http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/57885000/jpg/_57885802_013702767-1.jpg

Three people are confirmed dead after a cruise ship carrying more than 4,000 people ran aground off Italy.

There were scenes of panic as the Costa Concordia hit a sandbar on Friday evening near the island of Giglio and listed about 20 degrees. People reached land by lifeboats but some swam ashore.

Rescue teams have been going from cabin to cabin, searching for survivors.

Italians, Germans, French and British were among the 3,200 passengers. There were also 1,000 crew on board.

Helicopters evacuated the last 50 people on the deck who were in a "worsening" situation.

Three people were confirmed dead, Italian coast guard officials said on Saturday morning - fewer than the six or eight deaths reported by Italian media earlier.

I was reading about this.  They are saying worst cruise ship disaster since the Titanic, though, by no means as bad.  Forty people still missing, the crew confused as to what to do.  They were four miles off course, and the captain has been taken into custody. 

http://www.canada.com/news/5997368.bin?size=620x400

http://ww2.hdnux.com/photos/07/67/55/2063205/3/628x471.jpg

Wow that's sad.  :(

Three survivors are found on the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia more than 24 hours after it ran aground, as searches continue.

Emergency teams have found two more bodies in the partially submerged Costa Concordia cruise liner that sank off the western coast of Italy.

It brings to five those known to have died after the ship, carrying more than 4,000 people, hit rocks on Friday.

The coastguard said divers had found the bodies of two unidentified elderly men trapped in a flooded area.

Earlier three survivors were found, more than 24 hours after the ship ran aground near a Tuscan island.

Shortly before the bodies were discovered on Sunday, Tuscan regional official Enrico Rossi said 17 people remained unaccounted for.

Sounds like that boat needs its GPS updated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l5VbyvPCtg&feature=related

So sad.


Cat

Sounds like that boat needs its GPS updated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8l5VbyvPCtg&feature=related


This is so in the lap of the captain.  They were 4 miles off course and so close to land some people swam ashore. 

I was reading about this.  They are saying worst cruise ship disaster since the Titanic, though, by no means as bad.  Forty people still missing, the crew confused as to what to do.  They were four miles off course, and the captain has been taken into custody. 


All aboard the failboat!

In terms of body count, 'twas but a scratch.  In terms of preventability and capital loss, it's on a par with the Titanic.  A half-billion-dollar ship the size of a WW2-light aircraft carrier sank and will likely have to be carved up for scrap over the next few months, as a result of what appears to be operator error.  In an age of GPS, it should be impossible for a ship to be miles off course.  If the ship computer's GPS doesn't match with what the eyes are seeing, hit whatever a ship uses for brakes, phone home and ask if anyone on shore knows where the hell you are.  Hell, ask someone to walk out onto the deck with a cell phone and see where its GPS thinks you are.

This is so in the lap of the captain.  They were 4 miles off course and so close to land some people swam ashore. 



Wow.  I wonder if they will release what actually caused this?  And, I can't believe it will just be the captain in the end.  I know he is the final person to look at, but if others noticed a problem they should have done something.

If the captain is indeed found responsible and he is tried and convicted of negligent homicide, then in addition to any fines and/or jail time, he should also be sentenced to legally change his last name to Crunch.  :P

If the captain is indeed found responsible and he is tried and convicted of negligent homicide, then in addition to any fines and/or jail time, he should also be sentenced to legally change his last name to Crunch.  :P


Capt. Crunch?  ;D

Capt. Crunch?  ;D


Yeah, because he totally crunched that thing.  :o

http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/img/photos/2012/01/14/62/1c/0b26cb0e5bba4c7b9162bc08c8a93490-c4d2238fb6174c2bbe02dc84ced3f9f0-8_t615.jpg?9d74a679772b302cd354e1e6e54b2855e904d640

If the captain is indeed found responsible and he is tried and convicted of negligent homicide, then in addition to any fines and/or jail time, he should also be sentenced to legally change his last name to Crunch.  :P


;D

This is so in the lap of the captain.  They were 4 miles off course and so close to land some people swam ashore.


It's not so much that the ship capsized while under his command.  What irks me is the captain bailed out on the disaster.  The captain is legally and morally obliged to put everybody else's lives before his own.  If that means staying aboard until the ship founders, so be it. 
>:(

Yeah, because he totally crunched that thing.  :o

http://media.cmgdigital.com/shared/img/photos/2012/01/14/62/1c/0b26cb0e5bba4c7b9162bc08c8a93490-c4d2238fb6174c2bbe02dc84ced3f9f0-8_t615.jpg?9d74a679772b302cd354e1e6e54b2855e904d640


HOLY CRAP!  :o

It's not so much that the ship capsized while under his command.  What irks me is the captain bailed out on the disaster.  The captain is legally and morally obliged to put everybody else's lives before his own.  If that means staying aboard until the ship founders, so be it. 
>:(

You said it!


My thoughts go out to everyone who was affected in this horrible tragedy. :\'(

Doesn't anybody find it weird that it's the 100th anniversary year of the Titanic?  ::)

It's not so much that the ship capsized while under his command.  What irks me is the captain bailed out on the disaster.  The captain is legally and morally obliged to put everybody else's lives before his own.  If that means staying aboard until the ship founders, so be it. 
>:(


Even worse, not only did Captain Crunch leave the ship, but now it's coming out that he refused to go back on board and coordinate the evacuation even after being ordered to do so by the Italian coast guard.



ROME (Reuters) - The Italian coast guard angrily ordered the captain of the capsized Italian cruise ship to go back aboard to oversee the evacuation, But he did not, according to a recording of their dramatic exchange played on national television.
The recording reflected the chaos and confusion in the minutes after the Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,000 passengers and crew, hit a rock off the Tuscany coast Friday night and keeled over.

Captain Francesco Schettino, who had already taken to a lifeboat, can be heard talking to Gregorio De Falco, a coast guard official based in the western Italian port of Livorno.

Eleven people have been confirmed killed and 23 are still missing.

De Falco later gave an interview to a local newspaper in Livorno in which he said he could tell by the "tone of the captain's voice" that something was very wrong. Schettino's lawyer said he would not comment.

The recording is full of background noises such as radio static, beeps and background noise of people and confusion.

As translated by Reuters, the entire conversation went as follows:

Coast Guard: Hello.

Captain: Good evening, chief.

Coast Guard: Listen, this is De Falco from Livorno. Am I speaking with the captain?

Captain: Good evening, Chief De Falco.

Coast Guard: Tell me your name, please.

Captain: I am Captain Schettino, chief.

Coast Guard: Schettino?

Captain: Yes.

Coast Guard: Listen, Schettino. There are people trapped on board. Now, you go with your lifeboat. Under the bow of the ship, on the right side, there is a ladder. You climb on that ladder and go on board the ship. Go on board the ship and get back to me and tell me how many people are there. Is that clear. I am recording this conversation, Captain Schettino.

(Captain tries to speak but Coast Guard can't hear him clearly. Voices in the Coast Guard room.)

Coast Guard: Speak up! (captain tries to speak) Captain, put your hand over the microphone and speak in a louder voice!

Captain: At this moment the ship is listing.

Coast Guard: There are people who are coming down the ladder on the bow. Go back in the opposite direction, get back on the ship, and tell me how many people there are and what they have on board. Tell me if there are children, women and what type of help they need. And you tell me the number of each of these categories. Is that clear?

Listen Schettino, perhaps you have saved yourself from the sea but I will make you look very bad. I will make you pay for this. Dammit, go back on board!

(Noise can be heard in the background. Apparently other Coast Guard officers are shouting to each other in the same room about "the ship, the ship")

Captain: Please ...

Coast Guard: There is no 'please' about it. Get back on board. Assure me you are going back on board!

Captain: I'm in a lifeboat, I am under here. I am not going anywhere. I am here.

Coast Guard: What are you doing, captain?

Captain: I am here to coordinate the rescue...

Coast Guard (interrupting): What are you coordinating there! Get on board! Coordinate the rescue from on board! Are you refusing?

Captain: No, I am not refusing.

Coast Guard: Are you refusing to go aboard, captain? Tell me the reason why you are not going back on board.

Captain: (inaudible)... there is a another lifeboat...

Coast Guard (interrupting, yelling): You get back on board! That is an order! There is nothing else for you to consider. You have sounded the "Abandon Ship." Now I am giving the orders. Get back on board. Is that clear? Don't you hear me?

Captain: I am going aboard.

Coast Guard: Go! Call me immediately when you are on board. My rescue people are in front of the bow.

Captain: Where is your rescue craft?

Coast Guard: My rescue craft is at the bow. Go! There are already bodies, Schettino. Go!

Captain: How many bodies are there?

Coast Guard: I don't know! ... Christ, you should be the one telling me that!

Captain: Do you realize that it is dark and we can't see anything?

Coast Guard: So, what do you want to do, to go home, Schettino?! It's dark and you want to go home? Go to the bow of the ship where the ladder is and tell me what needs to be done, how many people there are, and what they need! Now!

Captain: My second in command is here with me.

Coast Guard: Then both of you go! Both of you! What is the name of your second in command?

Captain: His name is Dmitri (static)"

Coast Guard: What is the rest of his name? (static) You and your second in command get on board now! Is that clear?

Captain: Look, chief, I want to go aboard but the other lifeboat here has stopped and is drifting. I have called ...

Coast Guard (interrupting): You have been telling me this for an hour! Now, go aboard! Get on board, and tell me immediately how many people there are!

Captain: OK, chief.

Coast Guard: Go! Immediately!

(source: http://news.yahoo.com/coast-guard-ordered-ship-captain-back-board-124134509.html )


This clown totally needs to walk the plank.  >:( >:( >:(

^ Jesus, it would be comical if people hadn't been killed!
::)

^ Jesus, it would be comical if people hadn't been killed!
::)


Maybe after he gets released from prison, Captain Crunch Schettino could get a job doing commercials for Chicken of the Sea.

HI-YOOOOOOO!!!  :P

There are over thirty casualties now.  Rescuers found several drowned passengers wearing life vests.  The flotation equipment did little good if people couldn't get off the sinking behemoth in the first place. 

The Italians have charged Schettino with manslaughter.  There must be some additional charges pertaining to Schettino deceiving and disobeying the coast guard.

The charge for abandoning ship comes with 12 years in prison.

I don't think this guy is going to be sailing any time soon.

Maybe after he gets released from prison, Captain Crunch Schettino could get a job doing commercials for Chicken of the Sea.


This is a little obscure, and I'm going to hell on a first-class cruise for this, but...

wWL0uoi5GYU

(but what else is new?)...

But I'm rolling with it because ex-Captain Schettino isn't even worthy of the name "chicken".  Even SuperChicken could have stayed on board long enough to order his crew to help search for and rescue some of those passengers.  Even if SuperChicken had failed, he would have at least gotten props for doing his duty. 

The damn ship took hours to flop over on its side, it was in shallow enough water that it didn't even sink, and any adult fit enough to command the ship could have remained on board, even at an 80-degree angle to reality, until rescuers formally relieved him or her.  If that transcript is accurate (and I believe it is), that's all the evidence that'll be needed to put the not-Captain away for a very long time, and deservedly so.

Disclaimer: Most of what I know about Safety Of Life At Sea comes from this cartoon, but even Bugs Bunny knew what was up more than sixty years ago, starting at about four minutes (3:42 for optimum effect) into in 1951's Hare We Go:

gD6Solpy4aQ


Well, if it's the Captain's mess, let him clean it up!


"Are you sure you didn't take a wrong turn, Schettino?"

The charge for abandoning ship comes with 12 years in prison.

I don't think this guy is going to be sailing any time soon.


I guess it's not his fault 'coz he says he tripped and fell into the lifeboat, and that's how he got there, so he couldn't help it could he?
::)

I guess it's not his fault 'coz he says he tripped and fell into the lifeboat, and that's how he got there, so he couldn't help it could he?
::)


The radio station I was listening to on my way home had a heyday with that excuse.  He tripped and fell into the boat, accidentally rowed to shore, stumbled to a cab and was mysteriously catapulted into a hotel room bed.  It was a good thing I was at a light when they played that.  I laughed pretty hard. ;D

Schettino sheeshino    >:(


"Reports out of Italy indicate Schettino swerved the ship four miles off-course to wave to a pal who was on land, before hitting a rock.  "