014

AN OFFICIAL coordinating the rescue from Italy's stricken cruise ship told a court Monday that the captain, accused of abandoning ship, refused twice to be taken back on board after making it safely to dry land.
Captain Francesco Schettino, who is on trial for multiple manslaughter, insists that he slipped off the Costa Concordia as it rolled over after hitting rocks off the island of Giglio, and fell onto a lifeboat which carried him ashore.
In a widely-quoted phone call a coast guard official is heard upbraiding Schettino and ordering him to "get back on board, for f***'s sake" - an order the former captain refused point blank to follow.
"When I got to the rock where Schettino was, I told him I would take him back to Giglio port so he could get on a dinghy and be taken back to the Concordia, and get back on board if need be," Carlo Galli, the head of the traffic police coordinating the rescue, told the court.
Thirty-two people were killed in the nighttime disaster, which happened when passengers were sitting down to dinner.
Some drowned after throwing themselves into the icy sea, others were trapped in the lifts as the huge liner sank.
Helicopters desperately ferrying survivors to safety flew over Schettino as he sat huddled on an outcrop near the shore, Mr Galli said.
"He told me he had to stay, to supervise his ship. When I repeated the invitation to take him back, another officer from the ship said it was a good idea to try and get back on board. Schettino said no again," he said.
Captain 'was dry' after leaving ship Schettino has claimed he begged the lifeboat he found himself on to
turn around and take him back to the ship, but his request was refused.
He has also said the ship's owner Costa Crociere, Europe's biggest cruise operator, told him by telephone not to return to the stricken liner.
"Schettino was dry, unlike the rest of the passengers with him. He asked to use my mobile phone, but I needed it to coordinate the rescue. We took the passengers to shore, he remained behind with one or two other officials," Galli said.
 
Captain Schettino has admitted to performing a risky "salute" manoeuvre near Giglio island and is accused of delaying the evacuation process after the impact.
The court heard from Andrea Bongiovanni, an official who says he tried to persuade Captain Schettino to sound the alarm long before he eventually gave the order to do so.
"The ship's safety manager and I loudly insisted, along with the second in command Roberto Blosio, that the general alarm should be sounded. But Captain Schettino gestured that we should wait, he didn't give the order," he said.
"We only managed to later," and once the extent of the damage to the ship became clear, "the captain looked me in the eyes and said: 'My career is over'," he added.
 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kmbz.com/Official-Costa-Concordia-Captain-Twice-Refused-to-/18270084
Official: Costa Concordia Captain Twice Refused to Reboard Ship
January 28, 2014

TIZIANA FABI/AFP/Getty Images(ROME) -- The captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that crashed off the coast of Italy two years ago twice refused to go back on the vessel while it was at risk of sinking.
 
That’s what an official who coordinated the rescue of the passengers testified in court Monday during the trial of Capt. Francesco Schettino, who stands accused of manslaughter and abandoning ship.

Police official Carlo Galli said Schettino insisted he needed to coordinate the rescue from shore rather than climb back on board.  This, despite international law that dictates a captain should be the last to leave a sinking ship.
 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/01/28/cruise-company-lawyer-tells-court-shipwrecked-concordia-captain-didnt-mention/
Captain didn't speak of dead, boasted of saving lives, Costa Concordia lawyer says
January 28, 2014


n this frame grab taken from video and released by Italian media conglomerate Mediaset on Tuesday, July 10, 2012, Francesco Schettino is seen during an exclusive interview to the "Quinta Colonna" programme that was broadcast, Tuesday, July 10, 2012 on Mediaset Channel 5. (AP/MEDIASET, HOEP)

ROME –  A lawyer for the owner of the cruise ship Costa Concordia has told an Italian court that the captain made no mention of those who perished in the shipwreck but instead boasted the day after that he had saved lives with his skill.

Cristina Porcelli, a lawyer for Costa Crociere SpA, testified Tuesday in the manslaughter trial of the ship's captain, Francesco Schettino. She said Schettino told her and other company officials the day after the ship capsized on Jan. 13, 2012 that the reef which the vessel smashed into off Giglio Island wasn't on nautical charts.
 

[MuffyBee]

http://news.sky.com/story/1205035/diver-dies-on-costa-concordia-salvage
Diver Dies On Costa Concordia Salvage
The Spanish man in his 40s reportedly bled to death after cutting himself badly during the salvage operation in Italy.
February 1, 2014

A diver has died while working on the shipwrecked Costa Concordia after apparently gashing his leg on an underwater metal sheet.

Italy's civil protection agency, which is leading the removal of the Concordia from the Tuscan coast, said the diver was Spanish.

It was widely reported in Spain and Italy that he was Israel Franco Moreno, of La Coruna, and in his 40s.

Tuscany's La Nazione newspaper said the diver had been working on preparations to attach huge tanks on to sides of the Concordia, to float the ship off its false seabed and tow it to a port for eventual dismantling.

The newspaper reported he gashed his leg on an underwater metal sheet and was then unable to get free.

It said he bled heavily before a diver colleague was able to bring him to the surface. He was reportedly conscious upon surfacing but later died.
 
The current project that the diver was working on was to prepare the starboard side, which had been underwater until the ship was righted, to hold a similar number of tanks.

[MuffyBee]

My DH was a hyperbaric welder in his younger days and he read of this incident on a commercial dive forum today, and some of the divers commented, saying this was a bad company to work for in regard to safety and not to work for them.  They don't have a good reputation for safety for their divers.   

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/diver-dies-during-costa-concordia-salvage-works-1.1676630
Diver dies during Costa Concordia salvage works
Spanish diver was involved in an underwater operation when incident occurred
February 1, 2014

A Spanish diver died today during work to salvage the Costa Concordia cruise liner, which capsized off the Italian island of Giglio two years ago, the company in charge of the salvage work said.
The diver worked for the Spanish company UCS (Underwater Contractors Spain) and was involved in an underwater operation when the incident occurred, an official at Titan Micoperi said. Further details were not available.
 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2550171/Diver-dies-underwater-working-Costa-Concordia-salvage-operation-coast-Italy.html
Costa Concordia claims another life after diver working on salvage operation 'cuts leg on sheet metal and bleeds to death'
February 1, 2014

A salvage diver has died while working on the Costa Concordia wreck after it is believed he cut himself on metal sheeting 10ft underwater and bled to death.

Widely named in Italian and Spanish media as Israel Franco Moreno, from La Coruña, Spain, he was part of a team attaching 30 huge flotation tanks to the side of the 114,500-tonne ship.

He is the first person to die in the salvage operation since the cruise liner hit rocks two years ago off the holiday island of Giglio, Italy.


Tragedy: A salvage diver, named and pictured in Italian media as Israel Franco Moreno from La Coruña, Spain, died after it is believed he cut himself on metal sheeting 10ft underwater and bled to death
 


Worker: Another photo from the Facebook profile of Israel Franco Moreno, widely named as the victim in Spanish and Italian media, showing the wrecked ship

 
It appeared he had been working on the salvage operation for several months and his captions made several references to how cold the water was. On one he wrote: 'Very cold, but joyful.'

On another, he wrote: 'Another beautiful sunrise in Giglio'.

Enrico Rossi, president of the Tuscany region, told La Repubblica: 'Another mourning adds to the long list of victims of this vessel, adding pain to pain..

'It also adds rage for another death of a young man who was doing nothing more than his duty.'

It is the first fatality of a worker on the maritime salvage project, believed to be the largest in history and expected to cost £496 million by the time the ship is removed in June.

However, two workers have been injured at the shipyard dealing with the wreck.

In April last year a man fell backwards suffering a head injury and fracturing his collarbone, and a month later a worker was hospitalised while carrying out drilling operations, ANSA reported.
 

[MuffyBee]

Thank goodness Bosio was aboard the Costa Concordia the night of the tragedy and gave the order to abandon ship.   I can't imagine how many more lives may have been lost if he hadn't been.   

http://digitaljournal.com/news/crime/trial-costa-concordia-s-captain-delayed-so-first-mate-took-over/article/370474
Trial: Costa Concordia captain delayed so first mate gave orders
February 13, 2014

On the night of the Costa Concordia tragedy, it was first mate Roberto Bosio who gave the order to abandon ship. As Bosio told the court in the trial of the Captain Francesco Schettino, Schettino refused to.
Instead the ship's captain ignored numerous requests from officers to give that order and continued talking on a phone to the crisis center of the ship's owner, Costa Crociere, acting as if he was in denial of the ship's perilous condition.
Bosio, who has been credited by many with saving lives while going above Schettino's head and giving the order, told the court that "since he (Schettino) wasn't giving any input, the other officials turned to me for a decision."
Outside the court, Schettino again defended his actions on the night of Jan. 13, 2012 and said that the "captain delegates (and) there are designated people who have to do what I say." However, evidence has been presented that waiting even more time to abandon the ship would have cost even more lives than the 32 who died in the disaster.
 
Bosio is the captain of the Costa Concordia's sister ship, the Serena and only boarded the Costa Concordia during that trip as a private citizen. However, due to his rank in the company he was named the first mate for the voyage.

[MuffyBee]

Press release:

http://www.allmediascotland.com/media-releases/60553/north-east-haulage-firm-completes-costa-concordia-contract/
North-east haulage firm completes Costa Concordia contract
February 18, 2014

AN award-winning Scottish-based haulage firm has recently completed a six-figure contract with stricken cruise vessel, the Costa Concordia.

Grampian Continental, headquartered in Kinellar, Aberdeenshire, has been working as part of the salvage project of the Costa Concordia, which sank in January 2012 off the coast of Tuscany, Italy.

The haulage firm, which was launched in 2009 by directors Gavin Murray, Neil Bremner and Michael Lacey, utilised its bases in Europe to help transport the specialist equipment that was used to raise the vessel out of the water, at the start of this year.

Grampian Continental, which has another four bases in Newcastle, Great Yarmouth, Holland and Italy, used 15 trucks, driving the equipment from the dock in Italy to storage units in Holland. The firm, which has a modern fleet of trucks and trailers with the capability of transporting a diverse range of loads, transported the large equipment over three weeks, with a police escort due to the size and arranged all the specialist permits required.

Business development manager at Grampian Continental, Ben Gracie, said: “Working with the salvaging operation of the Concordia, has provided Grampian Continental with a great deal of experience, due to the size of the project and all the permits and legal requirements that we had to adhere to. As we have facilities across Europe, we already had the fleet to complete the job, but we had to overcome the challenges of Italian authorities and, of course, respect the sensitive issues surrounding the vessel salvage operation. We used our knowledge and experience of working in Europe to ensure the project ran smooth from start to finish.”
More...

[MuffyBee]

Whether the electrical generator failed or not doesn't account for Francesco Schettino's (aka Captain Coward) failure to come to the aid of his passengers, crew and ship the night of the disaster.  JMHO  He should never have left the ship and if he did slide or fall off, he could have hied his happy arse back on it.  JMHO

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/costa-concordia-captain-francesco-schettino-to-board-ship-off-italy-coast/
Costa Concordia Captain Francesco Schettino boards grounded off Italy coast for 1st time since disaster
February 27, 2014
GIGLIO, Italy -- Captain Francesco Schettino stepped aboard the Costa Concordia Thursday for the first time since it capsized off Italy's coast with him at the controls more than two years ago
 

Schettino arrived on Giglio aboard a ferry from Italy's mainland Tuesday night, after the Tuscan court agreed to let him go back onto the ship. The court in Grosseto, where Schettino is facing charges of manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing a shipwreck, authorized an inspection on the Costa Concordia to be carried out by a group of experts and attended by the former captain.

He stepped onto the stricken vessel at about 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. Eastern).

Specifically, experts will be examining an electrical generator in the ship's engine room and the bridge. Judge Giovanni Puliatti stressed that Schettino was being allowed onto the ship "as a defendant, not a consultant" and therefore that he could board the ship to help investigators, but not to ask questions.
The ship's emergency generator is believed to have malfunctioned on that fateful night. The generator is responsible for providing power and managing a series of mechanisms on the ship in case of failure, including the mechanical arms for the lifeboats and the elevators.
Thursday is the second inspection authorized by the court since the beginning of the year in an effort to determine whether any factors beyond human error contributed to the loss of life in the disaster.

More...

[MuffyBee]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/11/costa-concordia-captain-i-m-a-scapegoat-for-carnival-cruiselines.html
Costa Concordia Captain: I’m A Scapegoat For Carnival Cruise Lines
The captain of the cruise ship whose crash claimed 32 lives tells The Daily Beast that he is being thrown under the bus by Carnival Cruise Lines in order to secure an insurance windfall.
March 11, 2014

[MuffyBee]

http://www.thelocal.it/20140324/concordia-salvage-could-damage-tourism-giglio-mayor
'Concordia salvage could damage tourism': mayor
March 24, 2014

The mayor of Giglio, the island off Tuscany where the Costa Concordia capsized in 2012, killing 32 people, has called for the removal of the wreck to be postponed until September in order to “safeguard the tourism industry”.

An operation to remove the wreck, which was pulled upright last September, is scheduled to get underway in June.

The rusting cruise liner has dominated the port of Giglio for more than two years, but the island’s mayor Sergio Ortelli has argued that the timing of its removal clashes with the onset of the tourism season, La Stampa reported.

He also lamented the “total lack of information” from the authorities over the timing and process of the removal operation, saying it could seriously impact tourism and had “made Giglio afraid”.

“We’re worried because June is a crucial time for our economy,” he was quoted in La Stampa as saying.

“It could be a serious inconvenience.”

Franco Gabrielli, the head of Italy’s Civil Protection agency, hit back, saying the mayor and other institutions have been aware of the schedule “for months” and also alluded to Ortelli using the appeal to ramp up support ahead of local elections.
 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.gazettelive.co.uk/business/business-news/costa-concordia-teesside-could-miss-6878878
Costa Concordia: Teesside could miss out on scrappage work due to political pressure
March 26, 2014


Able UK bosses say work to could go to Italy due to 'political pressure' for the job to be carried out in the stricken cruise liner’s home country

More...

[MuffyBee]

http://www.digitaljournal.com/sports/costa-concordia-helmsman-found-may-be-forced-to-testify-in-italy/article/380477
Costa Concordia helmsman found, may be forced to testify in Italy
April 11 2014

The trial of Francesco Schettino, the captain of the Costa Concordia, the cruise ship that hit a reef Jan. 13, 2012, killing 32, is ongoing and an important witness may soon take the stand. That witness is Rusil Bin, the helmsman on that fateful night.
Mr. Bin was found in the countryside of his native Indonesia, outside of Jakarta. Captain Francesco Schettino has blamed Bin, who was steering the ship when it hit the reef, for the tragedy; Schettino claims that Bin did not correctly follow an order. Bin was given a plea bargain deal, a suspended sentence, for his role. It is unclear if Bin can be compelled to return to Italy to take the stand.
 
An important witness who is scheduled to take the stand next week is Roberto Ferranini, who worked at the crisis center for Costa Cruises and took the emergency call from the luxury liner that night. In a plea bargain, Ferranini was given two years and 10 months for multiple manslaughter and negligence.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.ybw.com/news/motorboats/536402/missing-costa-concordia-helmsman-found-in-indonesia
Missing Costa Concordia helmsman found in Indonesia
April 14, 2014

The Costa Concordia helmsman who failed to turn up to court in early March was discovered by Interpol officers in Indonesia last week.
 
Jacob Rusil Bin, who was steering the doomed cruise liner when it hit rocks off Giglio, was found in the countryside outside Jakarta.
 
Mr Rusil Bin is wanted in Italy to testify in the trial of Costa Concordia's captain Francesco Schettino, however it's not yet clear whether he will be forced to take the stand.
 
Schettino has accused the helmsman of misunderstanding his orders shortly before the ship was grounded off the coast of the Italian island.
 
The crash saw 32 of the 4,2000 passengers and crew onboard killed as a result.
 
Mr Rusil Bin has previously admitted charges of manslaughter, negligence and causing a shipwreck, and negotiated a plea bargain for which he received a suspended 20-month sentence.
 
Read more at http://www.ybw.com/news/motorboats/536402/missing-costa-concordia-helmsman-found-in-indonesia#lU1or8A3ZqTBUEKh.99

[MuffyBee]

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/costa-concordia-trial-schettino-blamed-shipwreck-blackout-1444781
Costa Concordia Trial: Schettino 'Blamed Shipwreck on Blackout'
April 14, 2014

Captain Francesco Schettino attempted to give authorities an altered version of the facts that led to the shipwreck of the Costa Concordia to alleviate his responsibilities, an Italian court has heard.

Roberto Ferrarini, Costa Crociere's fleet crisis coordinator told a court in Grosseto, Tuscany, that, after the cruise liner hit a reef, Schettino asked him to back him up in blaming the crash on a blackout on board.

"Schettino suggested to me to tell authorities that he crashed because of a blackout," Ferrarini told the trial against the captain.

"I strongly dissented and got angry. It was something completely different and false, compared to what he had told me earlier: that he hit a rock and the ship got flooded."

The prosecution played in court recordings of some of the phone conversations between Ferrarini and Schettino, in which the captain updated the Costa official on the unfolding tragedy.

"There was this little rock and we hit it with the stern," Schettino was heard saying. "I'm really devastated."

Ferrarini claimed that, in the phone calls, Schettino maintained a reassuring tone leading him to believe that he had everything under control.
 
Ferrarini was among another five employees of Costa Crociere who were granted plea bargain deals in return for milder sentencing in a separate proceeding.

He was sentenced last year to two years and 10 months in jail for multiple manslaughter, bodily harm and failure to communicate with maritime authorities.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2604444/Costa-Concordia-captain-Francesco-Schettino-tried-convince-head-crisis-team-devastating-ship-wreck-caused-blackout.html
Costa Concordia captain ‘tried to convince head of crisis team that devastating shipwreck was caused by blackout'
April 16, 2014

The captain of the cruise ship Concordia tried to orchestrate a cover up in which the company would blame the tragic shipwreck on a power cut, a court in Italy has heard.

Captain Francesco Schettino was in command of the giant cruise liner when it hit rocks and sank off the coast of Tuscany in January 2012, killing 32 people.

The 52-year-old, who allegedly caused the crash by ordering an ill fated ‘salute’ to the island of Giglio, is currently on trial for mass manslaughter and abandoning ship.

Giving evidence at the court in Grosseto, Tuscany, head of the crisis unit Roberto Ferrarini said that the former captain asked him to help cover his tracks, by telling the authorities that a power outage had caused the collision.

Emergency manager Ferrarini said: ‘Schettino asked me to tell the maritime authorities that the collision was down to a blackout on the ship. But I strongly objected.

‘That was a different false account compared to what he had said before, namely, that he had hit a rock which caused the ship to flood.

‘I remember I got quite angry-and I shared that reaction with my colleagues.'

Ferrarini, a key witness, was also to stand trial for his part in the disaster but through a plea bargain negotiated a two year two month suspended sentence before proceedings began.

Four other Costa employees received lesser sentences.
 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2014/04/15/Costa-Concordia-wreckage-to-be-moved/6101397572780/?spt=hts&or=4
Costa Concordia wreckage to be moved
The stricken Costa Concordia will soon be moved from the island where it ran aground in 2012, killing 32 people, Italy's environmental minister said.
April 15, 2014

ROME, April 15 (UPI) -- Italy’s environment minister pledged to have the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship removed “as soon as possible” from the island where it sank in 2012, killing 32 people.
Gian Luca Galetti said the ship, now upright and moored off the island if Giglio, will be removed “as soon as possible to protect the environment and also the summer tourist season.”
 
In Grosetto, the trial of ship captain Francesco Schettino continued Tuesday with the ship’s former hotel director, Manrico Giampedroni, testifying that Schettino failed to contact him during the shipwreck, even though Giamopedroni had responsibility for supervising the evacuation of passengers.

Schettino is charged with multiple manslaughter and dereliction of duty, and allegedly abandoned the ship before the evacuation was complete.

Monday the court was told that Schettino suggested blame for the accident should be placed on a power outage aboard the vessel.

“Schettino proposed I tell authorities a blackout caused the collision,” Robert Ferrarini, leader of a crisis unit established to handle the incident, testified.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/world/work-to-tow-costa-concordia-from-isle-of-giglio-halted-2-reasons/article/382767
Work to tow Costa Concordia from Isle of Giglio halted: 2 reasons
May 3, 2014

Work to ready the Costa Concordia to tow it from where it sits, 300 metres off the Italian island of Giglio, has been halted. There are two reasons: because they haven't a port to receive it yet and because of the possibility of spilling hazardous waste.
Last year the port of Piombino appeared to have been selected as the destination for the Costa Concordia, and officials said it would be scrapped there. However, that decision wasn't finalized and now there is at least one other Italian port in the running to scrap the cruise liner, along with a port in Turkey.
That would appear, however, to be less a problem than the concern for the environment. While the ship was raised back upright in September by the two companies overseeing the project, Titan Salvage of the U.S., and Micoperi of Italy, it will not be capable of floating on its own while being towed.
When the time finally comes to tow the Costa Concordia to the chosen port for scraping, another ship will essentially be placed underneath to keep her afloat during transportation. That ship is the Dockwise Vanguard, owned and operated by a company out of the Netherlands called Royal Boskalis Westminster.
The Dockwise Vanguard is a massive semi-submersible built to transport offshore oil and gas facilities, and large ships. It's listed as being capable of lifting and transporting ships up to 110,000 tons; the Costa Concordia, when fully loaded, weighs in at a little over that figure, at 114,000 tons.
The problem, as the Local, an English-language news site in Italy reports, that on the ship is a potentially "polluting cargo of gallons of cleaning products, rotted food and sewage." In order to ensure the stability of the Costa Concordia during transport, all of that "polluting cargo" must be pumped out. Officials aren't yet satisfied that it can be done without damaging the ecologically sensitive waters of the Tuscan Bay.
In the weeks following the Jan. 13, 2012 disaster, a Dutch company called Smit Salvage (a subsidiary company to Royal Boskalis Westminster) pumped out some 500,000 gallons of oil, 2,300 tonnes of heavy fuel and 200 tonnes of diesel fuel, from 19 tanks onboard.
Pumping out sewage and other bile will be a different matter as it is not neatly sitting in tanks waiting to be removed, but in locations throughout the ship. The concern for a safe removal with no spillage is great as the area of the Tuscan Bay Giglio is situated in is a marine sanctuary with dolphins, species of whales, porpoises and other marine life. As recently as last week officials had said the removal would take place in June but that timeline now seems to be in doubt.
 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2014/05/06/Costa-Concordia-salvage-delayed-by-loose-pontoon/4141399400928/?spt=hts&or=8
Costa Concordia salvage delayed by loose pontoon
Large pontoon welded to side of sunken ship falls off, causing stabilization issue.
May 6, 2014

ROME , May 6 (UPI) -- A steel pontoon involved in the salvage of the sunken cruise ship Costa Concordia came loose and fell off, causing the stabilizing structure to tilt, Italian officials said Tuesday.
The ship, sitting upright in waters off the Italian island of Giglio, is supported by large pontoons welded to its sides. They are designed to help the ship float before it's towed away later this year.

Officials said there were no injuries, and work to prepare the ship for its removal, and eventual scrapping, will proceed Wednesday.