Cruise ship sinking off Italian coast - like titanic

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Abandon ship! More than 4,000 panicked passengers flee cruise liner runs aground and starts to sink off Italian coast

More than 4,000 passengers and crew were rescued tonight after a packed cruise liner began sinking off the Italian coast after running aground.

Several British holidaymakers were on the Costa Concordia which had left port at 7pm for a seven-day Mediterranean Cruise - but within two hours of leaving port, it ground to a halt in the sea with a major electrical fault.

Coastguards were immediately dispatched to the scene near the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast, as terrified passengers were ordered to put on life vests and man life boats as the 290 metre luxury floating palace began to list heavily to one side.
Costa Cruises said in a statement it was 'too early to say what had caused the incident'.

They confirmed that 3,200 passengers were onboard at the time along with 1,000 crew members and all had been evacuated by lifeboat and taken to the island of Giglio where emergency accommodation had been prepared for them.
By 1.20am local time, this had been virtually completed and officials said that the liner was listing at an angle of 20 degrees but it was not in danger of sinking.

Besides lifeboats, five other ships that were in the area and a helicopter were used in the operation to ensure that all passengers and crew were safely evacuated.

There were reports of people having jumped into the water but no injuries were reported.

Photographs from the scene on Italian TV news websites showed the Costa Concordia listing to one side close to the harbour wall at Giglio while other showed passengers wearing live vests huddled on the dockside.

The drama unfolded near the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast, after the Costa Concordia, one of the biggest ships in the Costa cruise fleet with 1,500 cabins, had left the port of Civitavecchia and was sailing north to Savona, its first port of call.

Passenger Luciano Castro told Italian media: 'We were having dinner when all of a sudden the lights went out.
Costa Concordia locator map

'It seemed as if the ship struck something and then we heard a load bang and everything fell to the floor.

'The captain immediately came on the tannoy and said that there had been an electrical fault but it seemed very strange as the ship almost immediately began to list to one side. The glasses just slid off the table.

'We were then told to put on our lifevests and head to the life boats just to be safe but there was a real panic onboard you could see it in the faces of the people especially those with young families.

'Then a few minutes later there were seven whistles which meant everyone had to get in the lifeboats.'

Another passenger Mara Parmegiani said: 'It was just like something out of the Titanic.

'You could tell straight away that the ship had hit something and no way was it an electrical fault.'

Giglio's mayor Sergio Ortelli said: 'We are on full emergency alert and we are preparing to receive the life boats with the passengers onboard.'

A webcam on the website of Costa Cruises showed the position of the £450million six-year-old Concordia just off the coast near Giglio with a caption reading: 'Data transmission is temporarily suspended.'

The website also adds that the Costa Concordia is a 'real floating temple of fun that will amaze you,' and it has four swimming pools, five restaurants and 13 bars.

Prices for winter cruises in the Mediterranean start at £390 but can top £1,200 for a top of the range suite with sea view.

A major rescue operation was under way tonight after a packed cruise liner with more than 4,000 passengers and crew on board began sinking off the Italian coast
Coastguard officials confirmed that 3,200 passengers were onboard at the time along with 1,000 crew members and all had been evacuated by lifeboat and taken to the island of Giglio

 

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Cruise ship aground off Italy, 3,000 passengers evacuated

ROME — Around 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members were evacuated from a cruise ship off the coast of Italy late Friday, after it ran aground and started taking on water, the Italian coast guard said.

"At around 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) the 290-metre-long Costa Concordia cruise ship... began taking on water and tilting over by around 20 degrees," the coast guard said in a statement, as those aboard were rescued in lifeboats.

"The passengers are not in danger, a rescue mission is underway," the coast guard at the Isola del Giglio port in Tuscany told AFP, as passengers were shipped off the Costa Concordia.

Passengers heard a large boom and were initially told the ship had shuddered to a halt for electrical reasons, before being told to put on their life-jackets, a passenger from the boat told ANSA news agency by telephone.

Some passengers had jumped into the sea in their hurry to get off the sinking ship, according to the reports.

The local mayor said they were trying to find room to accommodate the rescued passengers, including pregnant women and children.

"We are trying to accommodate them anywhere we can, in schools, nurseries, hotels, anywhere that has a roof," said mayor Sergio Ortelli, who added that some passengers were even bedding down for the night in the church.

The Costa Crociera company, which owns the vessel, said that it was not yet possible to say what caused the problem, but that the evacuation had been fast.

"The ship was on a cruise in the Mediterranean, leaving from Savona with planned stops in Civitavecchia, Palermo, Cagliari, Palma, Barcelona and Marseille," the company said.

"There were around 1,000 Italian passengers on board, as well as 500 Germans and around 150 French people," it added, without giving details about the rest.

The cruise ship had set off from the Civitavecchia port near Rome earlier on Friday when the vessel got into difficulties and started to lean dangerously.

Boats from the nearby port helped evacuate

 

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Costa Concordia is a Concordia-class cruise ship owned and operated by Costa Cruises. She was built at Fincantieri's Sestri Ponente yards in Italy. The name Concordia was intended to express the wish for continuing harmony, unity and peace between European nations.

She is the namesake of Concordia-class, with sisters, Costa Serena, Carnival Splendor which was built for Carnival Cruise Lines, Costa Pacifica, Costa Favolosa, and Costa Fascinosa. Costa Concordia entered service in July 2006 and was the largest ship to be built in Italy, at 114,500 tons.

On January 13, 2012 the ship began to take in water at 00:30 and listing 20 degrees two hours after leaving the Civitavecchia port. And developed a major electrical fault. 4200 passengers and crew, were safely evacuated but under chaos.[4]

The then unnamed Costa Concordia was ordered in 19 January 2004 in Fincantieri and will be built in their Sestri Ponente yard in Genoa.[1] Costa Concordia was then launched at Sestri Ponente in 2 September 2005.[5] At the time of her construction, she was the largest Italian cruise ship ever built in history. She was then delivered to Costa on June 30, 2006.[6]

Costa Concordia has 1,500 staterooms; 505 have private balconies and 55 with direct access to Samsara Spa; 58 suites with private balconies and 12 with direct access to spa. Costa Concordia has one of the world's largest wellness centers at sea, the Samsara Spa, a two-level, 6,000 m (20,000 ft) wellness area, with gym, a thalassotherapy pool, sauna, Turkish bath and a solarium.[2] The ship also has four swimming pools, two with retractable covers, five spas and a poolside screen on the Pool deck.[2]

There are five on-board restaurants, with Club Concordia and Samsara taking reservations-only dining. There are thirteen bars including a cigar and cognac bar and a coffee and chocolate bar.

Entertainment options are a three-level Theater, casino and a discotheque. There is also a children's area equipped with PlayStation products. There is also the Grand Prix motor racing simulator and an internet cafe.

Class and type: Concordia class cruise ship
Tonnage: 114,500 GT
Length: 950 ft (290 m)
Beam: 118 ft (36 m)
Speed: service: 21.5 knots (39.8 km/h; 24.7 mph)
maximum: 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph)
Capacity: 3,700 passengers
Crew: 1,100
Notes: [2][3]

 

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Two people have died after a luxury cruise ship carrying 4,200 passengers and crew is said to have run aground off the coast of Italy.

A major rescue operation was launched last night after the Costa Concordia began sinking near the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast.

A harbour master said it looked like it ''ran aground'', but Costa Cruises, which owns the ship, said it was ''too early to say what caused the incident".

Coastguard officials said two people had died but gave no further details.

Giglio's mayor Sergio Ortelli said he ''believed there were other victims'' although his claims were not confirmed.

As the ship began to list heavily to one side, coastguards were immediately dispatched to the scene while terrified passengers were ordered to put on life vests and man lifeboats.

There were reports of people having jumped into the water.

A helicopter and five other ships that were in the area were also used in the four-hour rescue mission.

Passenger Luciano Castro told Italian media: ''We were having dinner when all of a sudden the lights went out. It seemed as if the ship struck something and then we heard a load bang and everything fell to the floor.

''The captain immediately came on the tannoy and said that there had been an electrical fault but it seemed very strange as the ship almost immediately began to list to one side. The glasses just slid off the table.

''We were then told to put on our life vests and head to the lifeboats just to be safe but there was a real panic onboard you could see it in the faces of the people especially those with young families.

''Then a few minutes later there were seven whistles which meant everyone had to get in the lifeboats.''

Another passenger Mara Parmegiani said: ''It was just like something out of the Titanic. You could tell straight away that the ship had hit something and no way was it an electrical fault.''

The Costa Concordia had left the port of Savona at 7pm local time and was sailing to Civitavecchia, its first port of call, when disaster struck at around 9pm.

Costa Cruises confirmed that 3,200 passengers, including several British holidaymakers, were onboard at the time along with 1,000 crew members.

A webcam on the company's website showed the position of the ship with a caption reading: ''Data transmission is temporarily suspended.''

Officials said the liner was listing at an angle of 20 degrees but it was not in danger of sinking.

They added that by 1.20am the evacuation of passengers and crew had been virtually completed.

The £450m Costa Concordia is one of the biggest ships in the Costa cruise fleet. It has 1,500 cabins and was at the start of a seven-day cruise of the Mediterranean.

Prices for winter cruises in the Mediterranean on the liner start at £390 but can top £1,200 for a top of the range suite with sea view.

 

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At least two people were reported dead after leaping into the Mediterranean as panic spread through the Costa Concordia.

More of the 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew were thought to be trapped on the 290-metre liner as lifeboats and helicopters raced to the scene.By early today most had been ferried to safety on the nearby island of Giglio off the Tuscany coast.

Coastguards said the £450million six-year-old ship was listing at an angle of 20 degrees after running aground on a sandbar.

But they said it was not in "imminent danger" of sinking. Passengers on the seven-day Mediterranean cruise told of panic on board after hearing a big bang.

One, Luciano Castro, said: "We were having dinner when the lights suddenly went out. It seemed as if the ship had struck something.

"We heard a load bang and everything fell to the floor.

"The captain said there had been an electrical fault but the ship almost immediately began to list. Glasses slid off the table.

"There were seven whistles and we were told to put on lifevests and head to the lifeboats. There was a real panic on board."

Another passenger Mara Parmegiani said: "It was like something out of the Titanic."

 

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A terrified passenger said it was like a scene from the Titanic as the ship began to sink and people were ordered into lifeboats
At least three people were killed and more than 4,000 passengers and crew were rescued after this packed cruise liner began sinking off the Italian coast after running aground

 

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'It was like a scene from the Titanic': At least three dead and 4,200 panicked passengers and crew evacuated after luxury cruise liner carrying Britons sinks off coast of Italy

At least three people were killed and more than 4,000 passengers and crew were rescued last night after a packed cruise liner began capsizing off the Italian coast after running aground.

Twenty-four British holidaymakers were on the Costa Concordia which had left port at 7pm for a seven-day Mediterranean Cruise - but within two hours of leaving port, it ran aground in the sea with a major electrical fault.

Coastguards were immediately dispatched to the scene near the island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast.

At least three bodies have been recovered from the sea, although earlier estimates suggested eight were dead.

The Foreign Office said it was not aware of any injuries or fatalities to Britons.
Terrified passengers were ordered to put on life vests and man life boats as the 850ft-long luxury floating palace, which costs up to £1,200 a night, began to list heavily to one side.

Helicopters plucked to safety some 50 people who were trapped on the liner listed so badly they couldn't launch lifeboats.

The identities of the dead have not yet been released. A report released by the Messaggero newspaper said at least 30 people sustained injuries, with several of them serious.
Among the dead was a man around age 65, who officials believe may not have been able to withstand the cold of the sea at night.

It is thought that the death toll may still rise and there are believed to be at least three other unconfirmed fatalities.
'We were having dinner aboard when we heard a loud noise, like that of the keel being dragged over something,' passenger Luciano Castro told Italian state radio.

The lights went out 'and there were scenes of panic, glasses falling to the floor,' he said.

Another passenger Mara Parmegiani said 'it was like a scene from the Titanic.'

Survivor Christine Hammer, from Bonn, Germany, shivered near the harbor of Porto Santo Stefano, on the mainland, after stepping off a ferry from Giglio.

She was wearing elegant dinner clothes — a cashmere sweater, a silk scarf — along with a large pair of hiking boots, which an islander gave her after she lost her shoes in the scramble to escape, along with her passport, credit cards and phone.

Hammer, 65, said that she was eating her first course, an appetizer of squid, on her first night aboard her first-ever cruise, which was a gift to her and her husband, Gert, from her local church where she volunteers.

Suddenly, 'we heard a crash. Glasses and plates fell down and we went out of the dining room and we were told it wasn't anything dangerous,' she said.

The passengers were instructed to put on life jackets and take to the life rafts but, Hammer said, they couldn't get into the boats, because the cruise liner was tilting so much the boats couldn't be lowered into the cold, night sea.

The passengers were eventually rescued by one of several boats in the area that came to their aid.

The evacuees were taking refuge in schools, hotels, and a church on the tiny island of Giglio, a popular holiday isle about 18 miles off Italy's central west coast.

Those evacuated by helicopter were flown to Grosseto, while others, rescued by local ferries pressed into emergency service, took survivors to the port of Porto Santo Stefano on the nearby mainland.

'It was terrible,' Hammer said, as German and Spanish tourists were about to board buses at the port.

Fabio Costa, who worked in a shop on the stricken cruise ship, said a number of people were jumping into the sea to swim ashore.
Describing the moment the boat began to list, he told BBC Breakfast: 'We were all working and all of a sudden we felt the boat hitting something and everything just started to fall, all the glasses broke and everybody started to panic and run.

'We could only feel that the boat had hit something, we had no idea how serious it was until we got out and we looked through the window and we saw the water getting closer and closer. Everything happened really, really fast and we saw the water coming in.'

Mr Costa said that once the emergency alarm was set off people started to panic and push each other in a bid to get into lifeboats.

'A lot of people were falling down the stairs and were hurt because things fell on them,' he added.

The worker said it took the crew a long time to launch the lifeboats as the vessel had listed so much.

He said: 'We just saw a huge rock, that was probably where the ship hit, and people were having huge trouble trying to get on the lifeboats. So at that point we didn't know what to do so it took hours for people to get off the ship.

'It was easier for people to jump into the sea because we were on the same level as that water so some people pretty much just decided to swim as they were not able to get on the lifeboats.'

As dawn neared, a painstaking search of the ship's interior was being conducted to see if anyone might have been trapped inside.

Coast Guard Commander Francesco Paolillo said: 'No one is leaning out, shouting, calling that they need help, but until the inspection is completed, we won't know.'

'There are some 2,000 cabins, and the ship isn't straight.

'I'll leave it to your imagination to understand how they (the rescuers) are working as they move through it.'
Some Concordia crew members were still aboard to help the coast guard rescuers inspect 'every millimeter' of the ship, he said.

Mr Paolilo said it wasn't immediately known if the dead were passengers or crew, nor were the nationalities of the victims immediately known. It wasn't clear how they died.

Most of the 30 people injured suffered just bruises but at least two people were reported to be in a serious condition.

Mr Paolillo said the exact circumstances of the accident were still unclear, but that the first alarm went off about 10:30pm, about two hours after the Concordia had begun its voyage from the port of Civitavecchia, en route to its first port of call, Savona, in northwestern Italy.

He said said the vessel 'hit an obstacle' — it wasn't clear if it might have hit a rocky reef in the waters off Giglio — 'ripping a gash 50 meters (160 feet) across' on the left side of the ship, and started taking on water.
The captain then tried to steer his ship toward shallow waters, near Giglio's small port, to make evacuation by lifeboat easier.

But after the ship started listing badly, lifeboat evacuation was no longer feasible, Mr Paolillo said.

About 3,200 passengers were on board at the time along with 1,000 crew members. All were evacuated.

By 1.20am local time, this had been virtually completed and officials said that the liner was listing at an angle of 20 degrees but it was not in danger of sinking.

A webcam on the website of Costa Cruises showed the position of the £450million six-year-old Concordia just off the coast near Giglio with a caption reading: 'Data transmission is temporarily suspended.'
A statement in the early hours from Costa Cruises, the company that runs the ship, confirmed that the evacuation of the 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew had begun, 'but the position of the ship, which is worsening, is making more difficult the last part of the evacuation.'

Costa Cruises' statement did not mention any casualties, and said it had not yet determined the cause of the problem.

Costa Cruises said the Costa Concordia was sailing on a cruise across the Mediterranean Sea, starting from Civitavecchia with scheduled calls to Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Cagliari and Palermo.

It said about 1,000 Italian passengers were onboard, as well as more than 500 Germans, about 160 French and about 1,000 crew members.

 

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Emergency teams in Italy are racing to rescue about 40 people still believed to be missing after a cruise ship ran aground off the country's west coast.

Divers are searching rooms in the Costa Concordia, which is lying on its side 200m (650ft) off Giglio island.

It sank on the first night of a Mediterranean cruise on Friday. Most of its 4,000 passengers and crew reached land by lifeboats but some swam ashore.

Three people are known to have died. Police have questioned the captain.

The precise number of those who remain unaccounted for is unclear. Late on Saturday local official Giuseppe Linardi said up to 41 people were missing.

Earlier he had put the figure at 70, adding that some might still be housed in private homes on Giglio - where the survivors first reached land.
Coast guard captain Cosimo Nicastro told Italian TV that divers had carried out an extensive search of the waters near the vessel and found no bodies.

But he added that there still might be some "in the belly of the ship".A large gash can be seen in the hull of the Costa Concordia as it lies on its side.

Italian, German, French and British nationals were among the 3,200 passengers on board. There were also 1,000 crew.

Those who died include two French passengers and a Peruvian crewman.

Some passengers were rescued by lifeboat, helicopters plucked to safety some who were trapped on the ship, and others jumped from the ship into the cold sea.

About 40 people are being treated in hospital.

The captain was being held for questioning, Italian TV reported. Prosecutors were not immediately available for comment.

'Delayed drill'

Passenger Luciano Castro told Ansa news agency: "We heard a loud noise while we were at dinner as if the keel of the ship hit something."

"The ship started taking in water through the hole and began tilting."

Some passengers told the Associated Press news agency that the crew had failed to give instructions on how to evacuate the ship.

An evacuation drill was scheduled for Saturday afternoon.

"It was so unorganised, our evacuation drill was scheduled for 17:00 (16:00 GMT)," Melissa Goduti, 28, from the US told AP. "We had joked what if something had happened today."

Passenger Mara Parmegiani told Italian media there were "scenes of panic".

"We were very scared and freezing because it happened while we were at dinner so everyone was in evening wear.

"We definitely didn't have time to get anything else. They gave us blankets but there weren't enough," she said.

Several passengers compared the accident to the film Titanic, about the sinking of the giant ocean liner in April 1912 which claimed more than 1,500 lives."I can easily understand the comparisons to the film, how it must have been on the Titanic, or in a fiction film," passenger Francesca Sinatra said.
Hypothermia

The Costa Concordia, which is operated by Costa Cruises, had sailed from Civitavecchia near Rome on Friday on a regular weekly

The president of Costa Cruises, Gianni Onorato, said the main task for the company was now to assist passengers and crew, and help repatriate them.

He said it was difficult to determine what had happened, but that the ship had experienced a blackout after hitting "a big rock".

Mr Onorato added: "We will be working in full transparency with Italian authorities" to understand the causes of the disaster.

He said normal lifeboat evacuation had become "almost impossible" because the ship had listed so quickly.

Rescued passengers were initially accommodated in hotels, schools and a church on Giglio.

They have now been moved to the mainland, Elizabeth Nanni from the island's tourist information service told the BBC.

"Usually there are 700 people on the island at this time of year, so receiving 4,000 and some in the middle of the night wasn't easy," she said. "Some people jumped in the sea so they had hypothermia."

Some "tens" of British passengers are believed to have been on board, said the UK Foreign Office, which has sent a team to the area.

 

[neddy]

I will hear from my travel agent soon.
I am supposed to board this cruise from Savona on 7 May.

What is happening in this world?
I had to cancel my trip to Tokyo last year because of earthquake. My colleague flight was cancelled over volcano ashes.

Luckily, I just renewed my Annual multi-trip travel insurance. The insurer did not up my premium due my previous Japan trip claims.

 

[eatshitndie]

I will hear from my travel agent soon.
I am supposed to board this cruise from Savona on 7 May.

What is happening in this world?
I had to cancel my trip to Tokyo last year because of earthquake. My colleague flight was cancelled over volcano ashes.

Luckily, I just renewed my Annual multi-trip travel insurance. The insurer did not up my premium due my previous Japan trip claims.

if you already have booked your flights to italy, despair not. even if the cruise is canceled (and most probably will without a substitute ship), you can spend 7 days in the area around savona without cruising. alternatively, pursue your agent for another cruise with another line. costa will remain under investigation for a whole year, and the entire fleet's ships and crew will be subjected to scrutiny or screwtiny if found to be suspect or unworthy for further duties. if you decide to hang around the savona area, spend time in santa margherita, portofino, cinque terre and the italian riviera. it's not a total loss.

 

[neddy]

if you already have booked your flights to italy, despair not. even if the cruise is canceled (and most probably will without a substitute ship), you can spend 7 days in the area around savona without cruising. alternatively, pursue your agent for another cruise with another line. costa will remain under investigation for a whole year, and the entire fleet's ships and crew will be subjected to scrutiny or screwtiny if found to be suspect or unworthy for further duties. if you decide to hang around the savona area, spend time in santa margherita, portofino, cinque terre and the italian riviera. it's not a total loss.

I am touring independently, so I can also seek out other options.
Maybe spend more days in Milan?

But I wonder what the captain was doing to hit a rock?

 

[eatshitndie]

I am touring independently, so I can also seek out other options.
Maybe spend more days in Milan?

But I wonder what the captain was doing to hit a rock?

milano may most likely be your first stop as you need to land at a major airport. :p 3 days are good enough. make an attempt to tour venezia and spend at least 2 days there. it's a 3-hour drive from milano. another place i'll recommend in the milano area is lake como. 1-hour drive away, and stay at least a half day.