Costa Concordia
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Taylor Eskew, Staff Writer
January 26, 2012
Filed under World
On Friday January 13, 2012, the Costa Concordia, a 950 ft. Italian cruise liner transporting 4,200 passengers and crew members, sank along the coast of Tuscany. A common question everyone seems to have is, why the ship was so close to the island of Giglio Porto, that it could run arground after hitting one of the large rocks near the island. Reports suggest Costa Cruises -the company that owned Costa Concordia – ordered Captain Francesco Schettino, to go near Giglio Porto to allow the islanders a view of the “city on the sea”. The cruise was originally to sail through the Mediterranean from the Italian ports of Civitaveechia to Savona, Cagliaria to Palermo, and finally to Barcelona and Mallorca in Spain; all of which were out of reach of Giglio Porto and its numerous oversized rocks. Moments after jaunting near the island, Captain Schettino was unable to maneuver the ship in enough time to avoid tearing a 160ft gash in the ship, and running aground; ultimately causing the ship to roll onto its side, and rapidly fill with water. After looking for Captain Schettino and crew members for direction and unsuccesfully locating him, passengers immediately began to panic and escape the ship by any means necessary. After the first wave of passengers made it safely to the island, many noticed Captain Schettino on the island rapidly talking into a cell phone. Schettino was reportedly speaking with the Italian Coast Guard explaining the situation, who then ordered Schettino to return to his ship and assist. Schettino refused to return to the ship, ignoring the scrutiny and law agaisnt abandoning one’s ship. Twenty passemgers and crew members were injured in the wake of the ship’s sinking, and as of January 24, sixteen passengers are unaccounted for, and sixteen have been found dead. Captain Schettino is now awaiting trial for abandoning ship and manslaughter.