Transportation and Legal News

The facts surrounding the horrific crash of an Italian cruise ship, which has left 11 known dead and another 21 missing, become more and more bizarre by the day. I’m sure that’s a source of anger,  not solace, for the families of the dead and unaccounted for.

First, there were the transcripts of the captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino, cowardly refusing to get back on the ship, despite orders to do so by an Italian coast guard officer. 

From the safety of a lifeboat, Schettino played dumb and delivered non sequiturs when asked why he wasn’t aboard helping his passengers — who included women and children — evacuate. One of the captain’s explanation? It was too dark to go back on the sinking ship.

His excuses were so ridiculous that in a stroke of genuis, the New York Post dubbed him “Chicken of the Sea” in its Page One headline. 

Next, Schettino claimed he tripped and fell off the ship into a lifeboat. What? 

And in the latest turn in the story, Schettino was seen dining with a young blonde, 25-year-old Domnica Cemortan, right before the ship hit a reef and capsized last Friday. She was apparently onboard illegally.   

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/01/19/captain-in-cruise-ship-disaster-says-fell-out-ship-during-evacuation/

The 32 people who are either dead or missing include a retired couple from White Bear Lake, Minn. Jerry and Barbara Heil, devout Catholics, haven’t been found yet. They went on the trip as their reward for putting their four kids through college.

Schettino faces charges, including manslaughter, for the accident.

On Thursday Carnival Corp, the parent of the Italian company that owns the Costa Concordia, announced that it was going to perform a review of its emergency-response procedures throughout all 10 of its cruise lines, according to AP.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/nation/10112609-418/after-italian-cruise-accident-carnival-corp-wants-safety-review.html?print=true

That review, which Carnival CEO Micky Arison said is meant to avoid future accidents, will be spearheaded by the company’s senior vice president of Maritime Policy & Compliance. He is retired Navy Capt. James Hunn.

In its press release the company also said that would cooperate with a evaluation of safety regulations by the International Maritime Organization.

The captain of a luxury Italian cruise ship is being blamed for the accident that capsized the boat, killing at least five passengers, hurting more than 60 others, and leaving more than a  dozen still missing.

Francesco Schettino has been arrested on charges of manslaughter and abandoning ship before his vessel, the Costa Concordia, was evacuated Friday night, and Sunday his employer pointed the finger at him, as well. Costa Crociere put out a statement saying that Schettino had made “serious errors of judgment,” by taking the cruise ship too near shore, according to Reuters. The boat hit a large rock, which tore a hole in its side.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/16/us-italy-ship-idUSTRE80D08220120116

Many media reports have compared the tragic accident to the sinking of the Titanic  a century ago. Passengers on the Italian ship were eating dinner when it struck the rock, setting off a not very pleasant scene of panic off the west coast of Italy. Evacuation protocols weren’t used. Passengers accused the crew of hogging the lifeboats. There were fights over life preservers. 

In some good news, a member of the crew and a honeymooning South Korean couple were rescued Sunday, Reuters reported. But the bodies of two older men, in life jackets, were also discovered.

And worse of all, 11 passengers and six crew members remain missing, according to Reuters.

The ship, which has more than 4,200 passengers — including 126 Americans — remained partially submerged and lying on its side in the port of Giglio, off the coast of Tuscany.