Was the Captain showing off? Disturbing claim that cruise ship sailed close to rocks

[Serpo]

Was the Captain showing off? Disturbing claim that cruise ship sailed close to rocks to salute a fellow officer on shore



Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2087126/Costa-Concordia-cruise-ship-Captain-Francesco-Schettino-accused-sailing-close-island-Giglio-salute-fellow-officer.html#ixzz1jc65hVED

[Glass]

This whole thing stinks of something else. Not sure what it is but something smells. Kind of the fall guy patsy thing going on.

[Serpo]

To me it sounds like the captain was an idiot http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/01/14/article-2086831-0F764E5700000578-200_472x530.jpg

[Glass]

yes but he was 10 years with the company wasn't he? That doesn't seem like he was a loose cannon. I remember a similar situation with a swedish captain a few years back. Something odd about that one as well. I guess people do weird stuff sometimes....... for no reason.

[mamboni]

The women of Isola del Giglio are reknowned for their perfect full round buttocks. Legend has it that they would lift their dresses and wave their bountiful fannies at ships at sea, tempting captains to run their ships aground in an effort to get closer to their perfect rumps. This is probably where the expression "made an ass out of himself" derives from.

[Neuro]

The women of Isola del Giglio are reknowned for their perfect full round buttocks. Legend has it that they would lift their dresses and wave their bountiful fannies at ships at sea, tempting captains to run their ships aground in an effort to get closer to their perfect rumps. This is probably where the expression "made an ass out of himself" derives from.

Hehehe, you made this one up didn't you? ;D

[mamboni]

Hehehe, you made this one up didn't you? ;D

Have you heard about the famous 'Cork Soakers' of the Tuscany Vinyards?

[Neuro]

Have you heard about the famous 'Cork Soakers' of the Tuscany Vinyards?

Nooo, is it pronounced with an Italian accent???

[mamboni]

Nooo, is it pronounced with an Italian accent???

Go to Youtube and search using keywords SNL, cork soakers or corksoakers: enjoy!

[JohnQPublic]

More clues may show up when the identity of the missing are released.

[BrewTech]

Maybe I'm just confused, but the graphic above shows the ship running aground with the island on the port side. Didn't it end up with the island on the starboard side?

???

[solid]

More clues may show up when the identity of the missing are released.

I've been saying prayers for the missing. I've been praying they are banksters.

One thing to consider, based upon that photo above, if he hit a reef off coarse like that. It's possible, the hull had enough damage to make the captain think the vessel was going to sink. It's possible he grounded the ship on the island on purpose, to get her into shallow water.

[Santa]

I've been saying prayers for the missing. I've been praying they are banksters.

One thing to consider, based upon that photo above, if he hit a reef off coarse like that. It's possible, the hull had enough damage to make the captain think the vessel was going to sink. It's possible he grounded the ship on the island on purpose, to get her into shallow water.

Hmmm, that would explain veering off course like he did.

[mick silver]

are the cruise ship losing money ...

[Serpo]

The captain was onshore 3 hours before the last passenger was taken off which may earn him 12 years in jail..

[Neuro]

Go to Youtube and search using keywords SNL, cork soakers or corksoakers: enjoy!

Yes Italian accent! ;D

[Golden]

Costa Concordia accident - AIS replay

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw4pVWYeplU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw4pVWYeplU
Uploaded by astrapaging on Jan 14, 2012
The cruise ship "Costa Concordia" sunk on Friday 13th, 2012 near the island of Giglio (Italy). This video uses data received by AIS vessel tracking system VT Explorer (http://www.vtexplorer.com)

[Neuro]

Costa Concordia accident - AIS replay

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw4pVWYeplU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw4pVWYeplU
Uploaded by astrapaging on Jan 14, 2012
The cruise ship "Costa Concordia" sunk on Friday 13th, 2012 near the island of Giglio (Italy). This video uses data received by AIS vessel tracking system VT Explorer (http://www.vtexplorer.com)
Actually this one shows the ship even further off route, than the map in post #3!

[Golden]

That's why I posted. There is conflicting information in written reports as well.

[Glass]

So now they are saying that a waiter wanted to salute his family on that island and the captain abliged by sailing by.


The captain of a luxury cruise liner that capsized off Italy's coast may have steered the ship too close to shore so that its head waiter could salute his family in a pre-planned stunt that was posted on Facebookhttp://images.theage.com.au/2012/01/17/2897349/art-boat6-420x0.jpg

Full story, rescuer video, photos etc @ the Age (http://www.theage.com.au/travel/travel-incidents/preplanned-cruise-stunt-flagged-on-facebook-20120117-1q3n7.html)

if it was on facebook it must be true.

[EE_]

I can't imagine the mental anguish this captain must be going through. I feel bad for the guy.
He sounds like he was very skilled at handling this ship and just got way over-confident.
How many times to people get into trouble showing off.
I imagine it would have been pretty hard to get back on the ship from the side that was listing, but he should have died trying. Now he will die a thousand deaths.


Costa Concordia: investigators probe role of young Moldovan woman on cruise ship
Italian investigators are probing the mystery of a young Moldovan woman who was reportedly on the bridge of the Costa Concordia cruise ship when it smashed into rocks off the coast of Giglio island, forcing the evacuation of its 4,200 passengers and crew.

12:08PM GMT 19 Jan 2012


The 25-year-old blonde, identified as Domnica Cemortan, was invited onto the bridge as the cruise liner sailed perilously close to Giglio, in what was apparently a ‘salute’ to an old friend of the captain’s and a favour to the ship’s head waiter, whose family were from the island.

She was reportedly the guest of one of the ship’s officers and may be the woman that passengers saw drinking and chatting with Capt Francesco Schettino on Friday evening, a few hours before the Costa Concordia ran aground.

Italian judicial authorities, who are investigating the accident and the captain’s conduct, want to interview Ms Cemortan, who according to her Facebook page was born in Chisinau, Moldova, and lives in Bucharest, Romania.



They believe she may be able to shed light on what happened on the bridge when the giant cruise ship collided with a rocky outcrop, ripping a massive gash in its hull.

Adding to the mystery, she was reportedly not on the official list of passengers and crews.

As news broke that Italian prosecutors wanted to talk to her, she apparently went online and changed her city of residence from ‘Bucharest, Romania’, to ‘Zanzibar, Tanzania’.

In interviews with a Moldovan television station, Jurnal TV, and a Moldovan newspaper, she said she was having dinner on the ship “with friends” at 21.30 on the night of the disaster.

She was later invited up to the bridge – it was not clear whether to enjoy the spectacle of the ship performing a “sail past” of Giglio or later, to help broadcast announcements to passengers in Russian.

Evacuating the stricken liner was a terrifying experience, she said. “It was dark. I found an exit by finding fluorescent lines that guided me. I could hear all sorts of objects falling. People were screaming.”

She managed to get off the boat at 23.50 on Friday night. “The captain was still on deck,” she said.

Francesco Verusio, the chief prosecutor in the case, was not available for comment but a spokesman said he “could not confirm or deny” that Ms Cemortan was being sought for questioning.

Ms Cemortan was interviewed by a journalist from The Sunday Telegraph on Saturday at the Hilton Hotel in Rome’s Fiumicino airport, as the thousands of passengers who escaped from the ship started to fly home.

She offered a staunch defence of the captain’s actions, saying he had saved lives by steering the stricken ship towards Giglio’s tiny harbour and grounding it close to the shore.

“Look at how many people are alive because of him. It’s a tragedy that people are missing, but he saved over 3,000 people on that ship because of his actions,” said Ms Cemortan.

She claimed that Capt Schettino was still on the bridge at 11.50pm.

“I saw him there, before I managed to get off the ship. He did not abandon ship before everyone else. He would not have done that. He knows what his duty is.

“He is one of the best captains in the company. He is very skilful and experienced when it comes to manoeuvring the ship in enclosed spaces, like harbours.”

It is believed that Ms Cemortan has worked for Costa Cruises in the past, as a dancer and passenger rep, but went on the cruise last week as a holiday.


Calm seas enabled Coast Guard and fire service divers to return to the stricken ship on Wednesday, as the mother of a missing five year old girl begged rescuers to keep up the search for her daughter.

Susy Albertini also appealed to other passengers on the ship to come forward if they had any information about where the little girl was last seen, during the panic-stricken evacuation of the vessel by its 4,200 passengers and crew on Friday night and early Saturday morning.

“Please continue looking for my little girl, bring her home to me as soon as you can,” Mrs Albertini told Italian television in a heartfelt plea.

Her lawyer, Davide Veschi, added: “We ask anybody who was in that part of the ship and who managed to get out, if they remember having seen a little girl and her father slip.

“We would ask them to come forward and give precise indications to divers in order to aid them with more targeted searches.”

Dayana - the youngest person missing from the disaster - was with her father, William Arlotti, 36, and he too is missing.

Her parents are separated and so were not together on the cruise liner.

Mr Arlotti’s new partner, Michela Maroncelli, 36, who survived the evacuation, has reported seeing them both slip and fall into the sea. They have not been seen since.

The death toll so far is 11, with at least 20 people still missing.

Francesco Schettino, the Italian cruise liner captain accused of abandoning his stricken vessel with passengers still trapped on-board claimed he left the ship only because he “tripped” and fell into a lifeboat while trying to help with the evacuation.

Schettino, 52, told investigating magistrates that the Costa Concordia was listing so violently there was nothing he could do to get back on board once he had tumbled off and into the safety of a rescue craft.

He admitted however, that he made a “mistake” as he approached the island of Giglio to perform a “salute” for a friend, turning too late and ending up in shallow water where the liner struck a rocky outcrop and eventually capsized.

An off-duty captain who stepped in to help co-ordination the evacuation spoke out yesterday to condemn Mr Schettino’s actions, describing the disaster as “a heartache that I will carry with me forever”.

Colleagues meanwhile, accused the beleaguered Italian captain, who has vowed never to go to sea again, of treating the 1,000ft long vessel “like a Ferrari” and said he was an over-exuberant “daredevil”.

Mr Schettino, who was being kept under house arrest in Meta di Sorrento near Naples on Wednesday, was interrogated for three hours on Tuesday about the disaster which has claimed at least 11 lives, with 22 people still missing.

Pressed by magistrates on why he had apparently abandoned the stricken ship, he reportedly said: “I was trying to get people to get into the boats in an orderly fashion. Suddenly, since the ship was at a 60 to 70 degree angle, I tripped and I ended up in one of the boats. That’s how I found myself there.”

He said he got stuck in the lifeboat for an hour before it was lowered into the water off the coast of Giglio island.

A short time afterwards he was seen ashore, leaving an estimated 300 crew and passengers, including children and elderly and disabled people, to fend for themselves. Also with him in the lifeboat was Dimitri Christidis, the Greek second-in-command of the Concordia and Silvia Coronica, the third officer, according to Italian reports.

Mr Schettino told investigators he took the cruise liner to within 0.28 nautical miles of Giglio to perform a “salute” to a former Costa Cruises captain named Mario Palombo.

“… I made a mistake on the approach. I was navigating by sight because I knew the depths well and I had done this manoeuvre three or four times. But this time I ordered the turn too late and I ended up in water that was too shallow. I don’t know why it happened, I was a victim of my instincts.”

The judge, Valeria Montesarchio, said the Mr Schettino had not made “any serious attempt” to return to the vessel “or even close to it” after evacuating.

The off-duty captain who was forced to step in and lead the evacuation broke his silence on Wednesday.

Roberto Bosio, 44, the captain of one of the Concordia’s sister ships, the Serena, said: “Only a disgraceful man would have left all those passengers on board. It was the most horrible experience of my life, a tragedy, a heartache that I will carry with me forever.” He added: “I just want to rest and forget. Don’t call me a hero. I just did my duty, the duty of a sea captain — actually the duty of a normal man.”

Martino Pellegrino, one of the officers on board the Costa Concordia, joined the growing condemnation of Mr Schettino. “If I had to make a comparison, we got the impression that he would drive a bus like a Ferrari,” he said.

Mario Palombo, a former Costa commander and colleague of the captain, said: “I’ve always had my reservations about Schettino. It’s true, he was my second in command, but he was too exuberant; a daredevil. More than once I had to put him in his place.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9024768/Costa-Concordia-investigators-probe-role-of-young-Moldovan-woman-on-cruise-ship.html

[horseshoe3]

I've been saying prayers for the missing. I've been praying they are banksters.

One thing to consider, based upon that photo above, if he hit a reef off coarse like that. It's possible, the hull had enough damage to make the captain think the vessel was going to sink. It's possible he grounded the ship on the island on purpose, to get her into shallow water.

Admittedly, I don't know much about sailing, but I've always had the idea that a big ship sinks very slowly. So slowly that everyone should be able to get on deck and either jump, or let the ship slip out from under them. In that case, wouldn't it be better to be in open water than run aground? One could survive a long time in the Mediterranian waiting for help. (North Atlantic is a different story.) If the ship is run aground, there is no good place to jump, and the movements of the ship would be unpredictable and more dangerous than if it capsized and sunk in open water.

[Neuro]

The 25-year-old blonde, identified as Domnica Cemortan, was invited onto the bridge as the cruise liner sailed perilously close to Giglio, in what was apparently a ‘salute’ to an old friend of the captain’s and a favour to the ship’s head waiter, whose family were from the island.

She was reportedly the guest of one of the ship’s officers and may be the woman that passengers saw drinking and chatting with Capt Francesco Schettino on Friday evening, a few hours before the Costa Concordia ran aground.
I wonder if she is in the noble profession of Cork Soaking?

[midnight rambler]

One could survive a long time in the Mediterranian waiting for help.

Water temperature was 57 degrees F, survival in water at that temperature without a survival suit is roughly 1/2 hour.

[solid]

Water temperature was 57 degrees F, survival in water at that temperature without a survival suit is roughly 1/2 hour.

Was the water that cold? If so, survival could only be a matter of minutes for some of the elderly folks.

Horseshoe, it depends upon the damage. Those big cruiseliners can move pretty fast. If they hit something it's possible it could really make a big hole in the hull. I don't know how fast he was going though. There's been big cargo ships that have sunk in just a few seconds with the whole crew lost. Usually, when a ship takes on water, the first things to do is assess the damage and start heading towards shallow water.

[horseshoe3]

Water temperature was 57 degrees F, survival in water at that temperature without a survival suit is roughly 1/2 hour.

Well, so much for my preconceptions. I always thought the Mediterranian was warmer than that. It's always pictured as almost a tropical paradise.

[midnight rambler]

Well, so much for my preconceptions. I always thought the Mediterranian was warmer than that. It's always pictured as almost a tropical paradise.

It's wintertime in the Med and the air temperature at the scene of the crime at the time was in the low to mid 40s (F).