Expert Findings Released on Costa Concordia

Costa Concordia & Lifeboats    Courtesy Wikipedia Commons

Expert Panel

Reports Findings

Concordia Tragedy

The panel of experts, that were appointed by the Italian courts to review evidence in the events of the January 14th tragedy which took the lives of 32 people, have released their findings to the court.   A 270 page document was filed with the court on Tuesday and published by Italian media on Thursday.

Captain, Crew, & Costa Cruises to Blame

As expected, the primary blame for the tragic accident falls on Captain Schettino, who has already been condemned in the media as "Captain Coward" and other names. He is charged with several counts including negligent homicide, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning ship before the complete evacuation of the 4,200 passengers and crew. He claims he was commanding the situation from the life boats and denies any wrongdoing.

In the report, the panel also puts blame on the crew for "blunders, delays and security breaches that contributed to the disaster". Early reports from passengers had indicated that the crew was disorganized during the evacuation, which seems to validate the findings.

Costa Crociere, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation plc, is accused of "delaying the emergency alert sent to coastal authorities". In a statement, Costa placed the blame on Francesco Schettino, the ship’s captain: "It is also clear from the records that the communication made by the Master to the crisis department were on the whole not timely, partial and confused, not allowing it to scale a clear perception of the seriousness of what was actually happening."

In response to allegations that the crew was inadequately trained, Costa said: “The alleged defects in the certifications of some of the crew concern only a few individuals who are not key to emergency management”.

A court hearing is scheduled for October 15th to determine if the captain and any of the co-defendants should be put on trial. 

Continuing Coverage

Salvage operations are underway to remove the ship from the coastline of Giglio, Italy.  That operation, which began in June, will last about a year according to current estimates.

We continue to follow all the events around this tragic accident in our anchor article:

Costa Concordia Listing after Deadly Accident