Costa Concordia Disaster - What happened?

Professional Mariner Forum
203

[QUOTE=gavin737;61582]Sweat-n-Grease

Psychometric testing for new-hires has been around the aviation industry for a while now, and I have been subjected to a few of them. I’m from the UK and haven’t heard of the one you mention, but I reckon they’re all pretty much the same. Each company’s selection procedures vary slightly, but they all think theirs is the best and that they hire the best pilots! I know good guys who have failed my company’s tests but passed the next company’s; there seems to be no rhyme nor reason to it, and thus I’m highly sceptical of them. My company’s got some excellent guys, the majority being average and a few stragglers who bump along the bottom. It seems all airlines have the same sort of demographics, despite the psychobabble, and I wouldn’t mind betting the shipping industry’s no different.

Thanks for your reply, the shipping industry is indeed no different.

[QUOTE=gavin737;61582]Sounds like you’ve got the best of both worlds a career in shipping and a CPL as well :-)[/QUOTE]

What worked out well for me is that I could make several long sea voyages (around 4 to 6 months each) then take a long vacation. This allowed me plenty of time to engage myself as a pilot. A buddy of mine, an A&P Mechanic, and I built a BD-5 from a kit (prop job, not the jet although we considered it). That was neat, but still being young and foolish lads, although we were in our 30’s, we sold it a few years later. During these breaks from sea I also worked as a charter pilot, flight instructor, even thought of engaging in air shows, fortunately the more mature side of my insanity took over and that interest vanished. :smiley:

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How much anchor chain do they carry on these ships? The water around the island is deep?

At the end of the day he really did not need to turn the boat. All he needed to do was stop it. The wind and current pushed the boat back to the island at +/-1 knot.

[QUOTE=rshrew;61583]In the picture if he had used the anchor
Wouldn’t it be dug into the ocean floor? Also I’m sure he had a stern anchor and another bow anchor he could have stopped the ship with maybe. Turning a 1000’ ship with an anchor on a dime like the AIS track shows seems unlikely to me in my opinion.[/QUOTE]

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Thanks dbhindin for two most useful links. The electrical details are a little beyond me, but the engineering layout appears to be very similar to what we can see for the Costa Concordia, also indicating that most of the space forward of the engine rooms is tankage and stores. Which leads me to my prime suspect so far regarding the starboard list.

Because of the complete wipeout of the engine spaces, I’m dumping the hypothesis of poor or out of control counterflooding. They had nothing to counterflood with.

The Andrea Doria, when t-boned by the Stockholm was hit in the tank compartment amidships. The small passageway down the center of the tank compartment did not have a watertight door into the engine room. The sharp bow of the Stockholm went just deep enough to puncture the passage way. The damage caused flooding of the ER, and because it punctured two large fuel tanks on one side and none on the other, gave the ship a sharp list that gradually overtopped the watertight bulkheads at the edges, producing a slow but certain sinking and capsize in spite of it being a 2 compartment ship.

In the Concordia case, there was severe fast damage to the port side that produced rapid flooding of all engineering spaces. At first it listed to port, but gradually became level again, probably because the large compartments became fully flooded. But there must have been damage to the double bottom tanks, and starboard tanks as well or it wouldn’t have come back to level. After all, the rock is within a few feet of the waterline, so they were in very shallow water and additional hidden bottom damage is likely.

If some of the void spaces to starboard were damaged, enough to split a seam, but not severely enough for rapid flooding, or if broken pipes allowed slow flooding, then the ship would gradually take a starboard list. After the second grounding, more starboard voids would be opened up, increasing the list, which combined with a loss of 1/3 of the ship’s stability due to 5 major flooded compartments, could produce a gradual but fatal capsize. If the midships WT bulkheads are as low as shown, even a modest list produces overtopping at the sides. We’re darn lucky it wasn’t faster. The engine crew says they checked the WT doors, although it wasn’t clear what the result was.

The anchor-turn-free surface theory is interesting but the ship seems to be going too slow to produce that powerful of a result. But maybe the stability was already very weak. We need more data on the timing of the heeling/listing.

206

The only thing I’ve found was a chart showing 12 knots of wind from the NNE. It roughly fits the sea state, at least as much as can be seen at night.

207

I would guess they had around 15 shots of chain so 1350’ of chain.

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[QUOTE=Starbuck1;61614]Thanks dbhindin for two most useful links. The electrical details are a little beyond me, but the engineering layout appears to be very similar to what we can see for the Costa Concordia, also indicating that most of the space forward of the engine rooms is tankage and stores. [/QUOTE]

For the referenced: Diesel-electric Propulsion System for Cruise Liner “Costa Victoria”:
http://www.sam-electronics.de/dateie…eren/1.001.pdf

“Clearly recognizable is the power plant concept, where the 6 diesel generators feeding the (2) 10kV main bus bars connected via bus tie breaker, supplying the whole energy for the ship’s network and propulsion.”

“The 5 thrusters … are directly supplied by the 10 kV switchboard.”
.
“The propulsion drive for each shaftline is connected to both main bus bars keeping the ship ready for sailing in degraded mode with 50% power available, e.g. one switchboard inoperative”

Comment specifically for the Diesel-electric Propulsion System for Cruise Liner “Costa Victoria” but probably is extensible to Costa Concordia:

In the provided diagram, there is at least one bow thruster and one stern thruster on each side of the split 10 kV power bus.
This suggests that one operating main generator of the six could provide for bow and/or stern thrust.
No operating main generator suggests no available bow or stern thrust.

This may have been established before in the thread.

209

[QUOTE=Sweat-n-Grease;61577]Yea, I’m getting to the heart of my reply, namely I agree with Observer but I feel crafting such a screening exam seems problematic.
Perhaps these days it isn’t.[/QUOTE]

Written psychological testing is at best useless. What I have in mind–in an ideal world–is a training and testing regime something akin to the Royal Navy’s Submarine Command Course (“Perisher”) as a requirement for earning a masters license for suitable types of ships where accidents have a high risk of being catastrophic. I realize imposing this level of training on civilian mariners is impossible in the real world, however.

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[QUOTE=Observer;61629]Written psychological testing is at best useless. What I have in mind–in an ideal world–is a training and testing regime something akin to the Royal Navy’s Submarine Command Course (“Perisher”) as a requirement for earning a masters license for suitable types of ships where accidents have a high risk of being catastrophic. I realize imposing this level of training on civilian mariners is impossible in the real world, however.[/QUOTE]

How about making it so.
It can be done.
The issue,
Is there a will?

211

[QUOTE=Sweat-n-Grease;61634]How about making it so.
It can be done.
The issue,
Is there a will?[/QUOTE]

It can be done if companies are willing to put the time and money into the process. But it requires a significant investment and needs the right people in charge of the training. I work offshore on Anchor Handlers and Supply boats; my company has been putting together a training centre over the last 4 years. We now have a very capable Simulator with one 360 degree Full mission Bridge, one 120 degree Limited Bridge (aft consoles only and a view over the aft deck) and an Engine Room Simulator. In the same centre are classrooms and DP training rooms.

It is becoming harder to find offshore experience, so a lot of new people will come direct from college or from Deep Sea companies. The training centre is used to give them familiarisation with offshore work. It is also used for ‘top-up’ training for existing staff, so they are kept up to date on company procedures and different operations. Before any promotions are made there is a list of required courses that have to be done.

That brings me to the point of this post! Before anyone is promoted to Master or Chief Engineer they are required to attend an Evaluation Week. This is not a training course; its sole purpose is to evaluate the candidates for promotion under different circumstances. In our job we are routinely working 3-5m from fixed and mobile structures while either attached to a hose to pump fuel or other products or when working cargo, running anchors, etc. There is very little room for error, and if things do go wrong you need to react quickly and effectively.
The course puts you in different offshore scenarios and either gives or a developing problem or a failure. With the developing problems they are looking to see if you still have your situational awareness to be able to spot and head off a potential situation while you are concentrating on driving the boat. The failures test your reactions to the failure, and how you deal with it. Situations range from a small oil leak on a gearbox, to complete engine failures.
To increase the pressure they will also introduce a passing vessel that is approaching very close to check you are still aware of other vessels.
The quality of this sort of evaluation depends greatly on the people running it. In our case we have an experienced Master and C/E who base a lot of the scenarios on real life situations they have encountered.

While you are doing the evaluation they get you to complete a Psychometric Test, from what I have heard from other people who have done them in other companies this one is one of the better ones. It is completed on-line in about 15 minutes by answering about 20 questions. The results were surprisingly accurate in picking out ‘personality’ traits; in my case I would have said it was about 80% accurate. Most of the others on my course agreed. The company say that this is not used for the decision whether to promote or not just to help them and us aware of our potential management ‘style’.

All the simulators are monitored by CCTV etc. And one of the exercises for each candidate is kept on file. This can be used in the case of a future incident (making contact with a rig for instance) and can prove that you have been correctly evaluated for promotion and there is a record of your competence. At the end of the day even the best boat driver can have a bad day at the office, or suffer equipment failure.

The main driver for the company to spend so much money is to prevent incidents (a few years ago one of our vessels contacted a rig and damaged its propulsion, made for a $20m repair bill). It alos demonstrates to potential charterers that the company has high standards. As far as I know there have been some weeks where no one has been recommended for promotion so they are not shy on refusing people, I think the average would be about 75% passing.

I did mine last year and found it very useful (and extremely stressful!!). Although I had sailed as Master with a previous company on small vessels (60-70m) I did not have a huge amount of offshore experience. It gave me the confidence of knowing that I could deal with failures in the correct way while working close to installations. I have been involved with a few emergency situations in 20 years at sea and until you have had to deal with that sort of pressure (how to recover a Man Overboard from -2 deg C water in less than 10 minutes, get it wrong and he’s dead) it is hard to know how you will react, the correct training helps the brain deal with things. Some will panic, some will freeze but hopefully most will be able to re-act.

How many other companies have similar programmes I don’t know. I would guess that the Bridge Resource Management would cover some of the same stuff, but possibly with less emphasis on dealing with equipment failure. At the end of the day the Company needs to have the right Management Attitude and the desire to keep their standards up.

212

I was at KP when CAORF, the first CGI bridge simulator was operating. It may still be. I recall going down to the simulator and watching mates from one of the major oil companies (Arco or Exxon, I believe) go through just that type of training. They would purposely give them engine and rudder failures as they were exiting Valdez and then record the reactions.

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Source: http://www.index.hr/vijesti/clanak/preokret-u-slucaju-costa-concordia-menadzment-je-tjerao-kapetana-da-ide-blizu-obale/595646.aspx

I used google translator from croatian to english

QOUTE
The latest discoveries relating to the sinking of the cruiser Costa Concordia suggest that the story, in which all the blame on the irresponsible captain Francesco Schettino, could get a reversal.

Italian police recorded his first testimony at the station, and calls that from thence sent to friends. Schettino was talking with a friend claimed that he was forced by his bosses that the ship passed so close to the island of Giglio to afford passengers spectacular.

“Management was always saying 'Go through here, go there.” Someone else in my situation might not have consented to such things, but I kept pressing me to go near the coast and now I am paying the price for it, "said Schettino friend in telephone interview, just hours after the accident, reports The Telegraph.

The owners of the company Costa Cruises argue that Schettino had never given permission to draw so close to the island, and that I am the captain changed course. However, recordings of interviews of management support and the captains captain’s story that the owners of the company encouraged this practice because it brings good publicity, and finds delight of passengers.

Schettino in an interview with police on several occasions and noted that marine navigation system did not recognize rocks that have ripped the hull.
UNQOUTE

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From the same taped conversation, Capt. also reportedly said:
“When I realised that the ship was listing, I left and got off it.”

And:
“The hole was immense. There was a spike of rock. But everything that happened from that moment on, I performed to the utmost extent of my professionalism.”

And:
“I’m proud that we saved so many people, including some who would not have managed.”

(see http://tinyurl.com/7ybb46c )

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The prime goal of a Cruise Ship company as any, is to maximise profits by filling up vessels to capacity at the lowest cost. Any practice, like drills on departure, upsets the passengers who pay the bills and thus, are not wellcome. The industry lobby is so exceedingly powerful that regulating maritime organisations as no choice but to compromise. Passengers also expect (require) to have a human contact with the master. The mood on board settled by a relax and friendly master, is of the utmost importance to create passengers fidelity. Scenic passages as well. Scale economy to the extent of 8,000 souls serviced by third world crewing generate low cost. Prolonged on board assignation from periods up to 6 months and more, 7 days a week and 12 to 16 hours a day engender boreness, fatigue, lost of interest and situation awareness. Human resources vertical management is a tradition. On board regulation and bureaucracy is overwhelming. Scrutiny of watchkeepers by cameras and microphones create a sense opposed to self-assurance or self-confidence. Gigantic ships building and state of the art navigation systems create a false sentiment of invincibility …

Since the captain suppose to be the master on board after God, ruling that could be updated by master on board behind the head office and after God, the priority of his prime role should be set back to the essential: “Being responsible for the security of his vessel, crew & passengers and be the on board shipowner representative”. The time consuming public relation should be delegated to a knowledgeable honoris causa captain, retired or not from the merchant marine or the cruising industry. Spare time would then be devoted in training the crew (and passengers) for emergencies. Furthermore, the real incognito master should be appraise regularly and confidentially by his subaltern officers on his technical ability, as well as on his behaviour against the principles of the Bridge Management Resources.

Welcome back into the real world instead of strutting around passengers. Small change that would make a huge difference …

216

If Schettino was ordered by management to sail imprudently then the cynic in me wonders if some of the more outlandish things he’s alleged to have said–such as ‘tripping’ into a life boat–might have been fabrications planted in the media to discredit him.

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A news story with a couple of big graphics: http://tinyurl.com/7oj6msa .

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Anyhow, when the master or the navigation bridge crew realised that the Projected Course on the ECDIS interface by the Rate of Turn, would not clear Isole le Scole surrounded by infested reefs … the wheel ordered hard over to starboard and a kick full astern on the starboard engine … would have been quite the end of the story. At the worst, he would have suffer from some kind of reprimand by the head office, following passengers complaints.

I am pretty sure that captain Francesco Schettino is dreaming every night about that Ferrari manoeuvre that would have save the adventure ! But now it is unfortunately to late … :frowning:

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Source:


QUOTE
Special Intervention Group scuba divers from the Carabinieri of Genoa founded the Costa Concordia’s black box and two cameras from the bridge of the ship.
Authotirites hoped that could give them more information about exactly what happened on January 13rd, when the Costa Concordia ran aground and capsized near Isola del Giglio.
The “black box” (they are actually bright orange, to facilitate their being found after a crash) is an audio recording device. It records the conversation of the pilots/captain/officers during a flight or a cruise, so if something goes very wrong, investigators can use the black box recording to determine what happened.
The Black box or – better using a nautical terms – Voyage Data recorders, VDR and S-VDR. The Voyage Data recorders, is designed to manage very fast and accurate new building installations.
The are on board also Simplified-VDR: modular fully equipped Simplified Voyage Data Recorder that is type approved with fixed capsules as well as float free alternatives.
Well, the black box or VDR of Costa Concordia is broken. And it seems it was broken since weeks.
In any case it seems that Costa Crociere knew about the usual practice of near-shore salute (in Italian slang “making a bow”) – also termed “tourist navigation” – close to Isola del Giglio…
UNQOUTE

The company allegedly knew about broken VDR, and made no efforts to fix it?..
Having no evidence of VDR records, and knowing the device was broken, will not make the company look good in public, or court.

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Source: http://www.pomorac.net/portal_vijesti/svijet/5587-probijaju-se-eksplozivom-i-rade-u-neljudskim-uvjetima-ronioci-smrad-raspadnutih-tijela-je-prejak.html
They are quoting daily mail.
Apart from broken VDR, they also had passangers [B]UNDECLARED[/B] in ships manifest. At least 8 pax - undocumented!
Again, I used google translator for the article,:

QOUTE
Rescuers are now searching for 25 people, as it turned out that some passengers were not registered. Divers searching wreck cruiser Costa Concordia have to wade through the labyrinthine corridors of a sunken ship which is in danger skating in the deep sea, and now there was also another nuisance - smell dead bodies of passengers, the Daily Mail.

As rescuers say, the air inside the sunken ship ‘not breathing’, and the chief fire Enio Aquilino compared him with the smell of the fridge full of food that was left off a week.

Despite tough conditions, divers still achieves results, although unfortunate - Two more bodies were found in the bowels of the ship. The death toll also climbed to 15 people.

The bodies of two women were found in the submerged parts of the ship, the internet cafe. Divers in which they were obtained only after the explosives broke through the passage in this part of the structure of the vessel. One of the body is what Marie D’Inorno (30), who was on her honeymoon. The sea has risen with her husband, Vincenzo Rosellijem. They held hands as they jumped. It is believed that the ropes Maria climbed back into the boat because he knew how to swim and terribly afraid of water. Her fear her fate was sealed. Divers are now searching for 24 to 25 people. Specifically, the number of passengers is greater than what was stated in the ship’s manifest. The divers found the body yesterday by a Hungarian who was reported to the ship.

Officially, for now is looking for 17 people - two women’s bodies were lowered that figure to 19, which means that the Costa Concordia was at least eight undocumented passengers.

In addition to the missing passengers, the authorities must take care because of impending ecological disaster. The ship was full of fuel - it is believed that the womb is at least 2200 tons - in the case of a ruptured tank virgin islands sea Gigli will be polluted. However, it is believed that the ship was now safe and that it will be possible to discharge without consequences. The whole process will take at least three months. It is extremely important that the sunken cruise ship is not moving across the sea bottom, because it lies on an underwater cliff - just a few meters away there is a real gap, which would irreversibly engulfed the ship. Costa Cruises, the company that owns the Costa Concordia, has thought about repairing the ship, but it seems that the former beauty of the Mediterranean will end her life in a scrap yard.
UNQOUTE

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I don’t know if you would agree with me but in case of foundering, apart from the instant obligation of the master to send distress calls, evacuation signals, abandoned ship orders, etc., and taking into account that a muster list established for 1,000 crew members contains 1,000 responsibilities obligatory delegated by the master … his presence on board is mainly required to maintain the vessel afloat as long as possible. When it becomes apparent that the vessel will sink after all efforts being made to maintain flotation, his presence on board is not required any more. He is then entitled to pass over command to the search and rescue professional team. Afterwards, it is up to him to stay on board and die as a hero, to redeem himself by participating in the search & rescue effort or give up, and live as a zero.

Can you find me a civil job on the planet where the Law obligates a person to suicide. It would be considered as such if the captain had to stay on board until all souls are accounted for. As a chief firemen, would you be entitled to send your crew into the blazing flames to save someone else life. Is a policeman as to jump into freezing water to save someone who as jump over a bridge.

Where is the limit of that cinema folklore … :confused:

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[QUOTE=Topsail;61679]I don’t know if you would agree with me but in case of foundering, apart from the instant obligation of the master to send distress calls, evacuation signals, abandoned ship orders, etc., and taking into account that a muster list established for 1,000 crew members contains 1,000 responsibilities obligatory delegated by the master … his presence on board is mainly required to maintain the vessel afloat as long as possible. When it becomes apparent that the vessel will sink after all efforts being made to maintain flotation, his presence on board is not required any more. He is then entitled to pass over command to the search and rescue professional team. Afterwards, it is up to him to stay on board and die as a hero, to redeem himself by participating in the search & rescue effort or give up, and live as a zero.

Can you find me a civil job on the planet where the Law obligates a person to suicide. It would be considered as such if the captain had to stay on board until all souls are accounted for. As a chief firemen, would you be entitled to send your crew into the blazing flames to save someone else life. Is a policeman as to jump into freezing water to save someone who as jump over a bridge.

Where is the limit of that cinema folklore … :confused:[/QUOTE]

The limit of that cinema, fellow seaman, is when you are 70 years old and look back.