Costa Concordia Disaster: Search Of Capsized Cruise Ship Suspended

GIGLIO, Italy, Jan 18 (Reuters) - Italian divers suspended their search of the capsized cruise liner Costa Concordia after the vessel shifted slightly on its resting place near the Tuscan island of Giglio, officials said on Wednesday.

Fire services spokesman Luca Cari said the search was suspended at about 8.00 a.m (0700 GMT) after a shift of a few centimetres, posing a potential threat to diving teams operating in the submerged spaces of the ship.

There was no word on when work might resume.

Comments

[masterkcb1]

08:46 AM on 01/19/2012

The captain was probably texting !

[jabailo]

07:50 AM on 01/19/2012

I was looking at the route for a "normal" sailing of this ship compared to the route he took...it's even more insane! The route that they normally take hugs the coastline incredibly close. He was way further out but nearer the island.

The whole concept was an accident waiting to happen...if not on his watch, then eventually, whether on the "normal" route or not!

[Lisa Tomlin]

05:30 AM on 01/19/2012

Sadly I am thinking that they are not doing a search and rescue but a retrieving of bodies. I fear no one else is alive on that boat.

[rjackson2a]

07:20 AM on 01/19/2012

A lot of air pockets on a ship that had a large supply of food and bottled water. Although every hour makes the chances more unlikely, there coud still be survivors inside.

[docsong]

01:31 AM on 01/19/2012

I know how this feels, Last year my home was my houseboat, one mourning at 3AM I woke up to a loud sound, what I seen I will never forget, water was coming over the side, it was coming so fast that it took less then a min. and my boat was on the bottom of the river. I spent the next 2 weeks diving into the wreck trying to salvage what I could, My son and I lost everything we had. when I see the images of the divers in this cruse ship It brings me back to that mourning, The only good thing that I have to say is, that night my son spent the night with his friend, his cabin was completely submerged , and after the boat settled on the bottom there was about 10 inches of air sapce above the water in the main cabin, Mydog found his way to that airlock and was saved.....I pray for the lost souls on that ship and send my sincere thoughts to there loved ones....Rev.Dr.Daniel Rasberger

[blackwind]

03:05 AM on 01/19/2012

Wow!

[holyghostie]

10:40 PM on 01/18/2012

The entire officer corp of this ship should be handed over to Somali Pirates.

[rjackson2a]

07:01 AM on 01/19/2012

Really? And why is that? Do you really think the ships medical officer had anything to do with the accident? How about the chief enginer? Then there is the officer in charge of food services? Did you know that even the head bartender on a cruise ship is an officer as well as the person in charge of laundry?

[holyghostie]

12:50 PM on 01/19/2012

Okay...so every member of the CREW that pushed past ladies and children and boarded life boats with passengers still onboard. Every bartender and waiter who told evacuating passengers in the dining room to sit down and relax and have a drink....because the ship hitting a rock and tilting and power going out just "happens" some time as reported by several Americans from Long Island.

[Ed Forney]

07:51 PM on 01/18/2012

Search suspended because it shifted a couple of centimeters??? WTH, the thing is setting on solid rock. Sounds like they need a few dozen of our Navy Seals to search for survivors !

[foodle]

08:30 PM on 01/18/2012

Navy SEALs are not trained for cave/wreck diving. It is extremely specialized and dangerous. Given that there are probably no survivors, the safety of the SAR divers needs to be paramount. The last thin you want in a rescue effort if more people to rescue.

[Ed Forney]

09:24 PM on 01/18/2012

How dangerous can it be, to scuba thru hallways looking for survivors in a ship setting on the bottom? I think our Seals would probobly call that a piece of cake

[keep it solid]

12:44 AM on 01/19/2012

As note by a poster in another thread,
"The ship is sitting on a narrow shoal not much wider than the ship's side. Beyond that, the bottom is 300-ft deep".
Even though it is near the shore it is far from being a "piece of cake".

[robdav265]

07:33 PM on 01/18/2012

Anyone know what the water temps are over there

[foodle]

08:33 PM on 01/18/2012

60-70F

[honeyspcg]

06:57 PM on 01/18/2012

It has been stated that the reason this captain took an unprecedented route was so people could be saluted by those on shore when it passed by. If this is true, he took a calculated risk that caused deaths.

[morekare]

05:15 PM on 01/18/2012

25 PEOPLE ARE MISSING AND POSSIBLY STILL ALIVE! The owners of this cruise ship should be made to pay to have this ship stabilized and searched from top to bottom immediately! The owners are at least billionaires and they can afford to hire the best life-saving teams to explore this sinking ship. I sure hope the families of the missing people will put the pressure on the owners to save/find their missing loved ones as soon as possible. It appears that the owners DON'T CARE ABOUT THE LIVES OF THE PEOPLE WHO PAID FOR THE CRUISE. ISN'T THIS MANSLAUGHTER?

[dheybulldog]

07:56 PM on 01/18/2012

Agreed, stabilize and resume..Your quote "immediately..!

[foodle]

08:35 PM on 01/18/2012

1) The people are unfortunately probably dead.
2) The rescuers are doing the right thing in trying to search when it is safe.
3) The act of "stabilizing" the wreck would involve even more movement and stress on the ship, jeopardizing any potential (and very lucky) survivors even more.

[rsstone74]

09:57 PM on 01/18/2012

If the ship had some distance to shift downward, stabilization would be a huge concern. If it is on the sea floor with obstructing rocks, it isn't going to shift so much that searchers equipped with scuba gear couldn't handle it. Sorry, but I agree, The search should resume ASAP. You could have people in upper floors stuck in bathrooms. Would you rather they die of dehydration?

[poorboots]

05:14 PM on 01/18/2012

Suspended? He should be shot.

[muscle guy]

07:22 PM on 01/18/2012

oh yessssss

[wbearl]

04:47 PM on 01/18/2012

Having spent several years in the Navy I can tell you that a life boat drill once a week is almost useless. For all practical purposes, cruse ships are floating disasters waiting for a place to happen. Before any Navy Ship leaves port, the crew is drilled as to what to do in every imaginable disaster. They then leave port and go to sea and continue drilling. They drill till they are so sick of it they can't stand it. They then are tested by senior enlisted and officers on their performance. Then they can deploy over seas. I have survived one ship board fire and helped fight a fire on another ship, it was drills that were well worth it. This is not practical for a cruise ship because they rotate their people way too much and passengers didn't pay good money to practice fighting fires or abandoning ship. I can honestly say I would love to go on a nice long cruise, but I can also say that I would spend time knowing where hatches were, life boats were, life rafts were and life jackets. I would always know where I was in relation to all of the above. Most people don't bother.

[everything news]

05:35 PM on 01/18/2012

Is it possible that all those explosions they purposely conducted made the ship shift?

[foodle]

07:40 PM on 01/18/2012

Highly unlikely. They were using very small charges and the ship is absolutely massive.

[muscle guy]

07:22 PM on 01/18/2012

well said........

[Lymon]

04:39 PM on 01/18/2012

"...the search was suspended at about 8.00 a.m after a shift of a few centimetres..." Seriously, just a few cm? 1 inch = 2.54 cm It appears it shifted more than that.

[Highly Opinionated]

03:49 PM on 01/18/2012

I have lived in Europe, the same people who talk trash about us will be asking: "The Americans, where are the Americans to help us with the rescue? "

[foodle]

07:40 PM on 01/18/2012

Um, it's actually the Dutch who are coming to help, so ...

[Highly Opinionated]

09:48 AM on 01/19/2012

I did not say the Americans ARE helping but all of Europe whines for the same "Mommy" they love to trash when the going gets rough.

[corkey Dickey]

03:25 PM on 01/18/2012

The early morning news was saying when the power went out it made the doors to the cabins lock so they couldn't get them open. And the way the ship is laying your door would be above your head. So folks were trapped in their rooms. I have cruised several times and only incountered high winds off of Victoria Island and the ship tilted to one side and that was scarey enough. I wouldn't go to my cabin stayed on deck the whole time. God bless those that were lost, hopefully they will get some more help soon to recover or save any others.

[rjackson2a]

07:10 AM on 01/19/2012

Without power, the cabin doors would not be able to unlock from the outside. It would not effect your ability to open it from the inside though.

[REALLYOLDGUY]

03:07 PM on 01/18/2012

EH!!! Whattayou gonna do? The only smart the captain did was turn the ship back and try to beach it so that is could be salvaged. Had he brought is ashore on a level beach it could be saved, but the rocky point was the wrong place.
Had the captain of the Andrea Doris done the same in 1956, that beautiful ship could have been saved. Sad.

[Seacaptain]

04:09 PM on 01/18/2012

Your theory about attempting to beach the Costa Concordia to avert capsizing or sinking is a valid point, but the comparison to the Andrea Doria sinking is flawed. The bridge crew of the doria did, in fact, attempt to get the vesel underway after she and the Stockholm drifted apart for an emergency run to shallow water, but the depth of penetration of the ice-reinforced bow of the Stockholm destroyed the Doria's hydrodynamics. The ship's response to application of power from the turbine was a vessel-wide shudder and vibration, and what little (if any) headway they made only only worsened the flooding and list. Captain Calamai knew his vessel was doomed, but at least had the seamanship to attempt to beach her - upright - in shallow water. I wonder if the Costa Concordia captain's motivation to try and "turn her in" wasn't that he did not wish to get his Gucci loafers wet as he fled the vessel.