According to The
Costa Concordia Shipwreck - Summary of Emergency Response
Managementreport by
David Fabi, Dipartimento della Protezione civile -
Ufficio gestione delle emergenze, Ilarione Dell'Anna,
Direttore Marittimo Regione Toscana, Corpo delle Capitanerie
di Porto - Guardia Costiera, Ennio Aquilino,
Comandante Provinciale di Grosseto, Corpo Nazionale dei
Vigili del Fuoco, and Abrizio Curcio, Dipartimento
della Protezione civile, we are told by Franco
Gabrielli, Head of the Department of Civil Protection,
Rome:
"On the night of January 13, 2012, over four
thousand people in life-threatening conditions, were
saved and welcomed by a small community whose emergency
plans did not take into account a partially sunken tilted
vessel almost three hundred meters long, resting on its
coastal sea bed. Relief, although activated immediately,
came after several minutes, if not hours, from the
peninsula: Giglio has proven to be a resilient community,
capable of responding promptly to emergencies. It gave
the necessary support to men, women, children and elderly
who were perturbed and disbelieved what had happened to
them. The population of Giglio has proven to be a
positive example of a consolidated civil protection
system. It is with them in mind that I like to believe
that in Italy the National Service of Civil Protection
can count on sixty million people. Sixty million people,
contribute united and individually, each according to
their recognized skills, they work side by side under one
direction. ...
1. THE
EVENT
At sea off the coast of the Island of Giglio the
Costa Concordia cruise ship hit the
"Scole" rocks and was washed up on the starboard side at
Punta
Gabbianara.
Following the evacuation order issued by the
commander of the ship, the Livorno Harbour
Coast Guard assumed full coordination of
rescue operations at sea which engaged staff of the same
coast Guard Departments as well as the Guardia di
Finanza, the National Fire brigade corps and the Police
Forces. ...
During the first 30 minutes following the
evacuation order 3,000 of the total 4,228 passengers on
board were rescued, this figure which includes crew and
passenger members amounts to four times the resident
population at the island of Giglio. ...
The transfer of passengers lasted until early
afternoon of the day after the ship wreck. ..."
It is a strange description of an
accidental contact with a rock, when
nobody died, and when the ship was still floating,
stable and upright outside the coastline. The reason to move
passengers and crew ashore was that there was no electricity
aboard and no means to feed them. The toilets were also no
longer working.
The report fails to inform that the ship
capsized and sank about three hours after the
contact, which was a surprise for all. The idea was
to tow the floating ship for repairs. It would appear that
the
angle of heel was about 45° at 00.28
hrs (the ship was still
floating), when Schettino had reached the shore
nearby and could witness the sinking from there.
The report fails to inform how and where
the 4 228 persons aboard were accommodated on the
Giglio island, how they were transported to the mainland and
then to their respective homes that lasted until early
afternoon. It is a very strange report about an emergency
response management. The question remains - were there
really 4 228 persons aboard?
"After the grounding,
passengers and crew were taken ashore from the ship by
lifeboats and helicopters or swam to
the island, leaving about 40 people missing. Half of
these were later found inside the ship, most of them
deceased".
Evidently the above is a typical
Wikipedia falsification of events as it is better not
to report anything. Were there also helicopters rescuing
people? Was there a grounding?
"Costa complies very strictly with all
safety regulations and our personnel are committed, first
and foremost, to guest safety and
security.
All crew members hold a BST (Basic Safety Training)
certificate and are trained and prepared to emergency
management and to assist passengers abandoning the ship
with numerous drills. Roles, responsibilities and duties
are clearly assigned to all crew members. Every two weeks
all crewmembers perform a ship evacuation simulation. A
lifeboat and evacuation drill for all guests is conducted
within 24 hours of embarking, as required by law. Costa
has a computerised system which ensures all passengers
undergo this drill.
The skills of Costa crew are periodically tested by
Coastguard authorities and an independent classification
organization as per SMS (Safety Management Systems)
requirements."
However it seems no evacuation drills
were ever done aboard and most passengers and crew had no
idea how to abandon the ship via the muster stations.
There were only two (sic) muster stations for the
passengers and it was ... say 23 too few!
Furthermore, it appears that there was
not sufficient trained crew aboard to launch all lifeboats -
three (out of 26) for 400 persons were not launched - and
the life rafts - 60 (! of 69) for >1 000 persons - were
not used at all.
The evacuation was therefore chaotic,
unorganized and incomplete and not as per any
International Safety Management, ISM,
procedures.
There are no voice, VDR, recordings
available from the bridge/emergency control center to verify
anything reported later about the evacuation of the
ship.
Under such conditions 3 200+
paying cruise passengers and 1 000+, mostly
Asian, some South American and East European crew
members were evacuated (alive - thanks to
Schettino) from M/S Costa Concordia on the
cold night January 13 and early morning January 14.
One
description is:
"... the mayor of Giglio,
priviledged witness of the event, was following
the developments from the Giglio port area. He
was in contact with the Italian Coast Guards
officials that are stationed on the Island thus
information was being supplied as required.
Being vested in the legal responsibility to
manage the response to civil protection events
on land, and witnessing a steady flow of
survivors arriving at Giglio port, that
constituted the obvious “Closest Place of
Safety” (the place where the rescue
operations are considered terminated, where
initial medical care can be given, and that can
provide temporary shelter and food and from
where survivors can move on to reach their final
destination), the mayor, in his role, decided to
act. He deployed his deputy to the
ship to coordinate the evacuation and
started addressing issues appertaining to
reception of survivors in a place of safety.
In the first 30 minutes about 3 000
survivors were successfully evacuated from the
ship and delivered to Giglio port, mostly by the
ship’s lifeboats on their own power or in
tow. About 100 persons swam the short distance
to shore on the rocks and subsequently had to be
moved once again from the rocks to the port.
About 50 injured persons were evacuated by the
helicopters directly to Grosseto
hospital."
Only about 300 people were left on the cheap, low cost
cruise ship and 32, unfortunately, died or drowned, when the
ship sank after having capsized. All the
living 4 200+ persons wearing orange
(passengers) or yellow (crew) lifejackets thus arrived in
lifeboats and assisting crafts to the little Giglio Porto
harbor of the Giglia island between 00.00 and
03.00 hrs. A small number of passengers were flown
by helicopter to Grosseto. Very good. I assume they had no
luggage and no money, keys, IDs, credit cards, etc. All
personal belongings were left on the ship in safes and
cupboards. On below photo we see some of them with
lifejackets lined up for a chilly night photo session at
Porto Giglio:
According available information
Costa Cruises then, early morning January
14, at 02.00 and 03.00 hrs, quickly
arranged that most of the 4 200+ shipwrecked
survivors, some stayed in the little church or two
hotels at the port, were transferred by bus (!) to
Giglio Castello, the main village 5.7 kms
and 8 minutes away (if your drive at 43 kms/h) from
Giglio Porto high up on the island! Dr.
Giuseppe Linardi, local prefect and head of
Vigili del Fuoco (Italian Civil Protection
Agency) in the area has informed that they found
3 000 beds (sic)
in less than three hours on the island for the
surviviors.
Why at least 3 150
surviviors didn't stay in the warm, well
protected and outfitted lifeboats for a few extra
hours but ran to the chilly church ashore is not
clear. It would evidently have been better to keep
the survivors in the warm lifeboats for the night
than having them run around in the cold winter
weather in the port.
Even better would have been that
the lifeboats went straight to Porto Santo
Stefano on the mainland close by, where all
survivors would easily be taken care of. It would
only have taken some hours.
Costa
passengers leaving Isola del Giglio on morning
January 14 - still wearing
lifejackets!
It is not clear how many buses were used or where the 4 200+
survivors actually stayed, slept, washed, showered and got a
breakfast, at Giglio Castello, because in the
morning, after breakfast, at 08.00-10.00 hrs
they were all brought back, by the same buses again, to
Giglio Porto and shipped off, by ferry, to Porto
Santo Stefano on the mainland.
Most survivors still carried the
lifejackets they had taken on prior evacuation fromCosta Concordia 16 hrs earlier!
There are two ferry lines between
Giglio Porto and Porto Santo Stefano and they
will (?) assure that they transported 4 200+ survivors
on January 14. Very good. One
description is:
"The community on Giglio was
mobilised to address the very demanding
situation. Temporary accommodation was provided
in public buildings and even in church and
private residences. Shops, bars and hotels were
opened. It was quickly realised that quick
transfer to the mainland was necessary and hence
the local ferries were brought into operation.
As early as 03.50 hrs, the
ferries started transferring the survivors to
Santo Stefano port on the mainland where much
more robust infrastructure could deal with the
very large number of survivors and their special
needs. ...
Without any proper structures for
emergency response on the island to take in
charge so many evacuees, the mayor reacted by
concentrating his efforts on the support to the
evacuation of the
passengers and by organizing their reception on
the port kays without enough hosting
capacities.
The transfer to the continent was decided
immediately and proceeded by requesting regular
ferries to perform extra journeys to reach the
main land. Public transports were organised also
on the island to drive evacuees to Giglio
Castello, some (six) kilometers away. The
setting of a registration procedure of the
evacuees was of paramount importance. Taken in
charge by ITCG and local police, handwritten, it
was coordinated with the receiving authorities
on the main land (port, hospitals and
helistations)."
At Porto Santo Stefano the 4 200+ survivors, without
luggage, clothes, money, keys, IDs, passports, credit cards,
etc, but with lifejackets on were at 11.00-15.00 hrs
ticked off by Costa Cruises staff on
passenger and crew lists (of people aboard) and then allowed
to board a great number of rented buses to Rome airport to
be flown home or to Rome railway station to be transported
home ... without luggage, clothes, money, keys, IDs,
passports, credit cards, etc. Costa Cruises arranged,
assisted by some consulates, air or bus/train travel for 4
200+ persons Rome to home ... without luggage, clothes,
money, keys, IDs, passports, credit cards, etc. within
12 hrs. Very good. I am very impressed. Only 32
persons were missing. And 4 200+ lifejackets were collected
by the Costa staff to be re-cycled on another Costa cruise
ship!
Actually there are no records by the
Italian Department
of Civil Protection (DPC)
what really happened at Porto Santo Stefano and how
passengers, hotel staff and ship crew were sent home. Nobody
seems to have been interviewed by the police, etc, etc. to
record what really happened. About 900 foreign, poor
crew/staff members of the ship just disappeared never to be
heard of again! Noone except myself wonders what really
happened.
In the evening January 14, 2012,
according Costa Cruises all 4 200+ survivors were
therefore happily on their way home ... without lifejackets,
luggage, clothes, money, keys, IDs, credit cards, etc. Only
32 persons were sadly missing. Some passengers/staff
evidently ended up at various hospitals to recover for a
couple of days but that was all!
During all this amazing events
Schettino was arrested, hand cuffed and put in a cell
on the mainland.
The Costa Cruises liability
(P&I) insurance companies, or clubs, The Standard
Club and The Steamship Mutual Club must be very
happy with such a passenger ship client like Costa
Cruises. After the biggest ship disaster in the 21st
century 99% of the 4 200+ passengers and crew involved
were safely home within 48 hrs. And the
passengers will maybe get little more indemnity for mental
losses suffered. The Costa Concordia was part entered
in The Steamship Mutual Club, on a 50/50 quota share
with The Standard Club, and liability claims will
first be covered by Costa Cruises' $10m deductible
then both clubs will pay $4m each before claims are then
taken to the International Group (IG) pool of $60m and on to
reinsurers.
And who pays for all this in the end? The
answer is clear. Future
passengers:
For the 2013/14 policy year, passenger
vessels will have to pay US$3.1493 per gt, an increase of
125.08% year-on-year, and the highest percentage increase
across all shipping sectors. ...
In a circular to members, Steamship Mutual, one of
the 13 members of IG, stated that as a result of very
significant major casualties, including Costa
Concordia, upward adjustment has been made to
the rates with a much increased allocation to passenger
vessels. These increases represent the largest in recent
years despite increased risk retention by the Group
Clubs.
Steamship Mutual noted the 2011/12 policy year
'produced the first and third largest ever claims on the
IG reinsurance programme resulting in a very significant
exposure to the Group's reinsurers.' It said the exposure
together with increased cost of major
casualties (read Costa
Concordia), and in particular
wreck removal (read Costa
Concordia), 'has led the
Group's reinsurers to seek significant rises in the
renewal premium for the 2013/14 policy year.'
Apart from insurance cost increases it is
very strange that no newspapers and TV stations in the world
did report the 4 200+ lucky endings (or ...
how many were they actually?) of the Costa Concordia
incidents due to good safety at sea (they all borrowed a
lifejacket!) but only accuse the lonely, poor Master (and
none of his officers and crew ... or the helmsman?) of
manslaughter, wining and dining, entertaining young blondes,
etc, causing the death of 32 persons.
Schettino, after having been
active in the most central position from 21.35 hrs on 13
January 2012, ending up with the supporting and coordination
work of the ship's 20 lifeboats in the rescue operation
including a capsize for about 6-7 hours, was immediately
arrested and handcuffed as a criminal person, and put in
jail in Grosseto for three days. He was totally denied any
kind of psychological counselling or any kind of physical
help or support, but only offered pills for his headaches.
This was a grave violation of EU Health Care Regulations,
IMO's Maritime Labor Code, and probably also the Italian
Police Regulations.
The ISM Code states:
"The company should ensure that the Master is
given the necessary support so that the Master's duties
can be satisfactorily performed"
The ISM
Code, Resources and personnel, chapter 6.3.1
At the time Schettino was
arrested, the company, i.e. the ship owner acted quite the
contrary. The company was fully aware that Schettino
was facing a very demanding period of clarifying and
reporting the events of the accident, which required that he
should be kept in good health and condition. In addition to
the human respect of Schettino as a private citizen
of the Italian society should have been
respected.
It is well known that disasters and
catastrophic crises strongly affect human behavior:
"People undergoing a crisis or dealing with
the aftermath of a disaster are normally,
well-functioning people who are struggling with the
disruption and loss caused by the disaster. They do not
see themselves as needing mental health services and are
unlikely to request them." Because of this, it is
important that those treating individuals undergoing a
crisis learn to recognize the common reactions to a
traumatic event. Reactions can include changes in
behavior, physical well-being, psychological health,
thinking patterns, and social interactions. The following
signs, symptoms, and reactions are common psychological
responses to a crisis or traumatic event: disbelief,
emotional numbing, nightmares and other sleep
disturbances, anger, moodiness, and irritability and
forgetfulness."
I have a feeling many of the statements
of Schettino made after the incidents and reported by
media were done, when he was in shock.
I am incredulous at the disgraceful
and unfounded assertions made about the Master of Costa
Concordia without any form of verification. It seems media
don't know how to report ... the Truth!
