I’ve been paying close attention to the Costa Concordia accident since before much news hit the US airwaves on Friday night. In fact I managed to get my most up to date information not from any of the big box US based television news outlets but from twitter and the folks I follow there. (We can easily be followed using @Brookscruisesvc to follow us.) The news was coming right out of Italy, and these days with translation available thru various websites, you can get a reasonable English account of the news in Italian.
First I want to express deepest sympathy to the passengers and crew and families of these people who suffer the effects of the tragedy. The loss of even one life in the accident is tragic, and with a current death toll (as of noon on Monday the 16th) of five that is a very sad loss of life. With 15 still missing it is possible that the death toll will reach 20. Now some folks I have read cite the percentage loss of life as a measure and using that it makes 20 look small, but if you look around you somewhere you gather and think 20 that is a lot of lost life, but I made my point any loss is too much loss of life so I don’t plan to debate the final death count.
Unfortunately, based on current statements by Costa it appears the ship’s Master did not follow proper maritime or company protocol in operating this ship. It appears his digression from the prescribed routes have contributed in part or may be fully at fault for causing the accident. The accident and subsequent confusion in evacuating the ship has then resulted in the death of at least five and to many injuries. That does not even begin to that into account loss of personal items by the passengers and crew or the financial loss to Costa for damage to the ship and all of the lost passenger revenue expected to be produced by the ship.
No, I am not focusing on the financial impact, at least yet, because until the rescue efforts are complete and well behind us it is still a human toll story. This is a human story that appears to have started with a planned special sail by Giglio, Italy. This sail by was apparently preplanned as it was advertised by the sister of the ship’s Senior Head Waiter. She posted (and that post appears to now be gone) on Facebook that such a sail-by would occur. The post was reprinted in at least one UK based newspaper. So we have a situation where a “stunt” was planned ahead of time and unfortunately it did not go well.
Personally this tragedy will not affect my feelings about being on a cruise ship. Generally, it is about as safe a way to travel as you can find. One of the reasons why it will not affect my feeling about cruising is the fact such stunts are incredibly rare and after this one failed to work correctly, the scrutiny on other ship’s Masters will be so tight as to ensure a copy-cat event does not occur. Further, my sailing out of Galveston rapidly move into deep water where all obstructions are well marked and typically lit (most are related to the offshore oil fields) making for an interesting area transit.
A lot of lessons will be learned from the accident that ultimately will improve safety even more for cruise ships. So far based on my read of the situation the training for the crew at each lifeboat station needs improvement and that will almost certainly happen very quickly with the other major cruise lines out of concern that nothing such as the chaos of this evacuation can ever be repeated again. SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) conventions are likely going to be modified to enhance safety to an even greater degree. This was done after the Titanic (almost 100 years before the Costa Concordia) sank.
As someone who worked on vessels at sea during my College Summer days, I know that safety training is important for crew. Safety training for passengers happens both on the welcome aboard message on your TV upon arrival on the ship as well as at Muster Drill. SOLAS requires a muster drill within 24 hours of initial sailing. In the case of the Costa Concordia the initial sailing actually happens for guests on different days due to three or more boarding ports. In the case of the port near Rome, they wait for Muster drill the full 24 hours and combine it with the one for those boarding at the main embarkation port.
I’ve seen a muster drill called and performed for those who boarded down-line on one of my Royal Caribbean sailings. Those new guests were run thru the full drill, and it was done where they all had the training before we sailed from their departure port. I believe that is the best way for the Muster Drill to happen, before any new guests leave their own departure port, not after they are already at sea.
As this story continues to unfold we will likely see Costa heap more blame on the Captain. They already have made more than one public statement in which they describe his actions as unauthorized and inappropriate. Based on transcripts from the “black box” (which is really orange if you go look for them) the Captain did refuse to assist in organizing the rescue efforts as ordered by the Italian Coast Guard. That alone should lead the Master to a 12 year prison sentence. Of course he is likely to be charged with murder or maybe manslaughter for each one of the deaths. Also, he is likely to be charged with criminal negligence in causing the accident itself and will likely face criminal charges for any environmental damage.
Greenpeace has been cited as confirming the area where the ship lays tonight is a marine sanctuary for dolphins. Likely, a dolphin or two lost their homes as a result of this. Yes marine animals have homes as well, and most cruise lines go out of their way not to disturb such animals or their homes. Of course until all of the fuel, oil, and other environmentally dangerous fluids are removed from the ship there stands a big chance we could see ecological disaster at the current final resting site of the ship.
A sad addition to the end of the story, just a few moments ago the missing count was raised to around 30 passengers and crew, depending on which report you see. Regardless that is a disturbing and very sad turn of events this evening. Fortunately unlike prior evenings the rescue crews are continuing their search thru the ship despite the darkness of the overnight hours.
We will write more in another blog in the near future.
No comments:
Post a Comment