Breaking News: Costa Concordia Emergency

[Midwest Cruiser]

I saw a report stating that the gash was in excess of 160 feet. Very scary.

[Sandy]

What a horror. There are more pictures here including scary close-ups of the ship. It's now being said that 50-60 people are missing. What a tragedy for all.

[alexandra cruiser]

instead of just a hassle,right? Sure many more cruisers will pay more attention in future,know I will.

So sad for all involved.

Even read many jumped ship and swam to a close island...whew...how very scary that would be.Plus, it happened at dinner time.but guess better than middle of nite..

[Dave]

That rip in the hull is in the worst possible place - the engineering spaces where the engines and generators are located. It is easy to see how they may have almost immediately lost electrical power and steering. Even with emergency rudder control a ship isn't going to respond as quickly with several thousand tons of seawater inside the hull.

[billybuzzy]

Needless to say...I advised My TA that We were no longer interested in booking a Costa cruise in the near future...Enough rumors are floating about regarding the safety procedures in place...the late Mayday call(if any)...Captain's apparent disembarking before many passengers... For the time being..No Costa Cruise for Us!!
Now all we need do is enjoy the cruise on the Carnival Splendor ...which has the same hull design...next month!! C'est La Vie!!!

BillyBuzzy

[Dave]

One passenger claims she boarded the ship on January 8 and had yet to attend a muster drill. If true that is very troubling to me. I haven't read that the Captain left before the evacuation was completed.

[Dave]

Italian prosecutors have detained the ship's Captain.

[Dave]

They can re-float it. Even at Pearl Harbor, ships that were submerged or capsized were salvaged and repaired. In fact, I'd say this isn't even going to be especially challenging. You essentially just pump the water out, perhaps also force it out with air pumped into the hull, while using a cofferdam over the damaged hull area.

[PC GUY]

Originally Posted by Dave

They can re-float it. Even at Pearl Harbor, ships that were submerged or capsized were salvaged and repaired. In fact, I'd say this isn't even going to be especially challenging. You essentially just pump the water out, perhaps also force it out with air pumped into the hull, while using a cofferdam over the damaged hull area.

Thanks Dave, you must have briefly seen my original post that I posted then deleted - on the grounds that it may not be appropriate under the tragic circumstances.

I had asked if the ship was salvageable if it rolls over in shallow waters or a total loss.

I remembered that a good chunk of the fleet at Pearl Harbor was repaired and put back in service.

[Dave]

Sure, they can rebuild it and use it again. The thing is the ship would have a stigma and so I'd wonder if they would use the same name. Also, I can see the ship perhaps being repaired and then sold to another line, perhaps in Asia.

The Sally Albatross partially sank after running aground in 1994 and was salvaged, rebuilt, and sailed for a while as the Leeward for NCL. It is still in use as the MS Cristal.