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The Costa Concordia Disaster: Key Learnings

Jul 30, 2024

The Costa Concordia Disaster

Overview

  • Date of Incident: 13th January 2012
  • Time of Departure: 7:15 PM
  • Ship: Costa Concordia, the largest Italian cruise ship at the time
  • Capacity: 4,252 people on board, additional 2,000 seats available
  • Entertainment Facilities:
    • 4 big swimming pools
    • 5 restaurants
    • 13 bars
    • Casino
    • Basketball court
    • Fitness center with gym, sauna, Turkish bath, and F1 racing simulator

Sequence of Events

  1. First Destination: Savona, Italy
  2. Incident Time: 9:45 PM, 2.5 hours after departure
    • Sudden noise and electrical failure, ship began to tilt
  3. Initial Response:
    • Passengers informed of an electrical failure; true: engine failure
    • Captain's silence and miscommunication heightened panic, reminiscent of Titanic disaster, which occurred 100 years prior

Captain Schettino's Actions

  • Captain: Francesco Schettino
  • Route Deviation: Took the ship close (150 m) to Giglio Island for a sail-past
    • Ignored safety protocols; ship was moving fast at night, water was shallow
    • Collision with rocks caused a 70-meter-long wound in the hull
  1. Emergency Response:
    • By 9:52 PM, emergency generator failed and the captain downplayed the severity
    • Chaos escalated; Captain finally admitted to problems at 10:05 PM
  2. Evacuation Instructions:
    • Formal evacuation orders came late, at 10:54 PM
    • Captain Schettino abandoned ship at 11:19 PM, while many passengers remained onboard

Passenger and Crew Responses

  • Crew Members: Mixed reactions
    • Some acted heroically, assisting passengers, while others mirrored the captain's cowardice
    • Karnaatha Rameshana and Russell Rebello helped passengers evacuate

Casualties and Community Response

  • Total Deaths: 32 individuals
  • Community Efforts: Residents of Giglio provided shelter, support, and logistics for survivors
    • Launched rescue operations with local officials and emergency services

Aftermath and Consequences

  1. Legal and Financial Fallout:
    • Total costs of disaster for Costa Crociere: $2 billion
    • Compensation provided to victims and families
  2. Captain's Fate:
    • Schettino charged with manslaughter and sentenced to 16 years in prison
    • Continued to lie about his involvement and actions

Lessons Learned

  • Leadership Failures:
    • Importance of admitting mistakes as a leader
    • Consequences of poor decision-making can lead to tragedy

Conclusion

  • Future Learning:
    • Always recognize and address problems, as ignoring them can result in dire consequences.

Full transcript