Capitano Schettino may have saved the day by returning to Isola di Giogli

[Octafish]

He may be a coward who quit the moment his ship started to list, but the guy seems to have done the right thing after the ship struck a reef. Whether by accident or design, the vessel turned around and headed back toward the island.



This is evident because the bow is pointed toward the southwest on the eastern shore of Isola di Giogli. If he'd gotten stuck after the initial grounding, the ship would have been heading northeast. That tells us the ship made something near a 180-degree turn from its original course and headed for Isola di Giogli.



Reports are an hour passed between the original accident and the time the order to abandon ship was given. Going by the location of the hole and initial reports, the engine rooms were almost immediately flooded, giving the ship a noticeable list. So, by returning to the island instead of continuing toward open water, whether by accident or design, the ship struck bottom a second time in shallower water, giving it extra time to evacuate before capsizing.



Imagine what would have happened if the Costa Concordia had continued on course and sunk in deep water or the open ocean? Thousands more might have perished, including the captain who probably wouldn't have had time to trip into a nearby lifeboat.



Now, I'm not defending the guy. So far, his wife has done an admirable job of defending the guy. Now when Ms. Schettino asks him about his friend on the bridge, that's a different story.

[lapislzi]

1. Captain "tripped and fell" into lifeboat?

Hardee har har!



http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/18/costa-concordia-captain-tripped-lifeboat?intcmp=239

I guess that his dick “accidentally fell” into the 25-yr-old blonde woman who was drinking with him on the bridge when the accident occurred.

[jakeXT]

3. So he finally admits it

"I made a mistake on the approach," he said.
"I was navigating by sight because I knew the depths well and I had done this manoeuvre three or four times. But this time I ordered the turn too late and I ended up in water that was too shallow. I don't know why it happened. I was a victim of my instincts."
Schettino confirmed he sailed close to the island of Giglio to salute a retired captain, Mario Palombo, and was on the phone to Palombo at the time.

[Octafish]

7. That will be a line that will live in infamy.

Almost as good as the takeaway line: "Vada a bordo, cazzo!"

Please forgive me, lapislzi: I'm in the middle of a crisis, myself, at the moment, otherwise I'd find the link to the Italian newspaper story which detailed the captain's privileged life and how he has now overshadowed Berlusconi as the most hated fiend in the country. Later, when I remove this rolling pin from my forehead, I'll think of where it is...

[muriel_volestrangler]

2. Or off-duty Captina Bosio, who seems to have given the order to abandon ship

An off duty captain, Roberto Bosio, happened to be on board the Costa Concordia when it ran aground and swung into action, helping dozens of women and children into lifeboats. He has been called a hero in the Italian press, but rejects the moniker. "Don't call me a hero. I just did my duty, the duty of a sea captain," he said. Captain Bosio met Alexander Hamilton's charge. Captain Schettino failed to do so in every imaginable way.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/18/opinion/loy-costa-captain/?hpt=hp_t3

Another hero to emerge is Captain Roberto Bosio, who was off duty on the Concordia and gave the order to abandon ship after Schettino delayed for 45 minutes. He said: “Only a disgraceful man would have left all those people on board.”

http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/i-fell-into-lifeboat-says-captain-1.1215804

[jakeXT]

4. Did he hear the coded message for a leak?

But a coded series of beeps was sounded to let crew know that there was a leak on board.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2087777/Costa-Concordia-rescue-British-dancer-James-Thomas-19-acted-human-ladder.html

[Octafish]

8. So there was a real Captain on board!

It coulda been a lot worse, without Capt. Bosio and...

THE HEROES OF THE CONCORDIA

EXCERPT...

A sad fate awaited Tomás Alberto Costilla Mendoza, a 50 year old Peruvian cleaning supervisor. As he tried to help a group of passengers get into a lifeboat, he fell into the cold waters off the island of Giglio and died from hypothermia.

Michele Ghiani, 21, a children's entertainer, managed, with the help of other colleagues, to safely return to their families 23 children who were watching a kids show at the 10th floor.

Sandor Feher, a 38-year-old Hungarian violinist who was working as a musician on the ship, helped several children put on lifejackets before returning to his cabin to retrieve his violin.

SNIP...

While everybody was trying to escape the stranded Concordia, Mario Pellegrini, the deputy mayor of Giglio, boarded the ship climbing ladders that had been lowered.

He remained there for more than six hours, helping frightened passengers to safety.

CONTINUED...

Thank you, muriel_volestrangler for the heads-up. There is a lot more to this story.

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. More on Pellegrini, and the absence of the senior crew:

I took the first tender that arrived at the port with the first evacuated passengers. I took this tender all by myself and went on board. I went up and I started looking for an officer.

After 20 minutes I couldn't find anybody. I even went on the higher bridges of the ship and even then I couldn't see anybody.
...
The doctor also helped me; he was very good and courageous. Then, on the bridge, I came across the only officer I could find. He was young, a second-class officer.
...
We were together shoulder to shoulder until 05:30 in the morning. I have to say this young officer was wonderful.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16638399

[malaise]

10. Thanks for this n/t

[GeorgeGist]

5. Oh horseshit.

[Octafish]

9. I don't know. The story's been in the news the last few days and I thought I'd bring up that side.

I do not know if it was Capt. Schettino who decided the ship turn around and head back toward the island, but it's a good thing, IMFO, that the ship did. My point is that the ship's passengers and crew were fortunate that the vessel wasn't in deeper water when it capsized.



The hole in the ship's side flooded the engine rooms so fast, it's lucky the crew managed to get the thing turned around and headed back toward the island.

Perhaps in making his fly-by of the island, he brought the ship around too late avoid the reef. Whatever the reason the aft was holed, the guy had a reputation for being a daredevil with his 110,000 ton toy:

Costa Concordia: Captain drove ship 'like it was a Ferrari', says former skipper

[LanternWaste]

6. Is it not standard sailing practice rather than Captain's judgement...

Is it not standard ship practice rather than Captain's judgement to turn the ship to the nearest port after a critical accident?