Home Tags Posts tagged with "cruise ship"
cruise ship
The trial of the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster, Capt. Francesco Schettino, is in its final moments in Italy.
Thirty-two people died in January 2012 when Costa Concordia was steered too close to the island of Giglio and hit rocks.
Francesco Schettino is about to find out whether he is guilty of multiple manslaughter.
The prosecution has demanded that Francesco Schettino be jailed for 26 years but the captain denies all the charges against him.
Prosecution and defense lawyers have made final statements, and the judges are close to delivering their verdict.
They have heard how Captain Francesco Schettino sailed his huge ship into disaster.
The captain has told the court that he was attempting to “salute” the island, by carrying out a sort of nautical fly-past that would take the liner skimming past the coast, very close in.
It was an attempt to impress his passengers and those ashore.
The court has examined in detail all that happened when the stunt went terribly wrong: how the ship was ripped open on the rocks and more than 4,000 passengers and crew were forced into a chaotic evacuation in the dark of a winter’s night.
In its closing arguments the prosecution told the court Francesco Schettino had acted with “monstrously gross negligence”.
It said Francesco Schettino had compounded his crime by abandoning his vessel, saving himself, while many of his passengers were still in great danger.
“The captain’s duty to abandon ship last isn’t just an obligation dictated by ancient maritime tradition, but also a legal obligation designed to minimize injuries,” said the prosecution.
Capt. Francesco Schettino “thought only and always of himself”.
All along, Francesco Schettino and his lawyers have argued that others should share the blame for the disaster, that it was a collective failure.
He pointed to the fact that the helmsman had been slow to carry out a steering order at a crucial moment as the ship closed in on the rocks. And he said others on the bridge should have seen the danger coming.
“One of the officers should have said to me, <<Commander, we are on the rocks>>, but instead there was a general silence.”
Francesco Schettino vigorously rejects the allegation that he was so gripped by indecision as the disaster engulfed him that he badly delayed giving the order to abandon ship, endangering many more people.
He argues that he waited because he knew the wind was carrying the ship into shallower, safer water. He insists that his action actually saved many lives.
This trial, with its hundreds of witnesses and thousands of documents was too big for Grosseto’s courthouse, so it was moved to the local theatre, the Teatro Moderno, and the drama is unfolding there.
Outside on the street, a growing throng of journalists watches the lawyers and court officials come and go.
In the bars and cafes, nobody really doubts that Francesco Schettino will be found guilty.
In court, Francesco Schettino’s lawyer, Domenico Pepe, appealed to the judges to acquit the captain. But he also said: “If the court has to impose a penalty, we believe it should be the minimum one in the light of the extenuating circumstances.”
In the aftermath of the wreck of its vessel Costa Crociere was allowed to make a plea bargain and was fined €1 million ($1.13 million).
However, some of the survivors and their lawyers argue that the company still has questions to answer on issues such as the caliber of the ship’s crew and its operating procedures.
On the eve of the verdict, one of the survivors asked how the company could have put a man like Francesco Schettino in charge of the Concordia.
[youtube fGRsl9hqIFo 650]
Moldovan dancer Domnica Cemortan admitted at Francesco Schettino’s trial she had been in a romantic relationship with the captain, and had been present on the ship’s bridge at the moment when the ship ran aground.
Francesco Schettino, the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, faces manslaughter charges after the vessel ran aground in Italy, claiming the lives of 32 of those on board.
Domnica Cemortan admitted at Francesco Schettino’s trial she had been in a romantic relationship with the captain
Domnica Cemortan said: “The story that I distracted the captain is fake, because I was very far from him, he was working and acting like a captain.”
The Moldovan feels all the blame for the crash is being heaped Francesco Schettino, but said there “can not be only one person accused for this big accident, and I asking myself where are the others, where are the other officers in this story?”
[youtube EBuuJqppUjs 650]
Engineering officials say they have succeeded in lifting the cruise ship Costa Concordia free of rocks, 20 months after it ran aground.
Efforts to right the ship, one of the largest and most daunting salvage operations ever undertaken, are expected to last up to 12 hours.
Costa Concordia has been detached from rocks and moved on to a platform constructed on the sea bed, officials said.
Thirty-two people died when the ship ran aground off the Tuscan coast.
The bodies of two of those killed in the January 2012 disaster, by the island of Giglio, have never been found. There are hopes that they may be located during the operation, although officials said on Monday there was no sign of them so far.
Engineers have never tried to lift such a huge ship so close to land.
The start of this huge operation was potentially the most problematic phase, and the stage that worried the engineers the most.
But now the ship has been broken away from the reef on which she has been lying, the hope is that it will now be possible to rotate the wreck more easily.
The Italian Civil Protection Authority said the sea and weather conditions had mostly been right for the attempt, but the operation had to be delayed by three hours because of an overnight storm.
The storm delayed the positioning of a barge carrying a remote control room close to the shipwreck, from where engineers were using pulleys and counterweights to move the Concordia from the steep underwater incline it is resting on.
Sergio Girotto, an engineer working on the project, told reporters on Monday the operation was going smoothly.
“Everything is going according to plan, we are following the plan to sequence… There is no problem whatsoever.”
Costa Concordia has been freed from rocks, 20 months after it ran aground
The ship could be seen emerging from the water as operators worked to hoist it upright.
Footage from the scene of the salvage operation clearly shows the watermark on the part of the ship that has been submerged for the past 20 months.
Everything about the project is on a colossal scale.
Salvage workers have attached giant metal chains and cables to the ship, which weighs more than 114,000 tonnes and is roughly the length of three football fields.
More than 50 enormous chains and winches are being used to break the ship – twice as heavy as the Titanic – away from the reef on which it has been lying and roll her up onto her keel.
Engineers will try to roll the ship up using the cables and the weight of water contained in huge metal boxes welded to the ship’s sides – a process called parbuckling.
This procedure must be done very slowly to prevent further damage to the hull, which has spent more than 18 months partially submerged in 50ft of water and fully exposed to the elements.
By the end of Monday, it should be sitting on a specially prepared underwater platform of steel and concrete.
Only after the ship is back up on her keel will it be possible to inspect it fully and begin to plan the next stage – the effort to repair and re-float it and eventually tow it away to be destroyed.
The head of the operation, Nick Sloane, told the AFP news agency that it was now or never for the Costa Concordia, because the hull was gradually weakening and might not survive another winter.
If the operation goes wrong, environmentalists warn that toxic substances could leak out into the sea.
There are also concerns that filthy water trapped in the rotting, rusting wreck will pour out as the ship rises.
But booms and nets have been put in place to try to combat any pollution threat in what is a marine national park.
Five people have been convicted of manslaughter over the disaster, and the ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, is currently on trial accused of manslaughter and abandoning ship.
Giglio mayor Sergio Ortelli said that the removal of the ship would bring an end to “a huge problem that we have in our port and that we want to solve as soon as we can”.
“Islanders can’t wait to see the back of it,” he said.
On Sunday, prayers for the operation were said during Sunday Mass on the island.
The small island’s economy depends hugely on tourism and the presence of the wreck has discouraged visitors.
The salvage project has so far cost more than 600 million euros ($800 million) and is expected to cost much more before the operation is complete.
[youtube 2DHS-KDpzEQ]
The trial of Francesco Schettino, the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which ran aground off Italy last year, has opened and been adjourned until next week.
Francesco Schettino, 52, faces charges of multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship.
Thirty-two people died when the ship hit rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio in January 2012 and then tipped onto its side.
Tuesday’s hearing was adjourned because of a nationwide lawyers’ strike.
Francesco Schettino has been accused of steering the luxury liner too fast and too close to the shore, and of leaving the ship before all of the 4,229 passengers and crew were taken off.
He was allegedly performing a risky night-time sail-past salute to people on the tiny island of Giglio.
Captain Francesco Schettino faces charges of multiple manslaughter and abandoning he Costa Concordia cruise ship
The Costa Concordia ship was holed by rocks on the left-hand side causing it to list, as passengers dined on the first night of the cruise.
A chaotic and disorganized evacuation ensued. By the time the order to evacuate came, the Costa Concordia was listing so far to one side that many lifeboats could not be used.
The liner is still lying on its side, half-submerged, off Giglio. Two people are still listed as missing.
Captain Francesco Schettino denies the charges, and his defense is expected to argue that no single person was to blame for the accident.
He claims his maneuvering of the ship closer to shore saved lives.
The trial is being heard in Grosseto, a city 90 miles north-west of Rome which is nearest to the site of the wreck. It is taking place in the city’s theatre, rather than its small courthouse.
In addition to the hundreds of survivors seeking compensation, the local authorities in Giglio are hoping for at least 80 million euros ($105 million) to make up for alleged lost revenue and the eyesore that has been on its shoreline.
Up to 430 witnesses and 250 plaintiffs could be called during Francesco Schettino’s trial, AFP news agency reports.
Francesco Schettino’s lawyers say he faces a maximum 20 years in jail if found guilty.
The Costa Concordia still lies partially submerged off the coast of Giglio while salvage crews work to refloat it.
[youtube -CEtoLg3qQA]
Francesco Schettino, the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which ran aground off Italy last year, is set to go on trial.
Francesco Schettino, 52, faces charges of multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship.
Thirty-two people died when the ship hit a rock off the Tuscan island of Giglio in January 2012 and then tipped onto its side.
A nationwide strike by Italian lawyers is expected to affect the start of the trial, due later on Tuesday.
Francesco Schettino has been accused of steering the luxury liner too fast and too close to the shore, and of leaving the ship before all of the 4,229 passengers were taken off.
He was allegedly performing a risky night-time sail-past salute to people on the tiny island of Giglio.
The ship was holed by rocks on the left-hand side causing it to list, as passengers dined on the first night of the cruise.
Francesco Schettino, the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which ran aground off Italy last year, is set to go on trial
A chaotic and disorganized evacuation ensued. By the time the order to evacuate came, the Costa Concordia was listing so far to one side that many lifeboats could not be used.
The liner is still lying on its side, half-submerged, off Giglio. Two people are still listed as missing.
Captain Francesco Schettino denies the charges, and his defense is expected to argue that no single person was to blame for the accident.
He claims his manoeuvring of the ship closer to shore saved lives.
Francesco Schettino is expected in court in Grosseto, a city 90 miles north-west of Rome which is nearest to the site of the wreck.
However, the trial could be delayed by a week if his lawyers observe the strike, scheduled to start on Tuesday.
In addition to the hundreds of survivors seeking compensation, the local authorities in Giglio are hoping for at least 80 million euros ($105 million) to make up for alleged lost revenue and the eyesore that has been on its shoreline.
Up to 430 witnesses and 250 plaintiffs could be called during Francesco Schettino’s trial, AFP news agency reports.
Francesco Schettino’s lawyers say he faces a maximum 20 years in jail if found guilty.
The Costa Concordia still lies partially submerged off the coast of Giglio while salvage crews work to refloat it.
[youtube f8q1XJiT6Jw]
[youtube A_L-T9M-zvI]
Carnival Dream cruise ship has been forced to fly passengers home after the vessel experienced overflowing toilets and power outages just a month after Triumph was stranded for five days in the Gulf of Mexico.
Carnival announced on Thursday that guests are being flown off the island of St Maarten where the ship is moored. Passengers will be refunded for three days of the trip and get a 50% discount on future voyages.
Carnival Dream cruise ship, which has a capacity of 3,646 passengers and 1,367 crew, is docked at Phillipsburg in the Caribbean on the last leg of a seven-day cruise from Florida.
There was no information on what would be happening to the crew on the crippled ship which had a mechanical issue with a diesel generator.
Dream’s captain alerted authorities of possible trouble with the ship’s propulsion system on Wednesday, a U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman in Miami said on Thursday.
Several passengers told CNN that guests had been held on the boat despite the fact toilets were overflowing and unusable on Wednesday.
Other passengers said that crew had announced over the tannoy system that generator problems would take an hour to fix but that seven hours later, the unsavory situation remained.
Carnival Dream cruise ship has been forced to fly passengers home after the vessel experienced overflowing toilets and power outages
Carnival Dream had been due to leave the Caribbean island at 5 p.m. on Wednesday after making the trip from Port Canaveral.Passengers will now fly the two hours back to Florida on both commercial and private charter flights.
Petty Officer Sabrina Laberdesque said the ship has functioning sewage and power systems, adding that officials are working to correct the problems.
Sabrina Laberdesque said the Coast Guard is not involved because the ship is moored.
Carnival shares fell 1.3% on Thursday morning to $35.24 after the cruise cancellation was announced.
[youtube rfoEjMkrFsE]
Carnival’s official statement:
“The Carnival Dream has a technical issue with the ship’s back-up emergency diesel generator which our engineering team is currently working on. Yesterday, during regularly scheduled testing of the ship’s emergency diesel generator, a malfunction occurred. At no time did the ship lose power and the ship’s propulsion systems and primary power source was not impacted. The ship is at dock in St. Maarten.
All guests are safe and comfortable. There were periodic interruptions to elevators and restroom services for a few hours last night. However, all hotel systems are functioning normally and have been functional since approximately 12.30 a.m.
While personnel continue to work on the technical issue we are making arrangements to fly all guests home via private charter flights and scheduled flights from St. Maarten.
Guests on the current voyage will receive a refund equivalent to three days of the voyage and 50 percent off a future cruise.
We are also cancelling the ship’s next voyage which is scheduled to depart on Saturday, March 16. Guests scheduled to sail on this cruise will receive a full refund and 25 per cent off a future seven-day cruise. Guests who re-book will have their current rate protected on the future sailing.
Additionally, any non-refundable transportation related expenses will be reimbursed.
Yesterday was a scheduled port of call visit to St. Maarten. Guests were able to spend the full day in port and have the option of continuing to do so until their scheduled return home. All of the ship’s activities and facilities are fully operational.
We are very sorry for this disruption to our guests’ vacation plans and extend our sincere apologies. We look forward to welcoming them back on another Carnival cruise.
The Carnival Dream was on the last leg of a seven-day cruise and was docked in St. Maarten when the technical problem arose. The ship is based in Port Canaveral, Florida.”
Titanic II, the sequel to the doomed liner that sank 100 years ago, was announced on Tuesday – after its designer claimed it would be the “most safe cruise ship in the world” with ample lifeboats.
With hubris akin to that of the 1912 original, Markku Kanerva said that “from a safety perspective” there was no vessel on Earth which compared to the new boat.
Markku Kanerva said that it had more than enough lifeboats and that the hull was stronger than the wooden original because it was made from steel composite.
Despite his confidence the mastermind behind the project, brash Australian mining billionaire Clive Palmer, refused to say it was “unsinkable”.
Clive Palmer said: “I think anything will sink if you put a hole in it. I think you’d be very cavalier to say something like that.
“I think people in the past have done that and lived to regret it.”
The blueprint for the Titanic II was unveiled in New York for the first time along with computer generated images of the inside.
They bear a startling resemblance to the 1997 James Cameron film about the ship, which starred Kate Winslet and Leonardo Di Caprio, and show that many of the original features including the famous Grand Staircase will feature in the new boat.
The six-day maiden voyage will take place in late 2016 and will be from Southampton to New York to “complete the journey” started all those years ago.
Just like in 1912 there will be three classes of passenger and those with different tickets will not be able to move between the classes, though there will be more toilets for the lower decks than the original.
Everyone on board will however be provided with early-20th-century-style clothes and undergarments in their cabins to get them in the mood.
Whilst there will be air conditioning there will be no TVs and no Internet in a bid to get back to the “romance” of a bygone age.
Professor Clive Palmer outlined his bold vision in which the Titanic II would be “carrying the hopes and dreams of people everywhere” and represent “the reconciliation of man”.
There will be capacity for 2,435 passengers and 900 crew.
There will also be lifeboats that can carry 2,700 and a life rafts with an additional capacity of 800.
The original Titanic had just 16 wooden lifeboats that accommodated 1,178 people, one third of the total capacity.
Some 1,502 people died when it sank on April 15, 1912.
It was one of the worst peacetime disasters the world has ever seen.
At the launch of Titanic II, which began with a guitar rendition of Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On, Prof. Clive Palmer explained that the ship will be 883ft long, which is three inches longer than the original.
It will have a tonnage of 55,800 tonnes compared to 53,210 of the original.
Titanic II will have a maximum speed of 24 knots, the same as the first Titanic.
Titanic II was announced on Tuesday, after its designer claimed it would be the most safe cruise ship in the world with ample lifeboats
Other original features which will also appear on Titanic II include the Turkish baths, the Cafe Parisien, the two “Millioniare Suites”, the Chart Room, and the quarters belonging to Titanic Master Captain Edward Smith.
For entertainment guests can enjoy the casino, cinema or shopping area.
The blueprint shows that there will even the same “Marconi room” where the Titanic sent out its final SOS.
Whereas the original was built by the famous Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, in a sign of how times have changed the Titanic II is being constructed by state-owned Chinese company CSC Jinling Shipyard.
Prof. Clive Palmer refused to reveal how much he is paying to build Titanic II but claimed there had already been significant interest, including from celebrities.
He said: “40,000 people had registered for tickets on the ship’s website with 16 offering between $750,000 and $1 million to be on the opening voyage.”
Clive Palmer added that on the first trip he would be “in third class twiddling the fiddle like Leonardo Di Caprio did in the film”.
Markku Kanerva, of Finnish boat designers Deltamarin, added: “I can assure you that from a safety point of view it will be absolutely the most safe cruise ship in the world.”
“We are taking into account all of the possible incidents and accidents and we try to simulate all of those occasions.”
“Collision is the most common accident we are talking about.”
The launch, on the USS Intrepid moored on a pier in Manhattan, was met with a mixed reaction by relatives of those who survived the original sinking.
Helen Benzinger, the great granddaughter of Molly Brown, an American heiress who was on board Titanic, said that she was “thrilled” at the new design.
The family of the Capt. Edward Smith however have said the replica is “in bad taste”.
RMS Titanic vs. Titanic II
Measurements:
RMS Titanic: 882 ft 9 in
Titanic II: 883 ft
Weight:
RMS Titanic: 53,210 gross tons
Titanic II: 55,800 gross tons
Lifeboat capacity:
RMS Titanic: 1,178 people
Titanic II: 2,700 people
Passengers:
RMS Titanic: 2,223
Titanic II: 2,435
Crew:
RMS Titanic: 885
Titanic II: 900
Maximum speed:
RMS Titanic: 24 knots
Titanic II: 24 knots
Construction timeline:
RMS Titanic: 1909-1912
Titanic II: 2013-2016
Construction cost:
RMS Titanic: $7.5 million (1912)
Titanic II: TBD
Construction company:
RMS Titanic: Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast
Titanic II: CSC Jinling Shipyard in China
All 3,200 passengers have now disembarked from crippled Carnival Triumph cruise ship that reached the US coast four days after an engine fire knocked out power.
The Carnival Triumph docked in Mobile, Alabama, at 21:15 on Thursday.
Disembarking the passengers took more than four hours and many still face a long bus journey home or to the port of departure, Galveston.
Passengers had reported sewage on the floors, poor sanitation and access to toilets, and lengthy queues for food.
Some lined the decks as the 900-ft ship docked, waving and cheering at people on shore.
Chants of “Let me off, let me off!” could be heard coming from the ship as they waited to disembark.
One homemade sign read: “Sweet Home Alabama!” and another: “The ship’s afloat, so is the sewage.”
Disembarking passenger Brittany Ferguson said: “I’m feeling awesome just to see land and buildings. The scariest part was just not knowing when we’d get back.”
Carnival Corp which operates the ship, was also the owner of Costa Concordia, the cruise ship that ran aground off the Italian coast and sank last year, killing 32 people.
The Carnival Triumph took six hours to be towed through the 30-mile channel to the docks at Mobile – the largest ship ever to dock there.
The passengers are being taken by bus either to Galveston in Texas, which is about seven hours away, or to New Orleans, where the firm said it had booked 1,500 hotel rooms. New Orleans is two hours away.
All 3,200 passengers have now disembarked from crippled Carnival Triumph cruise ship that reached the US coast four days after an engine fire knocked out power
Carnival CEO Gerry Cahill apologized again for the “very poor” conditions on board.
“We pride ourselves on providing our guests with a great vacation experience, and clearly we failed in this particular case,” he said.
Hospitality staff will be sent on early holiday with full pay or transferred to other ships, depending on the length remaining in their contracts, senior vice-president Terry Thornton said.
Passenger Janie Baker told NBC by phone on Thursday that conditions on the ship were “extremely terrible”. There was no electricity and few working toilets, she said.
Janie Baker described using plastic bags to go to the toilet and that she had seen a woman pass out while waiting for food.
The stench from overflowing toilets and drainpipes made some cabins uninhabitable and many people slept in corridors, while others took bedding out into the open to escape the heat and foul smell.
Passengers will be offered a full refund and discounts on future cruises. Carnival announced on Wednesday passengers would each get an additional $500 in compensation.
But the firm has disputed the accounts describing the ship as filthy, saying employees were doing everything they could to ensure people were comfortable.
Carnival has cancelled more than a dozen planned voyages aboard the Triumph, while acknowledging that the crippled ship had other mechanical problems in the weeks before the fire.
Spokesman Vance Gulliksen said Triumph had an earlier electrical problem with the ship’s alternator but that repairs were completed by February 2. He said there was no evidence linking the previous problem to Sunday’s fire.
The National Transportation Safety Board has opened an investigation into the fire.
No-one was injured in the blaze, but one passenger with a pre-existing medical condition was taken off the ship as a precaution.
[youtube 59kbxxQlg3Y]
The wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship in Italy will be removed by September at the latest, officials overseeing the work have said.
It has been lying on its side off the island of Giglio, on the coast of Tuscany, since it capsized a year ago with the loss of more than 30 lives.
Because it lies in a marine nature reserve, cutting it up could be hugely damaging to the local environment.
Instead, it will be lifted upright and towed to the mainland for dismantling.
Costa Concordia hit rocks and sank off the Italian coast on January 13, 2012.
Captain Francesco Schettino is accused of causing a shipwreck, manslaughter and abandoning ship before all passengers were evacuated.
The wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship in Italy will be removed by September at the latest
Giving the latest time schedule, officials said that it might be possible to remove the Concordia as early as June.
The local islanders are desperate to see it go as they depend almost entirely on tourism.
Although the wreck has attracted some sightseers, such people only come for the briefest time and spend almost nothing.
Meanwhile, the islanders say that the more traditional, long-stay tourist trade has been cut by at least 40%.
People just do not want to spend their holiday in a place that is the scene of a colossal salvage operation.
And for local people, the presence of the wreck just beyond the harbor is a constant reminder of the disaster.
[youtube 2hLVoa9Q5XE]
[youtube lKOoUyHlepg]
Francesco Schettino, the captain of Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia, which ran aground killing more than 30 people in January, has said he is sorry for the disaster.
In an interview on Italian TV, Francesco Schettino said he thought constantly about the victims.
But he insisted others should also share the blame, saying the ship had been under the command of another officer at the time.
Francesco Schettino denies charges including manslaughter and causing a shipwreck.
The ship struck rocks and capsized near the island of Giglio, off the coast of Tuscany.
An Italian judge recently lifted Francesco Schettino’s house arrest, but said he must not leave his hometown, near Naples, while the investigation continues.
Captain Francesco Schettino has said he is sorry for Costa Concordia disaster
“When there’s an accident, it is not just the ship that is identified or the company, the captain is identified and so it’s normal that I should apologize as a representative of this system,” he told Italy’s Canale 5 television.
Francesco Schettino said he blamed himself for being “distracted” but said he had not been on the bridge when the ship ran aground.
“At that moment, I went up to the deck and ordered the ship to be put on manual navigation and I didn’t have command, that’s to say being in charge of sailing the ship, that was the officer,” he said.
Following the accident there was speculation that the captain had sailed too close to the island because he was trying to show off his seamanship skills to a young woman on the ship’s bridge.
Francesco Schettino denied this, and also denied that the woman had been his lover.
When asked about the youngest passenger who died – a five-year-old girl – he could not answer and broke down.
In a letter published recently in Italy’s La Corriere della Sera newspaper, Francesco Schettino argued that he had saved many lives by steering the stricken vessel into shallow water.
In a phone call recorded during the rescue operation, a local port authority chief Gregorio de Falco can be heard chastising the captain and telling him to get back on board the ship to help stranded passengers.
Francesco Schettino was arrested shortly afterwards.
