"Costa Concordia": how did the liner sink?
The Costa Concordia liner, built in 2004, was the first of the Concordia class cruise ships of the British-American company Carnival Cruise Lines.
On September 2, 2005, it was solemnly launched in Genoa and in subsequent years carried out cruising in the Mediterranean along the route Civitavecchia-Savona-Barcelona-Palma de Mallorca-Tunisia-Palermo. The ship provided a luxurious service of 3,000 passengers, which had 1,500 cabins on 14 decks, a universal two-level fitness area with four pools, a concert hall, a cinema, an art gallery, a library, a casino, and numerous shops, restaurants and bars.
The unfortunate incident, when in 2008 a 290-meter liner suffered minor damage when it hit the fortifications in the harbor of Palermo, did not spoil the reputation of either the company or the 52-year-old captain Francesco Skettino.
At 19-00 on January 13, 2012, the Costa Concordia left the port of Civitavecchia, near Rome, with 3206 passengers and 1023 crew members and personnel, starting the next seven-day cruise. In 21-42, deviating somewhat from the route, in the conditions of a calm sea, he came across an underwater rock near the island of Giglio in the Tuscany region. At 100 km north-west of Rome, a 50-meter hole was formed in its hull below the waterline.
Due to the filling of the hold with water a few minutes after the strike, the ship began to lean and turn around on the move. Maneuvering did not save the situation, and around 22-30 Costa Concordia finally broke aground a few hundred meters from the coast of the island of Giglio, inclined at an angle of 70 degrees to starboard.
Despite the critical situation, the crew did not give the SOS signal, trying to master the situation on their own. A panic arose among the passengers of the vessel, in addition to poorly organized and late-launched rescue operations and crew ignorance, resulted in the death of 32 passengers, some of whom sank, jumping overboard, and some were blocked in the flooded part of the vessel. Another 64 people received significant damage and injury.
The rescue operation on the Costa Concordia was complicated by the fact that at about 11.30pm the ship was left by the captain of the ship, Francesco Skettino, refusing to obey the order of Admiral Gregorio de Falco, commander of the coast guard center in Livorno, to return to board.
The search for the bodies of the dead in the submerged part of the ship and drowned continued until January 31, interrupted several times due to the displacement of the ship and the death of one of the rescuers.
On September 2, 2005, it was solemnly launched in Genoa and in subsequent years carried out cruising in the Mediterranean along the route Civitavecchia-Savona-Barcelona-Palma de Mallorca-Tunisia-Palermo. The ship provided a luxurious service of 3,000 passengers, which had 1,500 cabins on 14 decks, a universal two-level fitness area with four pools, a concert hall, a cinema, an art gallery, a library, a casino, and numerous shops, restaurants and bars.
The unfortunate incident, when in 2008 a 290-meter liner suffered minor damage when it hit the fortifications in the harbor of Palermo, did not spoil the reputation of either the company or the 52-year-old captain Francesco Skettino.
At 19-00 on January 13, 2012, the Costa Concordia left the port of Civitavecchia, near Rome, with 3206 passengers and 1023 crew members and personnel, starting the next seven-day cruise. In 21-42, deviating somewhat from the route, in the conditions of a calm sea, he came across an underwater rock near the island of Giglio in the Tuscany region. At 100 km north-west of Rome, a 50-meter hole was formed in its hull below the waterline.
Photo © jnsm.com.ua
Due to the filling of the hold with water a few minutes after the strike, the ship began to lean and turn around on the move. Maneuvering did not save the situation, and around 22-30 Costa Concordia finally broke aground a few hundred meters from the coast of the island of Giglio, inclined at an angle of 70 degrees to starboard.
Despite the critical situation, the crew did not give the SOS signal, trying to master the situation on their own. A panic arose among the passengers of the vessel, in addition to poorly organized and late-launched rescue operations and crew ignorance, resulted in the death of 32 passengers, some of whom sank, jumping overboard, and some were blocked in the flooded part of the vessel. Another 64 people received significant damage and injury.
The rescue operation on the Costa Concordia was complicated by the fact that at about 11.30pm the ship was left by the captain of the ship, Francesco Skettino, refusing to obey the order of Admiral Gregorio de Falco, commander of the coast guard center in Livorno, to return to board.
The search for the bodies of the dead in the submerged part of the ship and drowned continued until January 31, interrupted several times due to the displacement of the ship and the death of one of the rescuers.
