Posted on 01/17/2012 8:36:16 PM PST by Patrick1
When they make the movie about the Costa Concordia, the cruise ship that grounded off the coast of Tuscany, there won’t be romantic tales about its captain. Italian authorities immediately arrested him on suspicions of manslaughter and abandoning ship prematurely. He might have been the skipper of the ill-fated vessel in all senses of the word.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Been on dozens of cruises, and the crews have always been friendly and VERY HARD WORKING for the most part.
This was an Italian cruise ship. I doubt seriously if any psychological tests were offered to him. They probably had him walk in with a suit on....make sure he looks like a fancy cruise captain, can dance, and can drink with the best of them. You would find a more responsible captain onboard a Mobile shrimp boat, and that’s a sad thing.
My suggestion is to require the first officer to have a pistol and if necessary...shoot the captain in the leg if he shows any weakness...just to encourage him to act the way he’s supposed to act.
The idea that the Captain should be counting bodies at that point in time is ridiculous.
I think you're going to find a totally different story as this progresses.
Had the Captain not grounded this ship AFTER hitting rocks....miles before....and run it out to sea, that ship would have sunk a lot quicker.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-20001567-503544.html
Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) is raising some eyebrows with a comment he made about the U.S. territory of Guam during a House Armed Services Committee hearing last Thursday.
In a discussion regarding a planned military buildup on the Pacific island, Johnson expressed some concerns about the plans to Adm. Robert Willard, head of the U.S. Pacific fleet.
“My fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize,” Johnson said.
++++++++++++
The SS Upside Down is the size of an island. I believe this is what happened to Captain Spaghetti of the SS Upside Down…Too many people. Doesn’t it make sense now? : )
The SS Upside Down just went BLOOP! and went over like a roach on its back.
Yep.
More appropriate: Dude, where is my life jacket?
Watching this tragedy, I see something really wrong here:
Life Jackets stored & only available in staterooms are a death trap! Going back to your stateroom to get your life jacket can kill you! Getting to your cabin to get your life jacket may be impossible.
In a ship of such large size & with so many passengers & crew, it makes no sense in an emergency to tell them to go to their cabins to retrieve their life jacket. This becomes instant chaos as 4000+ terrified people all dash for their cabins. And while in their cabins, people are inclined to waste critical time collecting personal belongings.
It seems more logical to store the life jackets on open decks, to be dispensed to anyone who comes on deck. In an emergency, passengers & crew should immediately go to an open deck & get a life vest. Being on an open deck is far safer than being inside the ship, life jacket or not.
Mr Schettino told investigating magistrates in Grosseto, on the Italian mainland, that he ended up in the lifeboat by accident.
During three hours of interrogation on Tuesday, he reportedly said: “The passengers were pouring onto the decks, taking the lifeboats by assault. I didn’t even have a life jacket because I had given it to one of the passengers. I was trying to get people to get into the boats in an orderly fashion. Suddenly, since the ship was at a 60 to 70 degree angle, I tripped and I ended up in one of the boats. That’s how I found myself there.”
Sheesh. You'll find this guy's picture in future dictionaries next to the word "pathetic".
“I think you’re going to find a totally different story as this progresses.”
Thanks. This could be interesting.
The water temperature was reportedly 57F. That is rather cold. Only a strong swimmer could safely make that trip. A few people did it.
It would not have been my first choice.
“All societies are based on rules to protect pregnant women and young children. All else is surplusage, excrescence, adornment, luxury, or folly, which can — and must — be dumped in emergency to preserve this prime function. As racial survival is the only universal morality, no other basic is possible. Attempts to formulate a “perfect society” on any foundation other than “Women and children first!” is not only witless, it is automatically genocidal.”
- Heinlein
The idea of wives leaving their husbands (or whatever) to be first off is ridiculous.
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