Topic: Costa Serena sails past the stricken Costa Concordia

This must have been a heartbreaking moment for the Serena crew last night:

I saw it on B.B.C. News last night but i have searched in vain for the report it must be out there somewhere but i can not find it, I would have expected Costa to keep well away from the island for the time being but No! they are still doing sail pasts.

Out of respect for the dead, injured and a sister ship I would have thought the further away they could have been from that site the better.

This is all I can find at the moment Tuggy;
Tourists put brave face on first Costa cruise since tragedy

QUOTE:

I saw it on B.B.C. News last night but i have searched in vain for the report it must be out there somewhere but i can not find it, I would have expected Costa to keep well away from the island for the time being but No! they are still doing sail pasts.

In the German forum they saw Serena passing by in the far distance at night on the Giglio-Island webcam, where also the wreck of the Concordia is still visible (during daytime).
So the distance was given, since that "channel" is approx. 10km wide and 100m at its deepest point. So no worries actually - only the getting too close was the fatal decission of the whole tragedy.

The report did state that the ship passed at the agreed distance of where Concordia should have been. But I too feel that it was a little insensitive. There could have been crew that were related or even the same nationality and the sight of the stricken ship could have been heart wrenching. The radio had an article about the Hungarian lost onboard who was the ships violinist, who helped people and children get into lifeboats and then made the decision to go back for his violin and lost his life. I also cant get my head around all the Germans lost together, 13 I believe, were they at their muster stations inside and made the decision to stay there rather than go on deck? We unfortunately will never know.

QUOTE:

The report did state that the ship passed at the agreed distance of where Concordia should have been. But I too feel that it was a little insensitive. There could have been crew that were related or even the same nationality and the sight of the stricken ship could have been heart wrenching. The radio had an article about the Hungarian lost onboard who was the ships violinist, who helped people and children get into lifeboats and then made the decision to go back for his violin and lost his life. I also cant get my head around all the Germans lost together, 13 I believe, were they at their muster stations inside and made the decision to stay there rather than go on deck? We unfortunately will never know.

The question of nationalities is an interesting one as there seems to be a proportionally high number of non-Italians in the numbers of missing/dead. My biggest concern, following this disaster, about going on another Italian line is regarding how good the ship's staff would be at communicating in all the languages in a crisis situation. Quite a few of the dead have been found with their lifejackets on at muster stations so I wonder if they hadn't heard messages to move to the lifeboats? Strictly conjecture, of course, but it is a question that needs investigating by the inquiry.

My personal feeling is that's probably what happened. And if so it highlights the total breakdown in crew organisation and leadership since if you were going to check anywhere at all surely it would have been the muster station. As you say though, all conjecture at the moment.

QUOTE:

The question of nationalities is an interesting one as there seems to be a proportionally high number of non-Italians in the numbers of missing/dead. My biggest concern, following this disaster, about going on another Italian line is regarding how good the ship's staff would be at communicating in all the languages in a crisis situation. Quite a few of the dead have been found with their lifejackets on at muster stations so I wonder if they hadn't heard messages to move to the lifeboats? Strictly conjecture, of course, but it is a question that needs investigating by the inquiry.

We were told on MSC that the order they give instructions out depends on percentage of passengers. Our ship had very many Germans and it was always given out first in German, then English then Italian. We dont think it would put us off another Italian cruise, but we would assess the situation ourselves in future if it ever arose. Surely if it did seem so disorganised you would have made your way out on deck if only to see whats happening? The inquest will make good reading Im sure and I dont think we will wait very long either for the outcome.

Hi all
I was in Malaga on Monday,,cruise movements in the local English paper (Sur) said MSC Fantasia was in port and would depart at 19:00 for Civitavecchia.
I was on the prom in Torremolinos and saw it leave at ~14:30.
I was wondering maybe it had been told to go well away from the Costa disaster enroute to Citi.
JC