Many passengers reported they had no idea the ship was sinking or that the order had been given to abandon ship. Some experienced cruisers say the required safety drill had not taken place before the accident. However, the ship had only left port two hours prior.
Some passengers noted the seven long blasts of the ship's horn was the first indication they had to flee the ship. New cruisers such as the Korean couple found 24 hours after the ship wrecked, would not know what the horn blasts meant.
However, the announcement may have been made numerous times. Other passengers report screaming, shouting, pushing and shoving, stealing life jackets from other passengers and complaining that women and children were being placed in lifeboats first, husbands not allowed to accompany their wife and kids. With all the excessive noise on the ship, some say they heard something being said in announcements, but couldn't tell what was being said.
Thousands of passengers were evacuated to Giglio, 18 miles off Italy's mainland, in darkness. The tiny island of fifteen hundred inhabitants opened the little village to the survivors of the cruise ship grounding, feeding, housing and providing warmth to those who found themselves on Giglio's shores. All public buildings were opened and functioned as staging areas while survivors awaited for transportation to the mainland. Many of Giglio's residents owned boats, participating in rescue operations as well.
Giglio's Mayor Sergio Ortelli made this statement, "A tragedy of apocalyptic dimensions that occurred in front of our island and we have tested to deeply mark. The first thought goes to the victims of this senseless tragedy. " So the mayor of Isola del Giglio Sergio Ortelli intervenes in the night that the incident involved the cruise ship Costa Concordia, which ran aground outside the port of Giglio. "An unexpected and unforeseeable that interested us and that found in unfortunately, a strong response and solidarity of all Gigliesi thank you and that you have worked through the night, without a moment's rest, to administer first aid. have been made available to the rescue ferries, private boats have been open houses, schools, municipal buildings, churches and blankets for the first reception. And so the more than 4 thousand passengers have been able to find a shelter to spend the first night. thanks goes to all the volunteers and police alerted the Civil Defence, institutions and citizens who have watched a spontaneous and commendable to give their support to those affected by tragedy. . . . "
Right: Giglio, Italy In the photographs on Page 1 of this case, Concordia can be seen resting near the rocks. Rescuers say the coast line has a steep slope there and allege the cruise ship is actually resting on a ledge, possibly sliding off the ledge at any moment with a 70-meter drop, making rescue ever more hurried. With no power aboard the cruise ship, rescue operations during the night have been halted.
Cruise Ship Sinks
Costa Cruises - Costa Concordia
Off The Coast Of Italy - January 13, 2012
Gregorio De Falco of the Italian Coast Guard orders Shettino back to the ship while Schettino sips coffee at the taxi driver's home. Falco says that he is in charge now, ordering Shettino back to his ship. Schettino pleads not to go back, say's he's not going back.
Falco begins screaming at Schettino telling him that he needs information in order to know how to respond to the scene. He demands to know, how many people are aboard, women, children, dead, injured and wants to know the numbers of each category. You don't have to speak Italian to understand the anger Falco is feeling in the video below.
In the navigation chart below, you can see there is a very narrow traffic channel between Giglio and the mainland for ships with a deep draught. The course and obstacles are clear.
Yet, Shettino, swings out the traffic lane and heads for very shallow water. The draught on Costa Concordia is 8.2 meters or about 26.9 feet. The water depth where he grounded at Le Scole Reef was running 30-40 feet.
The black boxs have been recovered from Concordia and will be used to determine what exactly happened, as the investigation into the tragedy continues.
The black box will provide live conversation on the bridge and possibly confirm that the captain was showing off when he came in close to the island to blow the horn and do a bow, as is the custom of ships passing the island.
The list of the dead will be found here when the names are known. At this point only the name of one person dead is known.
