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Costa Concordia Cruise Line

January 14, 2012 by · Comments Off on Costa Concordia Cruise Line 

Costa Concordia Cruise Line, Divers searched the submerged part of a luxury cruise liner that went aground off Italy’s coast in case any of 70 people unaccounted for might be trapped inside, a coast guard official said Saturday, as passengers described a delayed and terrifying evacuation.

Three bodies were recovered from the sea after the Costa Concordia ran aground off the tiny island of Giglio near the coast of Tuscany late Friday, tearing a 160-foot (50-meter) gash in its hull and sending in a rush of water.

One of the victims was a Peruvian crew member, a diplomat from the South American country said, adding that a Peruvian woman was also missing. The ANSA new agency identified the other two fatalities as French passengers, but didn’t cite a source.

Passengers described a scene reminiscent of “Titanic”, saying they escaped the ship by crawling along upended hallways, desperately trying to reach safety as the lights went out and plates and glasses crashed. Helicopters whisked some survivors to safety, others were rescued by private boats in the area, and witnesses said some people jumped from the ship into the dark, cold sea.

The ship was lying virtually flat off Giglio’s coast, its starboard side submerged in the water and the huge gash showing clearly on its upturned hull.

Passengers complained the crew failed to give instructions on how to evacuate and once the emergency became clear, delayed lowering the lifeboats until the ship was listing too heavily for many of them to be released.

Carnival Corp., which owns the cruise line that the ship belongs to, didn’t address the allegations in a statement it issued.

Costa Cruise Lines

January 14, 2012 by · Comments Off on Costa Cruise Lines 

Costa Cruise Lines, The Costa cruise line has a long record of accidents and scandal on its ships. In 2010 its vessels had two collisions. Power failure was blamed when the Costa Classica smashed into a cargo vessel in China’s Yangtze River injuring three people; the other came when the captain tried to dock the Costa Europa at Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt during high winds, killing three crew and injuring four passengers.

Costa Europa passenger Arlene Grant, from Aberdeen, said at the time: “We were coming into port and, as we came around a point of land, the boat hit the jetty, leaving a hole in deck one.

“The captain made an announcement saying there had been an accident but to continue as normal.

“But at 5.30am another announcement was made and we were told to pack our luggage and abandon ship.

“By that time, the boat had listed to one side and things were flying all over the place.

“It was pretty terrifying as it was dark and the ship had been listing. I think this was to keep the hole out of the water.”

An unnamed maritime official blamed that accident on “100 per cent human error”, but Costa Cruises said it was due to bad weather.

In the same year the Costa Atlantica developed steering problems and a crew member was later arrested over possessing and importing child pornography.

In 2009 the cruise line was fined $35,000 for deceptive advertising and the same year saw a near-mutiny on the Costa Europa over engine problems as well as a fire on the Costa Romantica in the generator room which led to 1,429 passengers being evacuated..

In 2008 the Costa Concordia hit the dockside in Palermo in bad weather and the crew of the Costa Atlantica was criticised by the UK Marine Accident Investigation Branch after they almost collided with a car transporter in the Channel.

The waterway has a strict two-way traffic system and they had strayed into oncoming ships, forcing another vessel to do a u-turn at speed in order to avoid a crash. There were 1,697 passengers on board at the time

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