Still searching
January 16, 2012
The Italian coast guard has revised upward its list of missing people in the capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship to 29, up from a previous estimate of 15. Four of the missing are crew members while 25 are passengers, among them at least 12 German citizens.
Divers and rescue workers have continued their search for survivors through the night into Tuesday. Marco Brusco, the head of coast guard, said there was still "a glimmer of hope" for finding more survivors since the giant half-submerged ship had not yet been fully inspected, but chances were now slim more than three days after the accident.
The search and rescue operation had been suspended on Monday afternoon when the ship was found to have shifted approximately nine centimeters (3.5 inches), apparently because of rough water. The head of the coast guard's diving team, Rodolfo Raiteri, said a storm had led officials to remove all divers from the site because of "disastrous" conditions.
The CEO of Costa Crociere, the company which owns the ship, said Monday the deadly accident was caused by an "inexplicable" error by the captain, who has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
Pier Luigi Foschi told reporters that Captain Francesco Schettino, 51, made an unauthorized deviation from the Costa Concordia's scheduled course, a "human error" that caused the deaths of at least six people.
Foschi added that he expected a negative impact on the company's business, but that he was "hoping that the confidence of our customers will be restored." He also praised the members of rescue teams that have been searching the ship for survivors, saying they had "all behaved like heroes."
Close to shore
On Friday, under clear weather and calm seas as dinner was being served, the ship struck a rock off the western Italian coast, tearing a large hole in the hull.
"The route followed by the ship was too close to the coast and it seems that [the captain's] decisions on the management of the emergency did not follow the procedures of Costa Crociere," the company said in a statement.
Schettino told Italian television that the rocks were not marked on maps and were undetected by the ship's navigation systems. He said the accident took place about 300 meters (330 yards) from shore.
Schettino was arrested on Saturday on charges of manslaughter and causing a disaster. Witnesses and the Italian coast guard say he was seen abandoning the ship before all of the 4,200 passengers and crew members were evacuated. Italian navigation code allows for up to 12 years in prison for a captain who abandons a ship in danger.
Environmental risk
The 290-meter-long ship lay on its side half submerged on Monday near the small island of Giglio, off the Tuscan coast. A large hole in the hull was visible, but salvage experts said fuel tanks appear to have escaped the damage.
Costa Crociere’s CEO said the ship contained 2,300 metric tons of fuel, but that there had been no sign of leakage yet.
Giglio mayor Sergio Ortelli, however, warned that the sunken ship was an "ecological time bomb," raising fears that fuel might leak into a nearby marine nature reserve and sanctuary for dolphins, porpoises and whales.
Italian Environment Minister Corrado Clini warned that the ship still posed a "very high risk" to the delicate coastal environment, and that "urgent action" was necessary to avert environmental catastrophe. He said a state of emergency would be declared this week to raise funds and boost rescue and clean-up operations in case of an environmental disaster.
Author: Martin Kuebler, Andrew Bowen, Richard Connor (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)
Editor: Chuck Penfold