Italy cruise ship Costa Concordia aground near Giglio

[Madzng]

Costa Crociere has offered uninjured passengers that were onboard the Costa Concordia $14,460 each to compensate for baggage, personal belongings, and psychological trauma after their cruise ship ran aground and capsized off Italy. Some passengers have already refused the deal; they feel that a price cannot yet be put on what they suffered. They are free to pursue their own legal actions if unhappy with the deal.

This decision was made by Costa after negotiations with consumer groups who are representing the 3,206 passengers from over 60 countries that this applies to. In addition to the lump-sum compensation, Carnival Corporation will also reimburse these unharmed passengers a full refund on their cruise, return travel expenses, and any medical evaluation expenses.

This offer does not apply, however, to the hundreds of crew onboard, the estimated 100 people who were injured mainly in evacuation chaos, or the families of victims from the sinking. 16 bodies have been recovered from the wreck site, and 16 more are reported missing still and presumed dead.

Some consumer groups have also already joined in the criminal case against Concordia captain, Francesco Shettino, who is accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning ship. Codacons, a well-known Italian consumer group, has enlisted two US law firms to launch class-action suits against Costa and Carnival; they hope to get around 1.3 million per passenger. Many foreign lawyers are advising their clients to pass on the settlement.

Costa representatives claim that this deal provides passengers with a quick and generous restitution, which is almost $20,000 per passenger including other reimbursements. It has immediate response and no legal expenses.

Taken from /www.maritime-executive.com

[JK]

excellent comment on Cargo Law, here:
http://www.cargolaw.com/2012nightmare_c ... eflections

It pretty well sums up everything said here over 5 pages.

BTW, looking at the pictures of the ships interior, is it just me or is it spectacularly garish?

[JollyJack]

Not quite refined elegance, is it?

[Madzng]

I hope the publicity surronding the Costa Concordia limits the amount of information and lessons to be learnt from being spread through the industry.


Italian authorities are refusing to release the findings of an inquiry into a fatal accident involving a sister ship of the Costa Concordia.

Three crew members were killed when the Costa Europa hit a quay in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in February 2010.

Accident reports should be submitted to the International Maritime Organization (IMO), but such regulations have not been followed.

The Italian Maritime Register said the report is "strictly confidential".

The Costa Europa crashed in 2010 during a Red Sea cruise with 1,500 passengers on board.

Under regulations set by the IMO, investigations into serious shipping accidents have to be conducted by the vessel's flag state - in this case Italy.

The findings of such investigations are supposed to be sent to the IMO so that potential lessons can be learned, and if necessary, changes made to safety regulations.

'Safety failure'

But two years after the accident the Italian authorities still have not sent the report to the IMO - meaning the regulator has not been able to analyse the Costa Europa accident and assess any potential improvements to safety.

“Flag states should have the capacity to carry out full and complete investigations and furnish those findings to the IMO in the interests of safety of life at sea” Allan Graveson

Nautilus International

"Without an investigation report, or other information submitted by a member state, the relevant IMO body has nothing on which it can make any decisions," an IMO spokesperson told Radio 4's The Report.

Allan Graveson, senior national secretary of the maritime union Nautilus International, says the failure to deliver the report is "a manifest failure of the international regulatory system".

Mr Graveson added: "Flag states should have the capacity to carry out full and complete investigations and furnish those findings to the IMO in the interests of safety of life at sea."

At the time of the accident the Egyptian authorities said the crew were at fault, while Costa Cruises blamed bad weather.

The Costa Europa accident is currently not included on the IMO's database of serious maritime incidents, although the organisation says it does not guarantee that its database is complete as it is dependent on the reports it receives.

Among the passengers on board the Costa Europa in 2010 when the accident occurred were Chris and Ron Greal from Guernsey.

They immediately ran onto the deck where they were met by crew soaked to the waist.

"They were speaking about it being similar to the Titanic - opening bulkhead doors and being hit by a six foot wall of water," Mr Greal recalls.

The ship had begun to list after hitting the quay and Mr Greal says when he asked one of the crew whether he should get his life jacket, he was told not to, and that the incident was an exercise.

The Greals say it took an hour for the captain to inform passengers of what had happened.

During this period Mrs Greal said she was "absolutely petrified - the crew were all coming up absolutely soaking wet".

"It was obvious that there was a big problem down below," she told the BBC.

It took five hours for the Greals to be taken off the vessel. During that time they say the only crew they saw were entertainment personnel.

Ron Greal was so incensed at the way the accident was handled that he wrote to the UK Maritime Accident Investigation Branch asking them to investigate.

Mr Greal said he was "due to get feedback from the Italians, but never received anything".

The BBC contacted the Italian Maritime Register who said the investigation report into the Costa Europa incident "is strictly confidential, and at the moment is in the hands of the vessel's owner and the flag state authority".

Costa Cruises told the BBC that that it carried out an internal investigation and produced a detailed report, which it shared with the flag state authorities - in this case, the Italian coastguard in Genoa.

Costa Cruises says that as the report is an internal company document it has no intention of disclosing it.

[Big Pete]

Just got back home and catching up, I saw a documentary oon the Concordia disaster the other night which was clear and not too emotive with lots of first hand passenger and crew accounts and films, well worth watching because it gives a real sense of what was happening and a time line.
However, as can be expected all the Officers are keeping stum, the crew who were talking are Hotel/Passenger services. It can be viewed on:-


http://www.channel4.com/programmes/terr ... -concordia

I agree with most peoples comments and have to commend the serious and responsible comments.

With regard to the fuel, density of Sea Water is 1025, even the worst residual fuel isn't that dense, so it should just about float, If I remember correctly the worst allowed densisty for HFO is 1010, half way between the density of fresh water and sea water. she would have to burn MGO in European Ports.

With regard to the Azipod propulsion I have sailed with ABB Azi Pull pods, with fixed pitch props and variable speed drive (frequency converters).
Stopping a ship of this size is not quick and easy. A crash "full astern" movement would cause the water flow over the blades to breakdown because of the pressure differential across the blades, and leave them spinning in a bubble of cavitation.
Many years ago there were many experiments carried out when super tankers were first introduced, into the best way of slowing them down.
Although cruise shiops are faster than tankers, as they have got bigger the power to weight ratio has also fallen dramatically and their acceleration /deceleration has got much less, also the hull design has improved, leading to further reductions in power and blade area..
From the old tanker experiments I remember the fastest way of slowing down was to go to "slow ahead" until the speed fell off, then to slow astern, and only gradually increase astern power. Took a great deal of guestimation to get the optimum slow down profile.
However, with modern technology, maybe we should introduce an emergency crash stop button, that would control RPM or pitch automatically in such a way as to maintain maximum shaft torque and hence give the fastest slow down without cavitation, like ABS braking systems on cars.

BP

[The Dieselduck]

Costa Calls on Salvage Companies for Ship Removal Plans
Thursday, February 02, 2012

Costa Crociere has set up a technical committee, with representatives from Costa Cruises, Carnival Corporation & plc, Fincantieri, Rina and sector experts, including academics, who will work for the best possible drawing up of the plan, on a joint basis with the competent authorities. As anticipated in a letter sent to Costa Concordia Emergency Commissioner Franco Gabrielli, Costa Cruises has called for tenders 10 companies throughout the world to present a working plan to enterely remove the hull of the Costa Concordia.

The invitation has been sent to the world’s leading operators, who have the capabilities to perform the work in the shortest time possible, while ensuring maximum safety and the least possible environmental impact: 1) Smit Salvage BV, 2) Svitzer Salvage BV, 3) Mammoet Salvage BV, 4) Titan Salvage, 5) Resolve Marine Group Inc., 6) T&T Marine Salvage Inc., 7) Donjon Marine Inc., Tito Neri S.r.l., 9) Fukada Salvage & Marine Works Co. Ltd., 10) The Nippon Salvage Co Ltd.
The plans must be presented to Costa Cruises by the beginning of March 2012, for joint assessment with the Civil Protection Scientific Committee, in order to allow the best one to be selected by the end of March 2012.

This timeline represents the best possible outcome in a situation of this kind, although it cannot be excluded that there will be delays given the complexity of the operation.

[JK]

http://www.giglionews.it/2010022440922/ ... porto.html

webcam at site.

[JK]

The fuel barge was alongside, but when I looked earlier it was gone. Now it looks half lumpy out there with breaking crests, so they must have stopped pumping

[Madzng]

ITALIANS

Fabrizio

Fabrizo.JPG (13.05 KiB) Viewed 8680 times

Rossi

Rossi.JPG (13.29 KiB) Viewed 8680 times

Biaggi

Biaggi.JPG (9.89 KiB) Viewed 8680 times

Schettino

schet.JPG (14.74 KiB) Viewed 8680 times

[JK]

remarkable similarities!

[Wyatt]

Those slicks just don't do it in the wet......

[BilgeRat1]

Nah, needed a set of rain tires...

[JK]

Looking at the webcam just now, I'd say more like snow tires.

[JK]

anyone have access to Lloyd's List?
Apparently there is an article in there today that says the insurance cover for Costa Concordia could be void if the courts decide there are sufficient grounds for charges of negligence or unseaworthiness. Since Costa has been pointing the finger steadily to the Captain crying negligence or mutters to that effect, things could get very trying for them! Could this be bottoms up for the entire company?

[The Dieselduck]

Attached is a copy of the article.

Interesting premise, I think it will be tough to prove, but then again if its one thing insurance companies are good, at is avoiding paying anything. Then again Carnival's Mr Arison could probably cough up a billion without flinching too much.