Every reason why the Costa Concordia failed: stars, Francesco Schettino, a curse and more
THE Costa Concordia ran aground off the coast of Tuscany. Why did at least six people die (29 are missing)? The media wonders:
The Sail By
The captain of the vessel faces multiple manslaughter charges for what his own employers called an “inexplicable” decision to sail the 950ft ship close by the island of Giglio to salute former seamen…
Prosecutors believe the captain may have deliberately ordered the 1,500-cabin liner to sail close to the island of Giglio to sound a three-horn salute in what locals call an “inchino,” or reverent bow, to the inhabitants. Its decks illuminated, the Costa Concordia has previously sailed close to the picturesque island and sounded its foghorn in tribute.
The “showboating” was meant to be a treat for the passengers on the first night of their cruise, and a treat for the islanders too. – The Times
The Message
Patrizia Tievoli, sister to Antonellio,who ran the ship’s eateries, posted a message on Facebook minutes before the accident:
“In a short period of time the Concordia ship will pass very close. A big greeting to my brother who finally get to have a holiday on landing in Savona.”
The Suprising Rocks
Captain Francesco Schettino said the rocks were not marked on maps and were not detected by navigation systems. – BBC
Captain Schettino has insisted he was twice as far out – around 300 yards – as some claim and that the ship ran aground because the rocks below were not marked on his nautical charts. He did concede he had been maneuvering the ship in “touristic navigation”, implying it was designed to entertain the passengers.
He told Italian TV: “We were navigating approximately 300 meters (yards) from the rocks. There shouldn’t have been such a rock. On the nautical chart it indicated that there was water deep below.”
The captain added: “I don’t know if it was detected or not, but on the nautical chart it was marked just as water and some 100-150 metres (328ft-492ft) from the rocks, and we were about 300 metres (984ft) from the shore, more or less. We shouldn’t have had this contact.” – Sky
The Drink
Monique Maurek, 41, from the Netherlands, was there:
”What scandalised me most was when I saw the captain spending much of the evening before we hit the rocks drinking in the bar with a beautiful woman on his arm. Most people didn’t even have any idea of what the evacuation warning sound would be. It was only because some of us had already been on a cruise that we recognised that seven blasts of the horn was a signal to abandon ship.” – Telegraph
Power Failure
Passengers have told how they were initially reassured the issue was just an electrical fault or a problem with the generator before the situation descended into chaos.
A major electrical fault would have affected the ship’s navigation equipment or a computer failure could have caused its systems to malfunction. Experts have also speculated that there could have been a power failure. Cruise ships rely on their electric generators for steering, power and other facilities. The Costa Concordia is powered by six diesel engines and a power surge could have interfered with the generators, prompting the back-up to fail as well.The Queen Mary 2 was affected in this way in 2010 as it approached Barcelona but it was able to divert into open sea and restart its engines. Malcolm Latarche, editor of global shipping magazine IHS Fairplay Solutions, said passenger reports of a power blackout and large “boom” sound supported this theory. – Sky
The Crew
Pier Luigi Foschi, the chief executive of Costa Cruises, which owns the boat, paid tribute to the crew of the liner, saying that they had “all behaved like heroes. They managed to evacuate more than 4,000 people in two hours,” Mr Foschi told journalists in Genoa, struggling to fight back tears. – Vancouver Sun
The Crew II
Phil Metcalf, whose daughter Rose was one of the last people off the ship, says:
“Since the captain had left there was nobody, so everybody was left to their own devices hence some of the chaos, so obviously the crew took it upon themselves and decided in the absence of the captain to organise and try and help people.” – Daily Mail
The Cowardice
One couple, French military officer Ophelie Gondelle and police officer David Du Pays, said they saw the captain in a lifeboat, covered by a blanket, well before all the passengers were off the ship.
Asked about the suggestion that the captain had abandoned ship, senior prosecutor Francesco Verusio said: ‘Unfortunately, I must confirm that circumstance.’ – Daily Mail
The Rumours
British dancer Rose Metcalf, who was among the last to be lifted off the ship early on Saturday, said that there was a rumour among staff that the captain had fled with cash. At the family home in Wimborne, Dorset, her father Philip, 56, said: ‘Other members of staff said that the captain and possibly his first officer left the ship as soon as it hit the rock. They said the captain emptied the safe and fled with the money. ‘She didn’t know if it was true, but if it was she didn’t want him to get away with it. She said that the command structure had broken down and they had to organise the evacuation themselves.’
The Hero
Frenchwoman Nicole Servel, 61, said Francis Servel, 71, gave her his lifejacket before they leapt off the sinking cruise ship. She said: ‘I owe my life to my husband – it’s obvious he saved me.’ She managed to swim for shore, while Mr Servel was swept underwater and drowned.’
The Curse
If maritime superstitions are to be believed, the Costa Concordia was doomed from the moment it was launched. When a grand christening ceremony was held in July 2006 in the port of Civitavecchia, the ceremonial champagne bottle failed to smash against the hull of the luxury liner – now on its side in the sea as rescue workers hunt for missing passengers – and wet the bow… It is a sign some seafarers consider to be a harbinger of bad luck. Ominously, the Titanic was never christened…
The latest accident occurred on Friday the 13th, a day some consider unlucky. – Western Advocate (Aus)
No Crows’ Nest
But as he approached Isola del Giglio and its quaint villages, imposing church spires, cliffs and offshore rocks, Captain Schettino seems to have ignored the first rule of seamanship: look around, know where you are and keep a safe distance from land. He would have done well to have heeded some advice from the redoubtable Admiral John Smith, the English explorer and colonist of North America who, among other adventures, is said to have had his neck saved from an unappreciative tribe of Native Americans by the chief’s daughter, Pocahontas.
In his book An Accidence, or the Pathway to Experience Necessary for all Young Seamen, published in 1626, Smith wrote: “Watch bee vigilant to keepe your berth to windward.” – The Australian
Bad Design
According to the maritime professionals’ union, Nautilus International, some safety issues have been exacerbated by the shape of modern cruising. ”The alarm bells have been ringing with many of us for well over a decade now,” says the director of communications for Nautilus, Andrew Linington. ”These ships are floating hotels – skyscrapers, really. The design has been extrapolated from that of smaller ships: they have high sides, a small draught [the height below the waterline] and are very difficult to manoeuvre in high winds.” – SMH
The Stars
Here we have the accident horoscope chart. We have the Sun trine to a Moon/Mars conjunction so an element of danger or risk to people (Mars conjunct Moon) and with the Sun squared to Saturn there was the potential for fear…. Saturn squares are never easy and present us problems and difficulties which we have to deal with. This Saturn is very influential on this chart as it also affects a wedge formation with Jupiter opposing Saturn, the wedge being created by an almost exact Neptune/Venus conjunction as the point.
Now Neptune & Venus in conjunction is a very idealistic combination, very kind but a little wayward; almost as if you are floating on a cloud. I bet everyone on board was having a wonderful time, completely unaware of what was about to happen. Both these planets were still just in Aquarius, which is a very humanitarian sign and in the 6th house at the time. Venus in the 6th in Aquarius likes to show an independent kindly gesture when you care about somebody & Neptune in Aquarius in the 6th doesn’t like routine, it likes to do it’s own thing. Now this combination was sextile to Jupiter, which immediately signals a likelihood that one is going to get a little over confident and take a risk or too. Of course, Neptune and Jupiter also represents long distance travel (Jupiter) by sea (Neptune)….
Now normally, let’s say 99 times out of 100 you would get away with this sort of thing, especially if the practise of going off course was something that had been done before. The only problem was, this time around, danger was lurking at this particular time in the way of Uranus square Pluto. – Solariastrology
Destiny
Costa Concordis:
Concordia:
Or is 0r-66-66 .. = 66,
6+66 = 72, backwards is 27, book Da, backwards is Ad, 14, 20+12, “2012”
Therefore:
or = “AD 2012”.
D is 4, 44., 4 22, 4v. (add 40 to equal 44, 40 is book Mt, Mt-66-66 .. = “0”. 4 = 2+2, 22, V).
Vi is 6.
46+66+66 = 113, “January 13”.
Therefore:
Concordia = “Conc AD 2012, January 13 a”
A is one, “on date”. (e is 5, book dt, t is bo, b+o = 17, 7+66+66 .. = “te”)
On is 15 AD, book 54, 54+66 = 120, “at”.
Therefore:
Concordia = “Conc AD 2012, January 13 at(on) date”
C is 3, book of Lev = “L”. (e and v cancel).
On is 15 AD, book 54, backwards is 45, book ro, backwardss is or, or-66-66 .. = “Of”.
F+66+66 … = “ST”.
Therefore:
Con = “Lost”.
C is 3+40, 43, 4+3, 7, 2+5, 25, “y”.
Add 0+66+66 … = “wa”.
Therefore:
Conc = “Lost Way”.Concordia = “Lost Way, AD 2012, January 13 at(on) date”
Costa:A is one, millions. (Drop o, Add 0+66+66 … = “924”, 91212, “ill”, add 0+66+66 … = “924”, nine, i. Add 0+66+66 .. = “Sn”, backwards is ns).
Add 0+66+66 … = “Li”. I is nine, ie, ive. E is 5, five, cve, ve. 1 + 66+66 .. = “so”, drop “o”.
Therefore:Costa Concordia = “Cost Lives (Lost Millions), Lost Way, AD 2012, January 13 at(on) date.” – UFO ETBLOG
Posted: 17th, January 2012 | In: Key Posts, Reviews Comments (3) | TrackBack | Permalink
