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Its a nice fact question: if there is nothing you can do should you stay on the boat simply because you are the Captain?
I’ve not heard it addressed yet: what was the rest of the command deck crew doing?
Unless he is the only one on the vessel there is never “nothing you can do”. He may be needed in any number of ways, for example, viewing a gash in the hull with the Chief Engineer to determining the vessels survivability and time left to evacuate.
Important detail majority apparently fails to understand about this crash… Impact happened about 1km South from the beaching site.
http://maletic.org/storage/780px-Location_of_Costa_Concordia_cruise-ship_disaster_13-1-2012.png
Important detail majority apparently fails to understand about this crash… Our Captain, Oh Captain had given his life jacket to passengers and while trying to direct them into life boats, he tripped and fell into one of the boats. Man, you just because there is an act of god at sea doesn’t mean that gravity is suspended!
Know what I mean?
http://telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9022170/Costa-Concordia-captain-says-he-tripped-and-fell-into-lifeboat.html
From the article bobbo linked. So the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in command all fell in the same lifeboat… hmmm.
Gravity has more than one meaning here.
“Also with him was Dimitri Christidis, the Greek second in command of the Concordia and Silvia Coronica, the third officer, according to La Repubblica newspaper.”
Holly CRAP!
Doesn’t ANYONE “get it”?!
LOOK AT THE PAPER!
I’m surprised this isn’t the front page of the New York Times.
Just be thankful it wasn’t an ad for that very cruise ship.
As it is, they can be considered a trifle stoopud.
What’s next? Come visit our exciting island of El Hierro in Tennerife and enjoy the snorkeling*?
*) Google it. Its an exploding volcano near the really big one that will probably take out most of the eastern seaboard some day.
Belfast. Titanic. Ohhh. Duy.
Besides the holiday ad, which was obvious. I see their hunting for survivors. Hunting usually ends in the death of an animal, or just an excuse to drink beer and shit in the woods.
LOL – I’ve just PIPA in my SOPA…
Must a captain be the last one off a sinking ship?
http://bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16611371
Its a tradition.
He’s supposed to make sure nobody’s left aboard. (He doesn’t have to go down with it anymore.)
Let’s put it like this. The ship’s captain is given a staggering amount of authority over the passengers and crew and in most cases a real nice salary. In exchange he’s expected to bring both safely to port or he’d better have a very good reason why not.
In this case he clearly was way off course and abandoned ship along with his nearest underlings leaving the passengers and most of the crew to fend for themselves.
Under maritime law this man is in deep do do. At the very least he should have said abandon ship and he didn’t.
“There is also the question of Italian common law. In Italy, a captain who abandons his ship before it sinks, while passengers are still aboard, may faces charges for failing in their duty of care, Mr Phillips says.
Article 1097 of Italy’s Maritime Law says that if the commander does not leave last, he risks two years in jail; if the vessel is lost two to eight years; if the boat is used to carry people, three to 12 years.”
Maps, chronology, video, links. Holy Crap. I did something very similar to this “in my yuthe” and was lucky enough that nothing happened. I tend to focus on the “bad things” that I have experienced, but truth told, I’m a lucky bastard. I’d like to think I know enough not to trust charts when close to land? Like I said: very lucky.
http://telegraph.co.uk/news/interactive-graphics/9018076/Concordia-How-the-disaster-unfolded.html
Transcript of exchange between Coast Guard chief commandant and ship captain :
De Falco: “This is De Falco from Livorno. Am I speaking with the captain?”
Schettino: “Yes. Good evening, Cmdr. De Falco.”
De Falco: “Please tell me your name.”
Schettino: “I’m Capt. Schettino, commander.”
De Falco: “Schettino? Listen, Schettino. There are people trapped on board. Now, you go with your lifeboat under the prow on the starboard side. There’s a rope ladder. You climb that ladder and go aboard. Go aboard and tell me how many people there are. Is that clear? I’m recording this conversation, Capt. Schettino.”
Schettino: “So, I’ll tell you something…”
De Falco: “Speak up!”
Schettino: “So, at this moment, the boat is tipping…”
De Falco: “I got it. Listen, there are people coming down the rope ladder from the prow. You go up that ladder, get on that ship and tell me how many people are still on board and what they have on board. Is that clear? You need to tell me if there are children, women or people in need of assistance. And tell me the exact number of each of these categories. Is that clear? Schettino, you may have saved yourself from the sea, but I’m going to make you pay, I’m going to make your life miserable. Get the (bleep) on board!
Schettino: “I’m here with the rescue boats, I’m here, I haven’t gone anywhere, I’m here.
De Falco: “What are you doing there, captain?”
Schettino: “I am here to coordinate the rescue…”
De Falco: “What are you coordinating there? Go aboard! Coordinate the rescue from aboard the ship. Are you refusing?”
Schettino: “No, no, no, I am not refusing.”
De Falco: “YOU GO ABOARD: That’s an order. Don’t make any more excuses. You declared abandon ship, now I’m in charge. YOU GO ABOARD. Is that clear?”
Schettino: “Commander, I’m going aboard.”
De Falco: “Go, and call me when you are aboard. My air rescue is on the prow. Go. There are already bodies, Schettino.”
Schettino: “How many bodies are there?”
De Falco: “I don’t know! One for sure! I’ve heard of one. You’re the one who has to tell me how many there are. Christ!”
Schettino: “You realize it’s dark and here we can’t see anything…”
De Falco: “And what? You want go home, Schettino? It’s dark and you want to go home? Get on that prow of the boat using the rope ladder and tell me what can be done, how many people there are and what they need. Now!”
Waiting for SNL parody, when enough time has passed so as not to make light of the loss of life. Senseless bravado by that Captain.
On the upside there will be a boatload of new Italian jokes. Pun intended.
Anonymous, Re: “I’m surprised this isn’t the front page of the New York Times”
They did their own:
http://oldsaltblog.com/2012/01/18/coverage-of-the-costa-concordia-tragedy-unfortunate-juxtapositions/
“Infinite Possibilities”
Video:
Cruise disaster: Captain ordered dinner as ship sank
One of the cooks aboard the stricken cruise ship which capsized off the coast of Giglio, Italy says the captain ordered him to make his dinner after the ship had crashed into rocks.
I guess he doesn’t know you’re supposed to wait an hour after eating before going for a swim.
The cook mentions the captain was with a woman they had not seen before.
This is starting to look like the captain was closing in for a score and the sinking ship was getting to be an annoying distraction.
Serendipitous juxtaposition of headline and picture?
I think not!
So while all these ad agency clammer for making targeted advertising on the internet, a common place reality. They can’t control their own print ads and banners, from NOT appearing next to disasters, that might happen to related to their product or service. Maybe they should concentrate on fixing that problem, first. That way, Jay Leno won’t have so much ready made material to joke about.
It’s Italy, remember? Berlusconi is a thug that competes with Charlie Sheen on who does the most hookers in the shortest amount of time. And Italians elected him for Prime Minister THREE TIMES IN A ROW. If anything, they deserve all this and more for their stupidity.
This is why I can’t quit this blog: “…a boatload of Italian jokes.”
aaahhhh, thats a good one.
Saw a report that a year ago another boat from the same company took the same route only it was “authorized” that time. Supposedly, this time the course was “identical” plus/minus the normal to be expected.
Besides all the other stuff, this may well be a chart failure, change in topograpy, bad electronics/software==who knows. Rocks don’t change depth/location but I saw one report saying the ship first hit a sandbar. They move.
Anyhow==if you are in an airplane, the ground is always a worring. Turns out, same thing with a boat. In both cases, a good pilot will stay as far away as possible.
Now–just for grins in a magical world: “from now on” would this captain be a better captain than others having personally learned this lesson -or- has he only demonstrated a fatal flaw that was not observable before? Most f*ckups have a long record of failure to observe. ((Note note wanting to become a kneejerk: just look at Bush or Romney. Really!===all you have to do is look!===Same with all the other candidates except Huntsman and a bunch who aren’t running. Yes===what I’m saying is NOT that all Pukes are bad, Bad, BAD===just the current candidates.
JUST LOOK FER CHRISTS SAKE!!!
When I she this ship and that captain, I can only think of Mitt and our economy.