For safety reasons, they can not start the salvage operations until the search and recovery operations are complete. My guess is that they will give up on the search and recovery in the next couple of days and the salvage operation will begin with the offloading of all of the fuel and lubricating oil on board. The food stores would be in secured rooms, so there is little chance of any of it getting out into the environment. Refrigerated and frozen food are stored in areas that are pretty well sealed air tight, so odors would not be a big problem unless they open them up. Dry goods are stored in areas that are now submerged are not likely to generate any odors until they are brought out of the water and the stuff that has remained dry would not be likely to start to smell for a long time.

At this point it is extremely unlikely that anyone could still be alive inside the wreck. It is a very tough and emotional decision to call off any further search, so they would likely continue for at least of couple of days past the time frame where they would expect to find anyone still alive. Even under the best of circumstances, no one would be able to survive beyond 11 days assuming they have drinking water available. Without drinking water, that period would be considerably shorter. Under the conditions people trapped inside the ship would be in, it is unlikely that anyone would survive past 7 days.

rotting food? the ocean welcomes all food; fresh or rotting

Food would not be a problem for the sea. Many sea creatures would welcome it. Sewage and fuel could spell danger. I don't know if ships carry any sewage treatment facilities or not. As for the ship's captain. Despite anything he may have heard from higher headquarters, at sea, the caption is the God of the ship. He makes the decisions and if given an order that he knows is dangerous, he will not folow the order, or he should not follow. He is ultimately responsible for that ship before, during and after the grounding. He left the ship, and his excuse is laughable. He is a coward, there is no doubt about that. Those of you who think you know this and that, please look up Maritime law on the internet. You will be amazed at what you do not know.

Actually louis, if you have ever lived through a hurricane and been without power for a week, you'll understand where the poster is coming from: the stench of rotten food travels for miles. JS had a good answer to the original question however. Most of the really bad smelling rotten food (meat, poultry, fish, etc.) is secured in sealed refrigeration compartments. That cleanup is going to be a mess not unlike cleaning up restaurants after Katrina (and boy talk about all those wasted bottles of wine and champagne and beer and liquor - yeesh.)

They are getting set up to pump out the ship's fuel load (its tanks were full because it had just left its home port 3 hours before.) As the fuel is pumped out, it will change the displacement of the ship because the fuel is lighter than water, but heavier than air. This change in bouyancy will make the wreck much more liable to shifting and too dangerous to conduct search operations. These will not been resumed until after the fuel has been removed and the ship is stable again. It could be well into March before this happens.

For the sake of the english language the boat did not and has not capsized!

Per dictionary.com

capsize

verb (used without object), verb (used with object) -sized, -siz·ing.
to turn bottom up; overturn: The boat capsized. They capsized the boat.

For the sake of the english language the boat did not and has not capsized

Wrong, a vessle is considered capsized when it is tipped to the point of being disabled

"rotting" food. Really? YOu are concerned about rotting food? wow. not to worry the sea creatures (fish) will be able to take care of that. so I bet your next concern is that floating table cloth.!

don't worry bout the captain...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybu37YljS0o

patrick demarco

Please show me the definition you are quoting. The ship may be disabled, but it is not upside down. Disabled = capsized, I think not.

Your not going to smell roting food under water. Food is not going to be a problem for the ecosystem either. The only problem environmentally would be form oil and other chemicals.

Where is your thinking to be on this food rottening??? Get real, water logged food doesn't smell. Try it.

Please show me the definition

You have your answer in your own definition, overturn, upset. I accidentally overturned the vase.

Do you expect the vase to be upside-down. But if you are still not convinced look in the AHD or OED. A capsized canoe you would expect it to be upside-down a capsized ocean liner, no.

I'd imagine they have a lot of work to do before even contemplating recovery of misc stuff like that. I'm willing to bet they have fuel/oil containment boom laying around ready to be deployed. The recovery of the items you list will require extensive blasting and destruction of the ship. They want to get all bodies that they can possibly get before that point, for understandible reasons. I don't think seeing little Janie's body parts get blasted a mile into the air and float by is going to be very nice for the islanders. At least this way, they can wait for either the recovery teams to find the remaining bodies, or the organisms of the sea will do their job and cart them off.

The food issues pale in comparison to the potential fuel problem. It's winter and the seawater is very cold. At this point that may be taking care of the food issue.

From wiseGeek: Boat capsizing is a boating emergency which occurs when a boat tips over so far that it becomes unable to move. Classically, a boat must tip by 90 degrees or more to be considered capsized. The process of stabilizing a capsized boat and tipping it back into place is known as righting. If a boat actually flips over so that the keel is turned toward the sky, it has “turned turtle,” and it can be extremely difficult to get the boat righted again.

http://www.memidex.com/capsizing+nautical

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsizing

for heaven's sake, read a dictionary.

Capsize: to become upset or overturned :

Overturn: tip (something) over so that it is on its side or upside down:

Merrian Webster Dictionary.

What this ill-fated cruise ship needed during those final desperate moments, was a captain with the courage of Chester "Sully" Sullenberger, the man who landed his aircraft on the Hudson...and then walked to the back of his sinking plane twice to make sure all passengers were safe.

seriously? obsessing over the correct or incorrect use of a verb? that's what you need to discuss?

besides..wouldn't "listing" or "listed" be the correct nautical term to use here?

The word capsize comes from a time when ships and boats moved with sail. It was virtually impossible to turn one completely upside down because of the bouyancy of masts and rigging and the air trapped by sails as the ship keeled over. In fact, keeled over is always listed as a synonym for capsized. Ther image of a ship with its keel straight up is virtually exclusive to modern non-sail ships and boats. That logic would have yielded a word that was valueless when it was most used. LOL

seriously? obsessing over the correct or incorrect use of a verb?

Well the only reason I replied is because he was so emphatic but wrong. The boat is capsized, listing would suggest that it has a weight distribution problem.

I'm pretty sure that I used to be married to one of those obsessing over word usage.

omG... "spoiled FOOD in the ocean" ??? "capsized" ??"LIsting" ???, it was off course, hundreds of 'trusting' passengers, crew in chaos. IN THE OCEAN.

wow.

I will say it is mind boggling that one man, with reckless abandon like a teenager with the family car on a Friday night, can cause so much damage. Scores of lives, a billion dollars against Carnival, ten of millions dollars lost throughout the industry, hundreds of jobs put on hold and I'm sure much more. Now the governments will put out more regulations, you can not regulate stupidity. No matter how you try people like this will always exist, Enron, Madoff, that young English Rogue trader that lost $2 billion and ect. ect. Thank God for Sully.

A couple of things might make some of this make much more sense:

1) Within just five minutes or so of hitting the rocks, the ships officers would have known how badly damaged it was and what they were dealing with. The captain made the decision (rightly or wrongly) not to evacuate the ship immediately, but to make a run for the island and beaching. He needed to do this before the flooding stopped the engines and generators and while the ship was still pretty upright. Because he was making way toward the island, he could not launch the lifeboats. It's just not technically possible.

2) As he approached the island the captain did a complicated maneuver in which he dropped his stern anchors, while allowing his monentum to carry him forward. He tnen dropped the bow anchors and started to reel in on the stern anchors. This secured the ship and allowed it to settle on the rocks. Notice that the ship settled with the gash on the uipside and out of the water. This is why.

3) Given what we know about how quickly the ship listed and the lifeboat issues, it would appear that as many as a thousand lives might have been lost had the evacuation taken place off the island instead of being beached. I know this is speculation, but the ship heeled over very quickly. There would simply have not been enough launchable lifeboats to accomodaye all the passengers and crew.

4) The reason that a captain is, by protocol, to be the last to leave the ship has a much less romantic reason than most seem to realize. When a wreck such as this happens, as long as the captain or a specifically designated replacement stays on the ship, it still belongs to its owners and is still controlled by the captain. He could, for example, call for a tow. But the instant the captain abandons his ship, even if there are passengers of other deck crew on the ship, the salvage laws take over. And the salvage laws complicate and change everything into a complicated maze of claims and counteclaims that have build up over about 800 years of maritime law. In effect the "sea" then owns the ship and it is free to anyone who wants to claim salvage rights, but is then owned by the insurance company as well. A bizarre system.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/capsize

to cause to overturn

Never to old to learn i guess , I would have thought it meant bottoms up myself imho that ship is not capsized fug webster.

Anyways , i remember in Norfolk VA going though a simulator trainer the USS ButterCup a building with the interior of a ship that had just been though hell..pretty interesting experience . now back to your English teacher big I little u do nothing but talk crap conversation.

The rescue teams are facing extremely dangerous conditions..all news reports and accounts have detailed this fact. Since there have been discussions re: whether they will dismantle the ship in pieces and tow away, or use the massive, air-bag approach (which will tilt her upwards, again) and tug her away..

Question:

Why don't they do that NOW? Using the massive air bags to raise Concordia to upright status, so the rescue divers would have a better chance of locating victims, as well as investigating further details of the accident. The images and video reveals very dark, murky submerged passageways, cluttered with broken and dangerous debris..must be terrible for rescuers. If she was placed upright, they would have a better chance, yes?

Using massive air bags

Maybe Rosie O Donnell and Oprah are busy . j/k . The media overplays things a lot to get viewers. Air bags that size probably are not to easily available. Then there is the chance of causing more damage even if they had them.

On average a normal healthy person can live at LEAST 3 weeks without food 3 days without water and 3 minutes without air . Given that ships have air tight compartments maybe there is a chance for the missing passengers . Frankly no matter what the captain or crew said going back to your cabin was not a good ideal bracing for collision and abandoning ship afterwards or in this case heading topside since ( forget webster) the ship is not really bottoms up or sunk.

My biggest fear u/w was actually capsizing during storms i could,nt sleep some did and this was not even a storm but just stupidity by a capt that should have known better.

Yeah, Really! "Tripped and fell into the lifeboat", Couldn't come up with something more Lame!

Just look up "Screwed" in the dictionary, there's his picture l

This captain is a lying coward of a man. He deserves to spend the rest of his life in prison both for his gross negligence in causing the wreck and for his actions following the accident. This man has no honor and I am extremely surprised that some people in his home town continue to defend him. He may be a great husband and father, but his actions following the accident are completely inexcusable. He ran away like a coward instead of doing what he should have to get his passengers off the ship safely. His actions following the grounding in delaying the evacuation likely cost a number of casualties their lives unnecessarily. The captain actually never gave the order to evacuate the ship over the public address system. It was crew members who saw the situation worsening that took it upon themselves to start launching lifeboats. Even then, by the time they started the ship was listing so badly that many of the lifeboats could not be safely launched. To give an idea of how long the delay was, a ship can safely launch lifeboats with it listing to one side up to 20 degrees. It would have taken some time for the ship to list that much, certainly far beyond the point that the captain should have been aware of the seriousness of the situation. I do not know why he did not order the evacuation sooner, but he likely cost people their lives by not doing so.

I choose to "sit on the fence" on this one. The media took this and ran with a biased opinion very quickly. The first "bad" was the cruiseline allowing the ship to take that route previously. When the captain realize the catastrophe of his unauthorized route, he did bring the ship close to shore greatly decreasing loss of life. He did leave the ship, not the scene, and may have felt cordiating the evacuation from a boat was a good idea but. evidently not to the other captain. The passengers are justified in their anger and the cruise line would rather the captain bear the responsibility.

Did he really say that? Really? No joke?

Because it WAS his responsibility Ken. He went against policy and deviated from the established route and hit the rock. He was not coordinating anything, leaving that to untrained or under trained crew members.

All points well taken. I agree the captain took resposibility when he took a route not authorized on that day. I feel the cruiseline put people in jeopardy previously and they seem quick to put it all on the captain. Several bad decisions resulted in this tradegy.

You watch, his sentence will be a slap on the wrist, (which could equate to a year or two in jail) then he will re-appear in a couple years with a Government job. I'll put a couple bucks on it!!!! Post script...why is that chick defending him??? "Oh he saved 3000 lives" WRONG sweetie...he killed 11 (more like 30 something) people. And why were there Russian passengers on the bridge??? None of what these people are saying makes ANY sense. Makes me wonder what they were smokin'.

serious, ken? coordination from the life boat? lmao

The Captain said, "I tripped and fell into a life boat"...really? He actually said that? This guy should be a US politician.

Sounds like the old murder defense. "Seriously judge, he accidentally fell on the knife. 32 times!"

As fast as the Republicans are burning through their primary candidates, you never know. And he DOES need a job ...

Don't get me wrong, I defend no one in this. But if I were considering a cruise, I would be asking who approved this route on a previous voyage. There is more to consider for future decisions here.

so far, I have not seen any news on the background and previous maritime training of this ship captain; where did he learn his trade, what maritime schools he attended, was he in the Italian navy, etc. ?

First, he said he was thrown into the water when the ship lurched. Then, I guess looking really stupid because he wasn't wet, said he was thrown into a lifeboat.

He attended a Maritime school in Italy...........Naples, I believe. Obviously, they really need to re-think their training methods as this fool had several unmistakable character flaws, the largest of which seems to be stupidity........followed closely by arrogance.

Even his own employer is now throwing him to the wolves. Hopefully, he will never be able to wine and dine his many female conquests in the future, except from behind a prison wall.

@go-hawks,

Actually the captain initially said that he tripped and fell into the water from the flying bridge (about a 40-foot fall at the time.) When the police questioned this because his clothing was completely dry and his greasy hairdo intact, he amended it by saying that he actually fell into a lifeboat. He did not respond when asked how he fell 40 feet into a lifeboat and received not a single injury. He was also mute when asked to explain why the lifeboat he "fell into" was carrying the second officer, the navigation officer, and one other deck officer. He could not explain why the lifeboat, designed for 40 passengers, only contained the fopur crew members.

The Italians are hugely embarrassed by this. He will likely end up with at least a 12-year prison sentence that could be much, much longer. He has beeb charged with "causing a shipwreck through negligent or careless operation of a vessel" --- up to five years, "abandoning a ship in distress" --- another five years, and at least 12 counts of "homicide through negligence" which, in Italy is in between murder and manslaughter --- up to 12 years on each count (or 144 so far.) There will be no "slap on the wrist." This is a huge national embarassment to Italy which simply does not have the money to do much more about the wreck than it is already doing. But even a broke country can exact retribution and the captain and his immediate subordinates will handy targets. My guess is that he'll end up with around 30 years.

The thing tht will outrage at the trial will be that he delayed the closing of the watertight doors and sounding the evacuation order. People were still being told to return to their cabins long after the ship was clearly doomed. The captain was still telling even the crew that it was an "electrical problem" even as they were seeing more than 5 degrees of list. That is why so many bodies were found with life jackets. They knew something was wrong and donned life jackets, but there was no one to tell them where to go or what to do to stay alive. They will find bodies in their cabins and the corridors outside their cabins and at emergency posts as a result. And the captain can be shown to be absolutely responsible for these daths at every step of the way.

The captain was a graduate of Rome's maritime school, considered one of the best in the world. He had served all the way up from assistant deck officer finally to captain in 2006. He had worked for Costa for almost 12 years. The only incident he had been previously invoved in was in Palermo where his ship had received very minor damage when high winds pushed it against the dock. He had all the experience and all the certifications that one would expect.

I agree the captain took resposibility when he took a route not authorized on that day. I feel the cruiseline put people in jeopardy previously and they seem quick to put it all on the captain. Several bad decisions resulted in this tradegy.

It doesn't matter what the cruise line did or did not allow on previous voyages (isn't a cruise line allowed to make changes to improve safety?). The point is that THIS time the ship was not traveling an approved route. The cruise line is not responsible, unless it knew that the captain was not qualified or had a history of unjustifiably ignoring company directives.

Thanks, Chris for your very interesting and informative post! Much appreciated!

But if I were considering a cruise, I would be asking who approved this route on a previous voyage.

Ken, this was not an "approved route" by Costa. The Captain chose to deviate...THE CAPTAIN! Not Costa. This is solely the fault of the inept Captain. He is responsible now for 12 confirmed deaths. I hope he rots!

As for the missing 20...well, you have to realize they are not coming back. There is no way after a week that they'd still be alive. So very sad to say. I wonder when recovery efforts will be called off.

O.k...this captain HAD to have been drunk, besides being selfishly STUPID. All I can say is: I hope the survivors can get a really hungry lawyer(s).

If he would have made the right choice he would have saved all passengers by doing it right! Obviously, his training was useless in this case as he didn't put those skills into action, and only to save himself! Also, for what I read on the reports, he was with one of the hostesses that was on her day "off", but served as a translator, allegedly. But was she really there to help, or was she having something to do with the captain? Rumors say the latter! And she goes off defending him telling the media "he is a hero for saving those lives!" BS! If he would've acted as a hero he would have saved all 4,200 passengers, and would have been the last one to abandon ship! I hope he gets what he deserves, and more!

I'm with you, Ken-848629;

I was originally outraged by the mounting evidence against Schettino, the non-stop innuendo and demonizing of Concordia's Captain..and then it occurred to me that it was just a little too easy. Carnival/Costa cruise line reps appear to have a gleam in their eye, when speaking of their sacrificial lamb. If anything, they should at least pretend to have had faith in their Captain for the last six years..because their implications that he's been a problem for so long are a tell-tale sign. Carnival/Costa had authorised the 'honk & salute' off Giglio on a few occasions..why pretend to be so shocked that the maneuver was done again?

Schettino did not suddenly appear on the horizon a month ago..he was an officer with Carnival/Costa since 2002, promoted to Captain in 2006. They can't have it both ways: If he was such a "rogue" Captain who sailed Concordia as one would a Ferrari..if he was a problem then why would they leave him at the helm? Is Schettino responsible for their safety policies? The cruise line reps are allowing certain "news" items to leak to the media, and what do you know..it all points directly at Schettino, and (seemingly) absolves them from wrong-doing. Imagine that.

The compelling audio from the DeFalco/Schettino phone conversations are certainly damning, but so much (has been) lost in translation..out of context and inaccurate. Even one mis-translated word means the difference between judgement vs grace, in the eyes of the public. I'm most bothered by the Concordia officer who lied to Coast Guard officials in the beginning, assuring them everything was fine. The woman who spoke to frightened passengers, decidedly snippy (in my opinion) as she dismissed their fears and offered: "..go back to your staterooms, we have handled the electrical problem..or just wander around..doesn't matter".. As if they were all being unrealistic and paranoid..and she had better things to do than to repeat herself.

I don't know why the Captain and crew continued to lie about the severity of the damage. Conspiracy theorists claim Carnival/Costa has to pay $8k - $10k per passenger, should "Abandon ship" be ordered..inferring that when the cruise line officials were contacted, it was their decision to stall with that final announcement. $10,000 times 4,200 people..Who can say? I know I don't have faith in a Company that hangs someone (anyone) out to dry.

Whenever I start seeing the masses out for blood..that same, creepy, gleam in their collective eyes..mass producing t-shirts, bumper stickers and ring-tones of DeFalco's (now) infamous words "..GET BACK ON BOARD"..! That's when I know it's time to take a step back and let the facts come in, in due time.

No matter how one slices it, Carnival/Costa cruise line is responsible for this. In their efforts to shirk responsibility they have handed over Schettino to be sacrificed. Not one word was said by cruise line officials re: Schettino's ten years with their company. They WANT him to be crucified..and I'm not convinced this is so black vs white.

I've taken four cruises in my lifetime. Each time I pondered how it was possible for the Captain to be wining, dining, dancing, greeting, meeting, flirting, and posing for photos with beaming passengers. I asked frequent cruisers as well as crew, 'If the Captain is partying with passengers all night..who is keeping the ship afloat'..? Inevitably, the answer was always that modern day marvels; the state-of-the-art cruise liners, were technological wonders. These ships can and will navigate themselves from port A to port B, and the Captain is merely a figurehead. Cruise lines apparently audition and 'cast' a gregarious, charming and charismatic Captain-type..someone who presents well..who toasts well. They don't want some cranky, old man and the sea-type, who'll shy away from attention. They seek Schettino-types. If true that the modern day Captain is a figurehead and his skills/experience as a Commander are incidental, then that leads me back to the Corporation. It's still on them.

I've seen cruiseliner Captains..who never seem to be at the helm..they didn't appear to have anything to do with the actual navigation of the ship. I don't believe we have all the facts. So, all I can say is it's just too soon to tell. May all the traumatised and injured mend well soon. As for the people who lost their lives, may they rest in peace.

chris 749...: the delay in closing the water tight compartments, I suspected this, did you find any report on this ?

Who's to say it water tight compartments...

"I've got myself into a mess, there was contact with the seabed. I am telling you the truth, we passed under Giglio and there was an impact," Schettino said."

@saxon,

It's still on the main article on MSNBC. I would caution that the same allegation was made about the Sea Diamond in Santorini, which is a strikingly simiular situation. But when they dove on the wreck the watertight doors were closed. So I would not jump too far on that one.

Chris-749391 - Post #2.19 of yours was certainly more informative than some of the articles I've read about this.

Most are already in their homes..do you read the news or watch TV about this?

The various embassies, the insurance companies, and the cruise line itself have provided new passports, cash for clothing and living expenses, and Costa has even flown family members of the missing in and is paying for their expenses.

Makes sense. They tell you at the muster drills to go to your cabins, put on warm clothes and your life vest, then proceed to your muster station. It they already want you to put on warm clothing, why not tell you to also place your ID (passport or whatever) into your pocket?

I have always wondered why airplane and ship evacuation instructions always tell you not to take anything with you -- seems like putting your passport and wallet into a pocket would save a huge hassle and not impede the rescue.

I think that you're being too literal. The airlines and cruise lines don't care if you carry your passport and wallet on your person when you leave the plane or ship, UNLESS you are endangering yourself or others to find them (going back to your cabin in a sinking vessel or standing in the aisle searching an overhead bin, for instance). When they tell you not to take anything with you, they mean luggage, briefcases, purses, laptops and other items that can get in the way of evacuation, fill a lifeboat or in some other way slow evacuation.

Hmmmm, let's see....you're sitting at dinner and suddenly you feel a huge lurch. The ship starts to tilt. Evacuation bells ring. It's an emergency!! Are you really thinking passport and wallet or are you thinking get out!!?!? Passports and id's can be replaced. Embassy's take care of this kind of thing.

Quite a few of the passengers have mentioned in interviews that their passports were taken by Concordia associates when they boarded. They were informed Concordia associates would be returning the passports the following day. So, from the sound of things, for whatever reason (defies logic) the Concordia greeting committee/passport screeners, were holding on to passengers passports. Passengers were passport-less when the evacuation started.

The majority of the passengers stayed put, huddled in that choatic mass..(too afraid to go back to staterooms to retrieve anything). I can't say that I blame them however. Having the Concordia representative come out and inform them they are worrying needlessly, that they have handled the electrical issue.."go back to your staterooms..wander about..doesn't matter"-sort of thing, belied what was really happening. It doesn't sound as if passengers had much faith in the crew of that ship and were listening to their gut instincts vs the dismissive ship associates. Within ten minutes, the "Abandon ship" was announced. The people who did try to return to their staterooms never made it back.

Passports were taken (I don't know how many, but I've seen a few passengers speak of it), and this was when the passengers were informed that the all-important safety training and tutorial was scheduled for the following evening, at 5pm. The disgruntled and traumatised passengers have made no bones re: their belief that everything was disorganized from jump..well before the lights flickered and the ship tipped.

..and yesterday Carnival/Costa cruiselines announced they will be returning the passengers fares to them at some point. Gee..ya think?!

Just what I was about to say..lol...It's so close to the rocks that they could anchor it down. Will also be easier for clean up when that time comes..Thanks for posting

The interview with the Engineer in the pizzeria stated they are considering doing just that.

The head waiter wanted to wave at his family....isn't that a good enough reason to sail that close??? {sarc}

In the captain's own words:

"I've got myself into a mess, there was contact with the seabed. I am telling you the truth, we passed under Giglio and there was an impact," Schettino said."

good point. In that released video, with the boat already severely listing, and people with lifejackets on, this boneheaded woman tells people to go back into the center of the ship and wait inside their rooms?

Moron, and yes, there is culpability to her as a staffer. If it was a random fellow passenger wanting to play savior who said it, he'd have been challenged, punched or whatever. This woman, with seemingly "false" authority as a boat staffer, has much guilt in the situation, especially if later on they find that any passengers that heard her instructions, or were told second-hand of her instructions, did go back into the ship's interior and wait.

The people recovered dead from teh Costa Concordia, from reports, did have their life vests on, which suggests they were already once out on the decks awaiting abandonment into lifeboats....hmmm

Totally Agree! Just hearing her stand there and say go to your cabins, reminds me of 9/11 and the recording over the loudspeaker saying, GO BACK TO YOUR OFFICES! No! Get the heck out of there!

That women was a passenger= tourist.She was trying to calm the passengers.The crew were on the Life Boats.Captain and Crew ALL FELL IN TO THE LIFE BOATS, The passengers had to swim to shore.I already changed my plans to take a cruise on a BOAT.I think perhaps a 12 foot row boat can be just as much fun.

You really shouldn't trust anyone with your survival though.Its everyman for himself,even when its 100 feet from shore.Captain is guilty of negligence because he failed to issue the distress call to the coast guard until after he deicded to abandon ship.

'But the water was all chilly and cold and stuff. Whine whine boo hoo.' [/valspeak and sarcasm]

I agree. Awful, Awful. I can't believe he is just under house arrest-people lost their lives and he can still sleep in his own bed? No way

I am sorry you feel that way about Italy. We just returned in December from an extensive Med cruise and found Italy to be wonderful........not at all as you described. We have been there before and aside from the prices being outlandish since they switched from the Lire to the Euro, Italy is a wonderful place to visit.

I cannot speak for Costa though. We prefer smaller ships.

Jersey Shore. Enough said. My balls smell like a thousand rotten fish.

From what has been described he has had an exemplary career up to scraping the reef with the boat bottom. However....

"I've got myself into a mess, there was contact with the seabed. I am telling you the truth, we passed under Giglio and there was an impact," Schettino said."

"The captain was a graduate of Rome's maritime school, considered one of the best in the world. He had served all the way up from assistant deck officer finally to captain in 2006. He had worked for Costa for almost 12 years. The only incident he had been previously invoved in was in Palermo where his ship had received very minor damage when high winds pushed it against the dock. He had all the experience and all the certifications that one would expect."

Wow what a hero. sarcasm

The Captain ordered dinner for himself and a young lady AFTER he had hit the rocks and then jumped ship himself with the dinner guest after they finished dinner. Does anyone else think that behavior is more that a little strange and stupid.

Taking that ship into shallow waters is what caused this whole problem! had that ship been where she was pose to be 5 miles out we would never even know it existed

There is a great deal of criticism of the captain, but if he had not had the understood the severity of the situation and not taken the ship into shallow water we would probably be reading about thousands of casualties

Now seriously, does it appear the captain had a choice one way or another? Hell! His proverbial 'goose' was heating up really fast!

This whole mess would not have even happened if he had not taken the ship into shallow water in the first place.

Absolute BS. He deviated from the standard route around the island, and there is no evidence he did anything after the collision with the reef to get closer to shore.

"I've got myself into a mess, there was contact with the seabed. I am telling you the truth, we passed under Giglio and there was an impact," Schettino said."

Well if Ted Kennedy runs for President in 2012, I won't vote for him. (No, wait, I can't not vote for him. Because he's dead. Just like the guy that Laura Bush killed with her car back in 1963.)

For Jason 1995004---"...run on the democratic ticket with Tiger Woods (sic)...Billy the Clinton ALmighty."

Or run as a Republican with the "super-conservative", and adulterous, Newt Gingrich? Or with Rick Santorum (whose "First Lady" had a fling with an abortion doctor!) Face it. Republican, Democrat or anything that spouts politics, they are every bit as slimy as this cruise ship captain.

Mary Jo Kopechne was driving that car herself. That accident has been investigated with current investigative methods and the chances Ted Kennedy was actually driving it are about a million to 1 against. Had he been driving, both of them would have died in the crash.

How many dead Democrats do Republicans have to dig up and throw? Laura Bush killed a boy in a car accident. George Bush had a DUI when he was over 30. That's a felony.

Give it up, your hypocrisy is sickening.

Yes Jason lets all Pray for another REPUBLICAN to get the Presidency in Novemeber.So we can invade Iran on a hunt for WMD's,GO BROKE.Then ask the TAX Payers for 900 Billion to keep people in their Homes and Then Spend ALL those Billions Bailing OUT DISNEY WORLD because their to Big To FAIL just like the republican party.Their to big to FAIL with YOUR VOTE and MONEY.

jason,

you are just downright stupid and retarded. i know you have a right of free speech,but get you head out of your ass before you open your mouth

Breaking news...you're a d*ckhead. Any bodies recovered at this point, with all the intrepidation and unknown IS relevant, pertinent news. Remember, two American remain missing...so learning of anyone being found (alive or dead), is of interest.

Have you been in a cave for the last week? It is laying on a reef. The captain, after hitting a rock outcropping and tearing a gash in the port side, purposely anchored it to come to rest in shallow water. It sits near the edge of a shelf which could allow it to sink another 300 feet. These things were discussed within the first 24 hours of the running aground of the Costa Concordia.

OMG what a @!$%# you are.

Colossal tool!

alan,

you rank in the same category as jason, dumb ass alone and nothing more

Just like at the World trade center on 9/11/2001, people were being told the wrong thing to do, by people in authority. "Go back to your offices", "go back to your rooms."

If you can find a way to drown, on a ship that hasn't sunk below the surface or to the bottom though, that is something of a gold medal in Darwin Awards. DUH!

If you can find a way to drown, on a ship that hasn't sunk below the surface or to the bottom though, that is something of a gold medal in Darwin Awards. DUH!

I read one article where the divers were searching in sixty feet of water inside the boat. You sound like Marky Mark

Many of the deaths so far were not because of drowning anyway but if you have broken bones 40 feet underwater in a maze of halls and cabins I'm not so sure you are a Darwin Award winner.

Just like at the World trade center on 9/11/2001, people were being told the wrong thing to do, by people in authority. "Go back to your offices", "go back to your rooms."

Except that on 9/11, that directive made sense. Who would have ever expected the second tower to also be hit? Having all the people in the second tower spilling onto the plaza would've impeded rescue operations. Yes, in hindsight, it was the wrong decision. But, that doesn't mean it was a stupid decision at the time. There is a difference.

In the case of the cruise ship, having hit a rock and begun listing, the prudent thing would have been to muster all passengers to their evacuation stations (of course, since the ship delayed the evacuation drill, many passengers didn't know where those stations were). Other than some inconvenience and bad publicity, there would have been no downside in such an action.

Not to mention the huge amount of debris floating around.

Sounds like you are one of the sheeple who would have died, patrick. They were told to go to their cabins. They had plenty of time to get everyone up on deck. 400 ft. from dry land. Why do you ignore that the "CREW" seems to be "trained" to always minimize the dangers instead of assuming that they need to prepare for the worst case scenario? Skepticism is a healthy trait, in a world full of incompetents. For a modern ocean liner to have hit rocks and ground when it is equipped with GPS, sonar and radar, requires some serious dereliction of duty. Why would you listen to, and then automatically obey, the same people who have already FAILED to do their jobs? The anouncement should have been, "We have hit a rock and punctured the hull, we are making way to shallow waters. The ship will likely partially submerge and list to one side. Your possessions will get wet, but be retreivable at a later date. If you value your life, get above board now, or as soon as possible to facilitate your gewtting a place in the lifeboats."

No Barry,NJ. the directive never made sense to tell people who had already made it down to the lobby of the South Tower to go back up to their offices where they were going to get NOTHING accomplished. If you didn't suspect that the first plane hitting the North tower on a perfectly CLEAR morning, was a likely deliberate thing, then you are beyond help. There was nothing to be gained by telling people to go back up in the South Tower. Only a truly brainwashed "sheeple" would look at that situation and follow the illogical order of a Port Authority officer. Exit the south side of the building, and you don't have to worry about the plaza or people being pushed out of the North Tower.

That's right Paul sheeple died. You are Marky Mark. You would have landed the plane. You absolutely know all the circumstances of the victims and you would have escaped unequivocally under any circumstance, broken spine notwithstanding. And it goes without saying you would not be the crewman that died saving lives. The difference between you and Forrest Gump is when he stopped running he went back to get his friends. You would not have stopped running until you hit the South China Sea.

Coast Guard Captain: Get back on your ship

Captain Paul: No, I don’t wanna

CGC: What!!!!?

Captain Paul: There’s sheeple on there. I learned in boy scout camp if you try to save a drowning person you can drown too!

CGC: I order you back on the ship!!!!!

Captain Paul: No! It’s dark

CGC: So it is dark and you want to go home is that it?

Captain Paul: Good idea, my girlfriend and I will be at my house finishing our interrupted dinner.

The role of Captain Paul was played by Peter Griffin

You've made my case for me. All you seem to understand is emotionalism.

If the proper orders were given at the proper time, no one needed to drown, or be saved from drowning.

Marky mark is unaware that he would have had no ablility to stop the planes from hitting the Twin Towers, even the 'Muslims" weren't flying them.

It's relatively new (6 years old) and expensive, so if it's possible they'll salvage it. If not they'll hopefully remove the fuel if they can and scuttle it.

One might think that it would make a great dive site, but wreck ships must be carefully prepared before they're scuttled. Doors and hatches and ports must be removed or welded open, otherwise divers can be trapped and killed too easily.

Wreck diving can be a dangerous sport. Every year divers lose their lives diving on wrecks in deep water.

gramgigi,

Cowards die a thousand deaths during their lifetimes. This Capt. will live to do just that. Sad excuse for a human being.

Yes what ever they do with such a behemouth it will be a chore to do any salvage to this ship. It may well be they try to clean up the toxics and leave it pretty much in the place where she sits. They would do well to try to drop it to the bottom, where it is said it is fairly deep, if you call 200 or so feet deep. Provided it lies fairly stable between the two outcroppings and sitting firmly on the bottom. It will actually become an attraction for divers on holiday.

Actually the captain had an exemplary career up up until he decided to "wave and honk"

"I've got myself into a mess, there was contact with the seabed. I am telling you the truth, we passed under Giglio and there was an impact," Schettino said."

If they decide it isn't worth salvaging, they will not leave her there (besides being a daily reminder that some dumbass killed people, while ruining $.5 billion worth of prime shipping capital, it could potentially interfere with local boating and shipping traffic (considering how close she is sitting to the main channel markers coming into the harbor), and given how unstable she is in her current state and location). They will remove all contaminants, evidence, and anything easily retrievable of value, hook her up with a team of tugboats, tow her off the reef, and then scuttle her in deeper water (and outside the main channels).

Such an incredible waste, of both lives and property.

If nothing else, she will make an excellent artifical reef, teaming with sealife one day, and as that general area is considered a sealife refuge, it makes the most sense if they have no intention of raising and righting her. (I don't know the laws in Italy, but it can be problematic for divers to make contact with reefs in protected wildlife refuges, so diving the wreck may be barred depending on legal status in Italy).

Sorry, this got posted on the wrong sub-thread. Should have attached above on the thread above about the future dispostion of the ship.

Wally - Why do you keep re-posting that same exact quote?

Because the captain admits it was all his fault.

TOO MANY People lost their lives because people like you don't know what you're talking about. You focus on the emotional instead of the logical. We should refer to you as scorpgirl, you don't think like a man. The "trained" pro at the other end of the 911 call, was telling people who were suffocating to stay where they were. That makes no sense, especially when the entire fire department has NO reasonable plan in place for how to get to the top floors of the two most ICONIC Towers in the city.

Reported

Longest run on sentence I have seen in a long time. Have no idea what scorpman was trying to say.

tl;dr

And you know those big letters that happen once in a while when you push the shift key? Use those thingies once in a while. There are dots that you're supposed to use occasionally, also.

Wally -- I agree -- i'm totally confused on what that guy is trying to say. He should have put the doobie down first, before he attempted any form of written communication. And I won't even try to count the grammar, mechanical and spelling errors.