Cruise Ship Law

British man feared to have fallen overboard from cruise ship

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 21:09:26 -0500

A British passenger is feared to have fallen overboard from the world's biggest cruise ship in waters near Mexico.

The 30-year-old man, who has not been named, was seen falling over the railings by another passenger on the Allure of the Seas, the Royal Caribbean International cruise line said.

He could also be seen falling over in footage from an on-board video camera.

The man went overboard as the ship was sailing to Cozumel, Mexico. The Mexican navy and coastguard are assisting in the search.

The Allure of the Seas left Fort Lauderdale in Florida on Sunday for a seven-night cruise. The ship can carry 5,400 passengers.

A guest on-board the ship saw the man fall overboard at 12.10pm (7.10am local time) on Friday, a statement from Royal Caribbean said.

The company added: "The ship made multiple public announcements and began a complete search of the ship, in efforts to locate the guest.

"When the guest did not respond to the pages and was not found on-board, the captain alerted the local authorities of the situation.

"A review of the ship's closed-circuit camera footage observed the 30-year-old British male guest going over the balcony railing in his stateroom on deck 11.

"The location of the ship at the time the guest went overboard was marked on the ship's Global Positioning System (GPS) and the US and Mexican coastguard were alerted.

"Allure of the Seas, along with Mexican coastguard, Mexican navy and the pilot boat, conducted a search for the missing guest."

The coastguard released the ship at around 2.30pm (9.30am local time) and it continued on to Cozumel, where it arrived an hour later.

"Our care team is providing support to the guest's family and our thoughts and prayers are with them," the statement said.

"Allure of the Seas is currently sailing a seven-night Caribbean itinerary that departed Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on January 29, with port calls to Labadee, Haiti; Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico."

A spokeswoman for Royal Caribbean International said the ship had been fully chartered by Atlantis Events, whose website says it is "the largest company in the world dedicated to creating unique vacations for the gay and lesbian community".

The Allure of the Seas boasts a park with more than 12,000 live plants, a zip line, a theatre, a casino and a nightclub.

A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office said: "We are aware of the reports and are looking into them."

Woman on cruise ship 'loves' captain, was on bridge during wreck, reports say

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 21:17:37 -0500

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - A woman at the center of the Italian cruise ship disaster has told investigators she was indeed on the bridge of the ship when it wrecked, killing 32 people, the BBC reported.

Dominica Cemortan, 24, who was aboard the Coasta Concordia the fateful Fri. Jan. 13 night of its crash, was questioned by Italian detectives recently for almost 6 hours, the BBC reported.

Her testimony about the bridge seems to clash with that of the captain, who had said that Cemortan, who now says she "loves the captain," was not on the bridge at the time of the wreck, the British news agency reported.

"When the accident happened, I was on the bridge," the BBC reported that Cemortan, a former cruise worker at the time of the crash, told investigators recently.

No one but authorized ship workers should be on the bridge and some theorized the young woman's presence could have distracted the sailors, who were already off course and close to rocks.

In more shocking testimony, investigators say that Cemortan's belongings such as a suitcase, clothes and sexy underwear were found in Captain Francesco Schettino's room by divers. The woman has been described variously as a former ballet dancer and customer service rep for the cruise lines.

This would seem to tie the young woman and the married captain more closely than just "having dinner," as had been previously reported.

"Yes, it's true. I am in love with Captain Schettino," Cemortan told prosecutors, according to Italian newspaper La Stampa, the Telegraph reported.

Capt Schettino is under house arrest facing charges of manslaughter and abandoning ship.

Cemortan is expected to be questioned again later and officials now say said they should be able to hold a preliminary hearing into the tragedy next month, John Honeywell of the UK's Mirror reported.

Family of missing US couple accepts search end

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 18:34:12 -0500

WHITE BEAR LAKE, Minn.—Family members of a Minnesota couple missing in the Italian cruise ship disaster said Tuesday they accept the decision to end the search.

In a blog posting, the children of Jerry and Barbara Heil of White Bear Lake, Minn., say they are "certainly disheartened to hear the news" but understand.

Italian emergency officials decided to end the search due to the danger to rescue workers. The Heils are the only Americans missing in the Jan. 13 wreck.

"We cannot express enough our sincere gratitude to all those involved in the search and rescue effort. Time and time again, the rescuers faced many perils in the hopes of reuniting the missing with their families. We will be forever grateful for all those who worked so hard for people they did not even know, yet understood how important their job was for those that remained waiting for news," the Heil family said in a statement.

"As we struggle to come to grips with this tragedy, we find comfort knowing Mom and Dad are now in a better place free from any worries. They have always been obedient to God's plan and now we must do the same."

Some 4,200 passengers and crew were on board the Costa Concordia cruise ship when it capsized. Seventeen bodies have been recovered, of which one has not yet been identified. Sixteen people are listed as missing but are presumed dead. The last time anyone was found alive was Jan. 15.

The Heils are active members of the Church of St. Pius X in White Bear Lake, a St. Paul suburb. Church members describe the Heils as quiet, kind people deeply involved in their congregation. Jerry Heil, 69, who retired from a job at the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, would teach religious education classes, and Barbara Heil, 70, would bring baked goods to class members.

Diane Vorwald, 48, who uses a wheelchair, said Jerry Heil would come to her home weekly to administer communion. In the summer, he would bring her fresh pies, she recalled.

"He's done a lot for me. It's a loss to me," Vorwald said.

The Heil family is making plans for a memorial service.

Carnival: Fall On Cruise Ship Kills SC Man

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:32:45 -0500

NASSAU, Bahamas -- Authorities in the Bahamas say a 26-year-old tourist from South Carolina died aboard a Carnival cruise ship over the weekend.

Bahamas police said in a statement Saturday that a man from South Carolina apparently jumped from one floor to another aboard the Carnival Fantasy ship that had docked in Nassau late Friday. He was declared dead at the scene.

Carnival issued a statement saying the guest apparently fell. They said the ship's visit to Freeport on Saturday was canceled due to the investigation.

Officials did not release the man's name or home town.

The ship left Charleston on Wednesday for a five-day Bahamas cruise. It is expected to return to Charleston on Monday.

Mass. Woman Dies After Fall On Cruise Ship

Mon, 30 Jan 2012 18:30:33 -0500

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Investigators in Florida do not suspect foul play in the death of a Massachusetts woman who fell down stairs aboard a cruise ship.

The Broward Sheriff’s Office identified the woman Monday as 47-year-old Barbara Wood of Middleboro, Mass.

The fall happened early Monday aboard the Liberty of the Seas operated by Royal Caribbean Cruises. The ship was just returning to Port Everglades from a four-night cruise that included a stop in Cozumel, Mexico.

Sheriff’s investigators said Wood slipped down the stairs and hit her head at about 1:48 a.m. She had just left the ship’s Catacombs nightclub.

The Broward County medical examiner will conduct an autopsy to determine exactly what caused her death, but it appears accidental, the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

A Royal Caribbean spokeswoman said its medical personnel responded but the woman died before the ship reached port. She said the cruise line was providing support to Wood’s family and friends.

“We will continue to do our very best to assist them,” said spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez.

Cruise ships' designs are at fault

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:14:18 -0500

Cruise ships' designs are at fault

As a descendent of a long line of ship designers and builders, I shiver when I see each new modern cruise ship hit the waves.

They are designed to have far too many passenger decks above the main deck. This, of course, is to get as many dollars per cruise as possible. This causes the center of gravity to be far too high above the center of buoyancy.

To make matters worse, the upper decks extend widthwise to the edge of the hull, and the upper deck contains the weight of water in swimming pools.

Perhaps ship designers now are not aware of center of gravity and center of buoyancy.

I do not blame the ship's captain in the recent overturned ship accident as much as I blame the ship's designers. This was an accident waiting to happen.

It's a wonder that some of the newer modern cruise ships haven't been overturned by broadside waves during a major storm.

This ship should have been able to hit the reef with considerable damage, but it should not have turned over.

As my wife put it plainly when I explained it to her, the cruise ships are now top-heavy.

Stuart H. McElroy
Colonial Beach

Costa Cruises Will Offer Modest Lump-Sum Compensation to Survivors of the Concordia Shipwreck

Fri, 27 Jan 2012 14:52:10 -0500

January 27, 2012 -- The Italian Association of Tour Operators announced from Rome this morning that passengers who survived the Costa Concordia cruise ship accident on January 13 without physical injury will each be offered $14,460 in compensation. The arrangement was hammered out in a meeting between Costa Cruises and several consumer groups.

The offer from Costa Cruises will provide a lump-sum of $14,460/11,000 euros/£9,199 to be paid to each surviving passenger, regardless of age, and would cover:
~ Damage to and loss of property, baggage and personal effects
~ Psychological trauma from the incident
~ Access to a Costa-provided psychological counseling program for those passengers who request it

The Italian cruise line has also offered to compensate non-injured survivors for:
~ The cost of the cruise, including port taxes as well as any expenses incurred during the cruise
~ Additional travel expenses incurred in returning home
~ Related medical expenses incurred

Costa plans to offer separate arrangements to the families of those who died, as well as any of the approximately 100 passengers who were injured during the grounding and evacuation of the ship and required medical treatment at the scene. The offer, however, has not been extended to over a thousand crewmembers of the Concordia, many of whom have lost their jobs.

Industry experts, as well as some passengers, voice less than positive reaction to the Costa offer.

Carlo Rienzi, president of Codacons, an Italian consumer watchdog group, offered an emphatic directive to the survivors of the Concordia tragedy: "The passengers are absolutely not to accept the compensation offered by Costa," he said. "The distinction made between who has been physically injured and who has not is absurd. This is why we urge every passenger to undergo medical visits, which would confirm any eventual permanent psychological damage. This could give them access to much larger compensations."

Passengers will be able to take legal action against the cruise line if they are unhappy with the amount.
The Associated Press interviewed Claudia Urru of Sardinia, who was aboard the Concordia with her husband and two young sons. Urru told AP that her family has retained a lawyer because they don't know what the real impact of the trauma will be, financial or otherwise. Urru said they are very worried about their children.Her eldest child is already seeing a psychiatrist. "He's terrorized at night. We are all sleeping together. We are having a very, very hard time."

Maritime trial attorney Charles Lipcon, founder of the award-winning maritime law firm Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina & Winkleman, P.A., offers his advice based on over 30 years of experience representing victims internationally in cases against the cruise lines. "This $14,000 offer is inadequate in my opinion. Claims made through an experienced admiralty attorney should be worth substantially more."

Although based in Miami, Florida, the Lipcon firm also represents clients in Europe, Central America & South America, Africa, and Asia, with the ability to handle matters across a wide spectrum of languages, including English, Italian, French, German, Norwegian, Polish, and Spanish.

How Cruise Ship Safety Oversight Works... And Doesn't Work

Thu, 26 Jan 2012 17:10:24 -0500

By Monica Kim, Condé Nast Traveler magazine

The capsizing of the Costa Concordia has thrown a harsh spotlight on the international cruise industry. Much like the ill-fated Concordia, the $40 billion industry is being portrayed as a ship without a captain by media outlets including The New York Times. The event has also brought renewed attention to an issue that dates back to the Titanic: a faulty system of safety oversight.

The oversight system currently in place
The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) was passed by the maritime nations in 1914, spurred by public outrage over the loss of more than 1,500 people in the sinking of the Titanic. It was an international agreement that established safeguards such as ice patrols and set standard safety procedures, including the number of lifeboats required on a ship. SOLAS is now administered by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), an agency of the United Nations that updates the regulations at an annual convention (the Marine Safety Committee will next meet May 16-25, 2012).

The big problem
Though the IMO sets safety standards, critics have long argued that they are meaningless because the organization has no power to enforce them. Each ship sails under a country's flag, and that country becomes its "flag state." It is the flag state's responsibility to uphold SOLAS regulations (the Costa Concordia sailed under Italy's flag). In fact, in a 2001 speech, the former IMO Secretary General W.A. O'Neil conveyed that not all ships were being held accountable by their flag states, causing problems with safety oversight. "This flag State responsibility is at the core of the process and is applicable to all IMO Members, in equal measure," he said. "However, some of them may lack the skills and resources to carry out their responsibilities effectively."

The attempted solution
So without any jurisdiction over the countries deploying ships, the IMO emphasized the importance of a port's power and duty to inspect any incoming ships and make sure they are up to code. But a similar problem arises here: While all "port states" must check ships according to the basic SOLAS guidelines, it's up to each nation how far above and beyond those guidelines it wants to go. For example, U.S. Coast Guard officials inspect ships sailing through U.S. waters every year (checking lifeboats, structural integrity and watching safety drills to ensure the crew has been trained according to IMO laws); other countries may conduct inspections only every two, three or five years, according to Scott Elpheson, a senior marine inspector with the Cruise Ship National Center of Expertise, the Coast Guard center that trains ship inspectors. "No vessel is going to sail through our waters unless the minimum safety standards are met," says Elpheson.

Based on more than 30 years of research of maritime law, Judge Tom Dickerson, author of Travel Law, claims the U.S. has the best set of safety rules to guard passengers' rights. "When people ask me what kind of cruise they should take, I always say they should take a ship that touches a U.S. port," Dickerson says, though he could not comment on the records of other ports.

What will happen now?
In the end, the "flag states" still have the ultimate say on whether a ship and its crew are fit to sail, and their decisions are not subject to review by any international body. Marine safety advocates are hoping that the Costa Concordia accident might improve the current system. At a recent press conference in London, Christine Duffy, President and CEO of the Cruise Lines International Association, urged the IMO to carefully evaluate the findings from the Costa Concordia investigation to ensure the cruise industry remains as safe as possible. Duffy said, "While there is a great deal still not known about this incident, all of our members recognize the seriousness of these events and want to ensure we apply the lessons learned from this tragic event."

Costa Concordia Disaster Brings Hard Look at Cruise Ship Safety

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:25:55 -0500

Thinking about booking a cruise? The crew may be unprepared.

Talk to cruise-line workers, and you won’t hear much surprise about the chaos during the Costa Concordia disaster. “Those of us who’ve had close calls before knew it was a question of ‘when,’ not ‘if,’” says Shari Cecil, a former merchant marine with Norwegian Cruise Line America. Cecil describes safety drills where crew members had no clue about their responsibilities—some were so nonchalant that they didn’t want to take off their high heels when boarding inflatable safety rafts—and the crew would be handed safety-reminder “cheat sheets” ahead of U.S. Coast Guard inspections. “I passed them out myself,” she says. “We’d even shut down the bar for crew so no one would be hung over.” (A Norwegian Cruise spokeswoman would not comment on specific claims but says “the safety of our guests and crew is, at all times, our No. 1 priority.”)

Former crew of numerous other lines say workers were often too exhausted to pay attention during safety-training sessions, and many didn’t speak enough English to even understand what was being said. Reshma Harilal says that during her eight years as a stateroom attendant with Carnival Cruise Lines, parent company of the ill-fated Concordia, boat-safety drills varied in regularity, and she never once had a native English speaker conduct training. “We all got safety training, but even I had difficulty understanding the English of the officers who trained us, who were always Italian with strong accents.” Carnival referred questions to the Cruise Lines International Association, which responded that “training must be conducted in a language that will be understood by the particular crew members.”

Though most big cruise lines like Carnival have headquarters and home ports in the U.S. and cater to American travelers, they are actually “flagged” in countries like the Bahamas or Panama, staffed mostly by foreigners, and incorporated overseas—thus allowing the companies to pay minimal U.S. taxes and circumvent many domestic labor and safety regulations. “There is a real absence of regulatory oversight or authority over the cruise industry,” says Jim Hall, who was chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board during the Clinton administration.

Yet the multiple investigations now underway into the Concordia crew’s handling of the disaster could change all that. “While I have every confidence in the safety of our vessels and the professionalism of our crews,” Carnival CEO Micky Arison said in a statement, “this review will evaluate all practices and procedures to make sure that this kind of accident doesn’t happen again.”

Those who’ve spent their lives in the industry say some answers are floating right on the surface. One is crew-to-passenger ratios, which have widened over the past few decades from an average of one crew member for every two passengers to one for every three, according to the International Transport Workers’ Fed-eration. Crew members work 12-to-14-hour days, seven days a week, for months at a stretch, with minimal time off. “Half the ship is working in a state of fatigue,” says James Walker, a former cruise-industry lawyer who now represents aggrieved crew. “All types of safety studies have shown if you’re really exhausted you can be impaired to the point of intoxication.” The mostly Asian crew of the Costa Concordia had been on an eight-month shift when the ship capsized after running ashore off the Tuscan island of Giglio. Accommodations were like the Titanic’s steerage section. Only managers had shared cabins, and the others slept in dormitory bunks.

“These are bean-counter dynamics,” says lawyer and author of Unsafe on the High Seas Charles Lipcon, who is in talks with several potential Concordia plaintiffs.

Cruise ship sex abuse claims probed

Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:15:07 -0500

Detectives are investigating claims of sexual abuse against children alleged to have taken place onboard two of Cunard's most luxurious cruise liners.

It is claimed that a crew member committed assaults on the Queen Mary 2 and its sister vessel the Queen Elizabeth.

Wiltshire Police confirmed an investigation had been launched and they would be contacting all the parents who they needed to speak to.

The force also said it was working closely with the NSPCC and the children's charity had staff available to speak to parents if they wanted counselling or advice.

The Mail on Sunday reported that detectives started the investigation after a tip-off and that the unnamed man, who is under investigation, lived in Wiltshire.

A Wiltshire Police spokeswoman told the newspaper: "We can confirm we are investigating historical allegations of child abuse by an employee of Cunard cruise liners.

"Inquiries continue. The employee no longer works for the company."

And a force spokeswoman said: "We are unable to confirm any details at this time due to an ongoing investigation. However, we would like to reassure parents and the public that the police will be contacting all of the parents they need to speak to in the course of the investigation.

"If you are still concerned and would like some professional advice then you can call the dedicated NSPCC number 0800 980 4502. The NSPCC have advisors available who are aware of this matter and can assist parents if they have concerns about their children."

Cunard is part of the Carnival Corporation group - owners of the Costa Concordia, which ran aground off the coast of Italy - and operates the Queen Mary 2, the Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth cruise liners offering luxurious ocean travel.

Cruise Ship Search Off Italy Finds 12th Body, Hard Disk

Sat, 21 Jan 2012 22:25:20 -0500

Navy teams conducting rescue efforts are seen January 21, 2012, near the Costa Concordia cruise ship which ran aground off the west coast of Italy at Giglio island.

Italian media say police divers searching the Costa Concordia cruise liner, which ran aground earlier this month off the Italian island of Giglio, have found a hard disk containing data of the voyage, as another body was pulled from the wreckage, bringing the death toll to 12.

Media reports say the disk retrieved late Saturday may shed light on the role Captain Francesco Schettino played in the disaster. Italian prosecutors are investigating Schettino's role or lack thereof in the rescue operations the night of the disaster

Divers also recovered the body of a woman in a life vest found in the corridor of a submerged section of the 114,000-ton ship.

Rescue efforts are continuing for 20 people still missing. Officials say chances are slim for finding survivors. Authorities say they are also working to remove oil from the vessel to prevent an environmental disaster.

Italy's civil protection agency took command at the site Saturday after the government declared a state of emergency on the small island. The agency's head, Franco Gabrielli, said the environment has already been affected.

"I would like this to be clear: this is not an event where nothing happened," Gabrielli said. "This is a story where a 300-meter-long ship carrying 4,000 people on board, plus all these people needed is in the sea. So the contamination of the environment, gentlemen, has already occurred."

Gabrielli added 2,400 tons of fuel is inside the shipwreck and needs to be removed.

The vessel, which is owned by the U.S.-based Carnival Corporation, ran into a rocky reef, which damaged its hull, and caused the vessel to keel over on its side. Carnival Corporation said it would conduct a comprehensive audit of all of its cruise lines to review safety standards and procedures following the Concordia accident.

Modern cruise ships: Are their designs dangerous?

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 23:19:05 -0500

There has been a media sensation surrounding the sinking of the Costa Concordia off the coast of Italy last Friday, perhaps in large part due to the chilling coincidence it happened on the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.

As the days have progressed there have been various conflicting reports and conjecture over how this tragedy happened. We have heard a lot about the Captain, who is fast becoming the villain of the story, ignoring orders not to deviate from the planned route and fleeing the ship before others had got to safety. Certainly he has a lot to answer for. Regardless of his actions however, some people are asking how a modern day cruise ship could capsize so easily. Are there serious design flaws?

When the Titanic was built it was the biggest ship in the world at 882 Ft long and weighing 46,328 tonnes. In the 100 years that have passed ships have become even larger. Where the Concordia is only marginally longer than the Titanic at 952 ft long, it is more than double its weight at 112,000 tonnes.
The top-heavy design

If you look at two pictures of the ships there is one noticeable difference: the height. The Costa Concordia is much taller than the Titanic and this has become a modern trend in cruise ships. Much like high-rise flats, it’s a way of fitting as many people as possible into a confined area. Does this top-heavy design make the ship less stable and more liable to capsize?

The union for maritime professionals, Nautilus International, has been very vocal since the accident stating they had been warning that an accident like this was inevitable. Andrew Linington, from Nautilus, wrote in the Guardian about new cruise ship designs, “The number of decks has been increased, with additional leisure facilities, to increase revenue-earning capacity. Additional swimming pools, coupled with a number of slack tanks when in operational service, further reduce vessel stability.”

However, when we spoke to Mark Staunton-Lambert at the Royal Institute of Naval Architects, he seemed to disagree. He claims, though it appears to be top-heavy, in actuality the weight is properly spaced. He says, “It’s not really a question of how tall they are, it is a question of where their centre of gravity is and their centre of buoyancy.”

Was the top-heavy design of the Costa Concordia at fault?

Apparently, the decks above the hull are relatively light compared to the weight of the hull where the heavy engine lies and the weighted keel below. Moreover, there are regulations set in place that have to be followed regarding the weighting of a ship to ensure stability. Staunton-Lambert says that boats that didn’t pass rigid safety tests and adhere to the rules for safe design, “would be breaking regulations, simple as that. The flag state wouldn’t allow it, the classifications designers wouldn’t allow it and the owner would be at fault in even trying to think about it.”

What are the regulations?

In finding out how stringent the regulations are, we contacted the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), and a spokesperson ensured me that under the international convention for Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), “all ships had to be designed to ensure they can’t capsize during expected operations”. One feature of design that it insists upon is the compartmentalization of the hull. In Chapter 2, clause 1 of SOLAS it states, “the subdivision of passenger ships into watertight compartments must be such that after assumed damage to the ship’s hull the vessel will remain afloat and stable.”

So why did the Costa Concordia not remain stable after its hull was damaged? We will have to wait for the conclusions of the investigation into the accident in due course but it seems odd that the ship, which would have to have abided by the SOLAS convention in order to sail managed to capsize. I asked Staunton-Lambert. He said, “(it depends) where and how big the hole is in the hull and so just how many watertight compartments were flooded. Make a big enough hole and you can sink any ship. There is also a possibility that the grounding of the vessel may have also contributed to the vessel heeling.”
Is it time to reassess cruise ship design?

Interestingly, the Titanic was one of the first ships to use the innovative new design of watertight compartments throughout the hull with the intention that, if two or three compartments were flooded, the ship would still not sink. When the White Star Line were informed that the Titanic was in trouble, the vice president P.A.S Franklin is quoted to have said, “we place absolute confidence in the Titanic. We believe the boat is unsinkable.” By the time he spoke these words the Titanic had sunk.

Of course, it would be foolhardy to believe that a ship could never sink. The sea is a dangerous place and man cannot control it. Having said that, a reassessment of cruise ship design is needed to make sure that another tragedy like this can be prevented in the future.

When is a captain allowed to abandon ship?

Thu, 19 Jan 2012 22:29:15 -0500

"The captain is last to leave a sinking ship": A legally binding rule, or a nautical myth? Last Friday's cruise ship accident off the coast of Italy has once again raised the question.

August 3, 1991: An explosion shakes the engine room of the Greek cruise ship, Oceanos, as it sails off the South African coast. With hundreds of people on board, the ship springs a leak, then begins to list and slowly starts to sink.

At this point, the crew was supposed to jump into action and implement a rescue plan. In the case of the Oceanos, however, most of the crewmembers were the first to leave the ship in the lifeboats, leaving around 200 passengers behind.

Helicopters came to the rescue, and one of the first lifted out of danger was Captain Yiannis Avaranas. Meanwhile, dozens of men, women and children still trapped on the ship were left fearing for their lives.

Later, Avaranas apparently said, "When I give the order to abandon ship, it doesn't matter what time I leave. Abandon is for everybody. If some people want to stay, they can stay."

Chain of command

With his actions, Avaranas was accused of breaking an ancient seafaring law: "The captain is always last to leave a ship in an emergency." But is this an actual regulation, or simply a legend?

Uwe Jenisch, an expert on international maritime law and a professor at the University of Kiel in northern Germany, says there's no clause in any law that specifically states this.

But, he adds, the rule could be deduced from other regulations: "On every ship, one person is in charge. There is a prescribed hierarchy on all ships. The captain alone is responsible at the top. He assumes command. He must direct the evacuation; so long as the ship exists, he is responsible."

Aside from that, it's simply good seamanship for the captain to steer his ship like a father would his family - and that's how the rule developed historically, Jenisch explains. "You can almost speak of customary law. However, it's not written down anywhere," he said.

The International Maritime Organization in London regulates ship security worldwide, but Jenisch says individual countries are responsible for implementing these regulations. In the case of the wrecked Costa Concordia, the Italian government must hold itself to international standards, he adds.

Better by helicopter?

Willi Wittig, vice president of the Federation of German Captains and Ship Officers, also thinks the captain carries the ultimate responsibility for his ship.

But, as Wittig pointed out on German public broadcaster Deutschlandfunk, admittedly this responsibility does not have to be executed from the bridge.

There could be situations, he said, "where perhaps in order to gain perspective, it really would be appropriate to [conduct operations] from off the ship."

Wittig adds, however, that for a captain to leave his ship early, even if it doesn't necessarily make him legally liable, would be highly unusual. In such cases, experts usually refer back to the sailors' code of honor.

In the end, where a captain decides to exercise his duty to his passengers, crew and ship, is up to him. Avaranas, one of the first to be saved by the rescue helicopter, argued this decision allowed him to better conduct the rescue operation.

Though criticized for his decision, Avaranas was acquitted by a London court, and he eventually returned to work as a cruise ship captain.

Holding out for insurance

Abandoned passengers aside, a ship's insurer would be another party that wouldn't be too happy about a captain's early departure. If a ship in distress at sea is abandoned by its crew, then it belongs to those left aboard.

An old seaman's yarn tells of Hendrik Kurt Carlsen, the Danish captain of the US freighter Flying Enterprise, who in 1951 held out all day as the last man on board his ship, which was sinking in the English Channel.

Allegedly, Carlsen stayed on his ship to ensure that the vessel remained the property of the shipping company, a fact still reported by the media decades later.

Cruise ships 'out of control'

Experts today doubt that a captain could direct a cruise ship evacuation by himself, with vessels at their current scale. Speaking to the news agency AFP, Wittig said accidents where cruise ships are involved are so complex that an evacuation can't be controlled by a single person.

Jens Peter Hoffmann, a ship security expert, thinks a smooth evacuation would even be impossible under certain circumstances. "When a ship suddenly tilts 30 to 40 degrees, nothing works anymore," he said recently on the German news program Tagesschau, referring to the Costa Concordia.

In addition, there are often hundreds of personnel on a ship, but generally only 30 to 40 are actual seamen, trained to handle emergencies.

Maritime law expert Jenisch thinks the cruise ship industry today is out of control - ships have simply gotten too big. "It would require a Herculean effort to organize a prompt evacuation of 4,000 to 5,000 people," he said.

Ships with promenade decks, which aid in evacuations, are today in the minority. Cabins are now more likely to have their own balcony, a design feature which impedes access to lifeboats. Larger ships also tend to have many floors, which can further slow an evacuation.

No lessons from Titanic?

Molly Brown honors Titanic captain Jenisch thinks shipbuilding codes need to be reviewed, as current ship designs don't reasonably allow for effective evacuation.

"One notch smaller, one notch saner, one notch more human, that's what's needed," he said.

Jenisch points out that a ship suffering from a big crack in its side, like the Costa Concordia, should not tip over so easily. He says ships should be built to prevent water from spreading throughout the entire vessel.

"Haven't we learned anything from the Titanic?" he asked.

In the case of the infamous "unsinkable" Titanic, which in 1912 struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic, an estimated 1,500 of its 2,200 passengers died in the icy waters. Including, incidentally, Captain Edward J. Smith.

He stayed till the end – and went down with the ship.

Search for survivors suspended after wrecked cruise ship shifts

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 22:49:17 -0500

Italian rescue workers suspended operations Wednesday after the stricken Costa Concordia cruise ship shifted slightly on the rocks near the Tuscan coast, creating deep concerns about the safety of divers and firefighters searching for the 22 people still missing.

Premier Mario Monti has offered his first comments since the grounding of the cruise ship off Tuscany, saying such a disaster "could and should" have been avoided and assuring that all precautions were being taken to ensure there is no fuel leak.

Monti also thanked the residents of the tiny island of Giglio, which has a wintertime population of about 900, for opening their doors to to the 4,200 cruise ship refugees who washed ashore Friday night when the Costa Concordia grounded and capsized.

In response to a question at a press conference in London, Monti acknowledged Wednesday concern about a potential leak of the 500,000 gallons of fuel aboard the ship. He says authorities had made limiting and preventing leaks a priority, as well as caring for victims.

The $450 million Costa Concordia cruise ship had more than 4,200 passengers and crew on board when it slammed into the reef Friday off the tiny Italian island of Giglio after the captain made an unauthorized maneuver.

The bodies of five adult passengers -- four men and one woman, all wearing life jackets -- were discovered in the wreckage Tuesday, raising the death toll to 11. Their nationalities were not immediately released.

Hungary's foreign ministry says one of the bodies recovered from the wreck of the cruise ship that ran aground off Tuscany was a Hungarian man, a musician working aboard the ship.

Ministry spokesman Jozsef Toth said Wednesday the body of Sandor Feher, a 38-year-old violinist, was found inside the wreck of the Costa Concordia and identified by his mother in the Italian city of Grosetto. He is the first victim officially identified.

Jozsef Balog, a pianist who worked with Feher, told the Blikk newspaper that Feher was wearing a lifejacket when he decided to return to his cabin to pack his violin. Feher was last seen on deck en route to a lifeboat.

According to Balog, Feher helped put lifejackets on several crying children before returning to his cabin.

Instruments attached to the ship detected the movements early Wednesday, forcing the search to be suspended even though firefighters who spent the night searching the area above water could not detect the movement. No additional passengers or crew were found.

"As a precautionary measure, we stopped the operations this morning, in order to verify the data we retrieved from our detectors, and understand if there actually was a movement, and if there has been one, how big this was," said Coast Guard Cmdr. Filippo Marini.

Officials said they hope the data from the instruments will reassure them that the ship has resettled, allowing the search to resume. The latest victims were discovered after navy divers exploded holes in the hull of the ship to allow easier access.

In addition to the rescue, much of the focus has been on the cruise ship captain's actions during and after the grounding.

In a dramatic phone conversation released Tuesday, a coast guard official was heard ordering the captain, who had abandoned the ship with his first officers, back on board to oversee the evacuation. But Capt. Francesco Schettino resisted the order, saying it was too dark and the ship was tipping dangerously.

"You go on board! Is that clear? Do you hear me?" the Coast Guard officer shouted as the captain of the grounded Costa Concordia sat safe in a life raft and frantic passengers struggled to escape after the ship rammed into a reef off the Tuscan coast.

"It is an order. Don't make any more excuses. You have declared 'Abandon ship.' Now I am in charge."

Jailed since the accident, Schettino appeared Tuesday before a judge in Grosseto, where he was questioned for three hours. The judge ordered him held under house arrest, his lawyer told reporters, and Italian media said he had returned to his home near Naples.

Criminal charges including manslaughter and abandoning ship are expected to be filed by prosecutors in coming days. He faces 12 years in prison for the abandoning ship charge alone.

Schettino has insisted that he stayed aboard until the ship was evacuated. However, the recording of his conversation with Italian Coast Guard Capt. Gregorio De Falco makes clear he fled before all passengers were off -- and then defied De Falco's repeated orders to go back.

"Listen Schettino," De Falco can be heard shouting in the audio tape. "There are people trapped on board. ... You go on board and then you will tell me how many people there are. Is that clear?"

But Schettino resisted, saying the ship was listing and he was with his second-in-command in the lifeboat.

"I am here with the rescue boats. I am here. I am not going anywhere. I am here," he said. "I am here to coordinate the rescue."

"What are you coordinating there? Go on board! Coordinate the rescue from aboard the ship. Are you refusing?" came the response.

Schettino said he was not refusing, but he still did not return to the ship, saying at one point: "Do you realize it is dark and here we can't see anything?"

De Falco shouted back: "And so what? You want to go home, Schettino? It is dark and you want to go home? Get on that prow of the boat using the pilot ladder and tell me what can be done, how many people there are and what their needs are. Now!"

The exchange also indicates that Schettino did not know anyone had died, with De Falco telling him at one point: "There are already bodies now, Schettino."

"How many bodies?" Schettino asks in a nervous tone.

"You are the one who has to tell me how many there are!" De Falco barks in response.

Schettino was finally heard on the tape agreeing to reboard. But the coast guard has said he never went back, and police arrested him on land several hours later.

Italian authorities say 24 passengers and four crew members are missing, including the five bodies found Tuesday. They include two Americans, 13 Germans, six Italians, four French, a Hungarian, an Indian and a Peruvian.

Meanwhile, a Dutch company also said it would be ready to begin operations to pump fuel from the ship to avert a potential environmental disaster. Fire department spokesman Luca Cari said once the all clear is given, the plan is to both resume the search and begin work on pumping the fuel out in tandem.

“Reckless Maneuver” Cited as Potential Cause of Costa's Concordia Cruise Ship Accident

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 18:35:00 -0500

Tuscany Coast, Italy, Jan. 15, 2012—Rescuers continue to search the submerged wreckage of the Costa Concordia cruise liner that sank on January 13th, only a few hours after it set sail. The Concordia reportedly had approximately 3,000 passengers aboard, of which 123 were Americans. Another 1,000 crew members were also on the ship.

In addition to 5 confirmed deaths, about 60 people were injured and at least 15 people are still missing, including 2 Americans. Two South Korean passengers on their honeymoon were found earlier today trapped in a cabin and a crew member trapped on the 3rd deck was also rescued via airlift.

The ship allegedly hit the rocks off Italy’s Isola del Giglio and sustained a 165-foot gash that capsized the ship onto its port side.

The ship’s captain, Franchesco Schettino, is being detained for allegedly causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship before all his passengers had escaped, in addition to manslaughter. Quoted by Italian news agency ANSA, Francesco Verusio, the prosecutor in the city of Grosseto where Captain Schettino was arrested, attributed the accident to a “reckless maneuver.” Several Italian newspapers said the captain may have steered the ship closer to the coast to allow passengers a better view of the island’s lights. The ship capsized only 150 yards from the shore.

Today’s broadcast of “CBS Sunday Morning” cited an additional issue that may have added to the chaos of the evacuation effort. The Concordia apparently didn’t have its “muster”, a dry-run safety drill of emergency evacuation procedures, on January 13th once it set sail. Instead it had the drill “scheduled” for the following morning, the day after the accident occurred, leading many to conclude that the passengers hadn’t been properly prepared for this emergency evacuation.

The CBS report also noted that the ship was allegedly designed to survive this type of damage and provide watertight safety, suggesting that the cruise ship’s design may also have contributed to what a spokesman for Costa’s parent, Carnival Cruise Lines, has dubbed a “terrible tragedy.”

Charles Lipcon, the seasoned maritime lawyer and founder of Lipcon, Margulies, Alsina & Winkleman, P.A., recommended these time-sensitive next steps for the Concordia's affected passengers and their families:

~ Victims of the sinking of the Costa vessel have legal claims that can be brought against the vessel operator.

~ These claims will be governed in large measure by the wording of the passenger ticket, which usually includes a requirement of notice of claim within a short period of time, the filing of a lawsuit within a short period of time and the location where the lawsuit must be brought.

~ Typically Costa requires suit be brought in Genoa, Italy, but there are certain exceptions that might allow for suit to be brought in Florida.

~ Victims and their families should immediately contact an experienced maritime lawyer, especially one who handles cruise line cases.”