[QUOTE=Burong;73679]What would have happened if Costa Concordia had been allowed to hit the first rock bows-on, please, instead of the ship’s side scraping the rock?
According to the DT, Captain Schettino has allegedly been saying that the toll of dead and injured people would have been much higher if he had not steered the ship to stbd, albeit only at the last minute.
If that is what he has indeed said, I am wondering whether he is right about this, please?
Thank you[/QUOTE]
I would agree that the injuries would have been far more severe if she had hit head on. Think of all the elderly, and people walking on stairways, and even walking down the passageways. They were travelling at about 15 kts. That would have been like hitting a stone wall. The ships probably would have impaled herself a good way into the hull. The good thing though, she probably wouldn’t have capsized if she hit head on.
BUT, This is all neither here nor there. This query is not relevant. What is relevant was the previous mention by the Italian investigation that water tight doors between lower compartments were NOT shut, and in fact were found jammed open by debris. That will be huge, in ship construction, maintenance, and day to day operations. I am still totally amazed that ships of these size/type are even allowed to have such openings between watertight subdivisions; or that they are allowed to be (‘normally open’) when the ship is underway at sea.
Did you read that paragraph that referenced this mention about the water tight doors being found open. I would not be surprised that the CC could have survived the impact. But the ‘extra’ flooding into NON damaged compartments is what sealed her fate.