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| 25 per cent of passengers and crew carried on cruise ships under IMO SOLAS 2010 regulations will have to find a place in one of these containerised inflatable lift rafts ... |
Julian Bray reports:
http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/cruise-ship-industry-impacted-disaster
As a Cruise Industry Commentator Julian Bray has now within 24 hours completed a round of 32 radio interviews, including 19 BBC local radio stations in the UK, BBC Five Live (2), BBC Radio Four PM, BBCTV News Channel, CBC in Canada, BBC Boston USA and BBC World Service and USA Public Radio Networks.
Julian Bray exclusively pointing out that IMO SOLAS (Saving of Lives at Sea) 2010 regulations (introduced after the RMS Titanic disaster 100 years ago, and updated from time to time) only require that 75% of total passengers, and staff carried on board a cruise ship, are required by law, to have seat allocations in life boats and that the remaining 25% are only to be offered inflatable life raft places.
The regulation was designed as a minimum requirement but ship builders and owners over the last 100 years have taken this to mean a maximum requirement.
Julian Bray also earlier on in this investigation was alone in drawing investigators attention to the importance of recovering the 'black box' recorder. Transcripts of the bridge recordings have now been released by the Italian coastguard which suggest the Captain refused to return to the ship, and the crew in effect abandoned ship before the captain gave the order.
Monday 11 am RESCUE OPERATIONS SUSPENDED (Reuters / Italian Fire Service) AND RESCUE WORKERS TAKEN OFF BY HELICOPTER AS REPORTS SAY THE WRECK IS NOW SLIPPING AWAY.
News Conference held in Genoa by Costa Cruises, claims the disaster is the result of 'human error', evacuation procedures not followed says Owners. "Unapproved, unauthorised, deviation from ships programmed course" says Costa Cruises CEO (we say an attempt to shift blame for any corporate culture to the master of the vessel). P&O and Princess Cruises are other Carnival Brands.
Sunday 6:45 pm Voices heard from inside the #Costa Concordia wreck, possibility of more survivors being evacuated from staterooms, say rescue teams.
Sunday 5:15pm British couple report that seven short and one long blast on the ships whistle was given,which is the international emergency signal "Go to your Emergency Stations"
Sunday 5pm Salvage diver says scars on rock ledge may suggest #Costa Concordia wreck 'is sliding' and may fall off into 80 metres of deep water.
Sunday 3pm Two bodies [elderly males] recovered from #Costa Concordia submerged section says Italian Coastguard
Sunday 1pm Italian Captain has on video just claimed that cruise ship #Costa Concordia ship was "traversing sideways 300 metres from shore with this rock projection" and no rocks shown on his 'tourist' navigation systems.
Question: This was at night....something might have been lost in translation but the fact remains this ship was several nautical miles off its normal plotted course. Why? Possible UNCONFIRMED answer from local "Officers have a tradition of saluting former officer(s) who lives on the island and may have taken ship in too close."
Breaking news from Italian sources Cruise ship wreck is apparently perched on an uncharted rock shelf at 20 metres; but 80 metres of deep water below.... rock shelf not shown on his charts says Captain.
If weather breaks ie gets worse could dislodge ship from shelf and send it without warning plunging down to 80 metres depth.
Sunday 12 noon: All British Nationals safe. The Cabin Services Director Manrico Giampetroni has been found by rescue teams in a cabin on Deck 3 has susatined a broken leg and is being taken off by rescue helicopter, Manrico Giampetroni was plucked from the wreck tied to a helicopter winchman.
Oil reported to be leaking from aft tanks.
Survivor camera footage on Youube shows complete lack of orderly embarkation
Survivor confirms that stateroom TV was showing a looped safety video on all channels as soon as they stepped aboard and were admitted to staterooms after turnaround cleaning.
BLACK BOX RECOVERED Agency pictures confirm that the 'Black Box' command and control recorder, has been located and safely removed from the wreck
Sunday 7am Latest: A 35 strong firefighting team, has rescued a South Korean Couple 'who were banging on their cabin door' and led them to safety. Agency reports that a third survivor has now been located and landed ashore.
Reports are coming in from several agencies of 'sounds' being heard from a part of Deck 3 which is still high above the waterline; suggesting that other survivors are still alive, and awaiting rescue.
Aircraft style emergency floor level lighting strips in public corridors pointing to exit routes said to be still working.
Some 40 individuals remain unaccounted for. All staterooms above the waterline are being individually searched.
Search teams had to be withdrawn overnight.
Captain is alleged to have abandoned his cruise ship the Costa Concordia as early as 9.30pm on Friday 13th, leaving hundreds of passengers to their fate...
The Master (Captain) and First Officer have been arrested and face allegations of causing a wreck and multiple homicides.
US owned Carnival 'Masters Rules & Regulations' state:
"In the event the ship becomes endangered , all Employees are to do their utmost to protect the ship and its Guests. No Employee is to abandon or suggest abandoning the ship unless authorised to do so by the Master
Sunday 1am Latest: Italian firefighters have reached 2 persons inside the Costa Concordia, who are both "alive and well" and are making arrangements to lead them to safety.
Both the Master and First Officer have been detained by Italian Police for questioning and to have allegations of "abandoning the ship whilst passengers were still at risk and on board the striken vessel." put to them.
Julian Bray, Cruise Industry Expert, writer and broadcaster in the UK reports: On Friday January 13, 2012 at about 9pm local time, the cruise ship Costa Concordia (owned by the Carnival Group), initially thought to have straddled a sandbar off the Isola del Giglio, but in a statement from the cruise line, confirmed by close up pictures of the wreck confirms the ship had 'struck rocks' on its way from its first port of call, Civitavecchia (also known as the Port for Rome, Italy) at the start of a 7-day cruise. The pictures confirm the extent of the tear to the flat bottom hull and also showed a large rock embedded in the ruptured, tangled metalwork cladding. 12 hours later some 12 passengers/crew remain unaccounted for, but later reports on fatalities are unclear.
The Foreign Office in London has issued a telephone number for relatives seeking information to call: 0207 008 1500
The 'missing' number was later revised upwards to 70, but many survivors still in trauma from the ordeal, refused to give confirmatory information to officials. In a series of BBC radio and television broadcasts, I suggested this is truly 'a catastrophic disaster on many levels', the ship and her five sisters all need to be investigated. Reports suggest the ship was some seven nautical miles off its regular computer and satellite plotted course. The Italian Maritime Authority has already opened an investigation. Sea conditions were calm - but cold- and visibility good.
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| Where are the automaticaly inflated liferafts? |
The ship initially began to list some 20 degrees, the list prevented some of the covered motorised lifeboats (capacity 150 pax) being deployed. This however should not have impeded the deployment of automatic inflatable liferafts in drum like containers on the boat decks. A simple pull of a retaining line and the liferaft is launched.
Survivors talking about their ordeal, claimed that the mandatory lifeboat drill usually performed within two hours of leaving the embarkation port, had not been carried out, and as a result few of the passengers would know where to go or what to expect. Reports suggested that a power outage or power surge happened during Dinner, so it would appear the lifeboat drill had still not been carried out at that late hour. Admittedly the ship was in the process of listing before finally rolling over, but later webcam and agency pictures taken Saturday afternoon, show that a number of lifeboats had been launched and slid down the sloping hull like a ski ramp.
Amid panic, many passengers took to lifeboats and some jumped into the water to swim to shore, during which earlier reports suggested six to eight passengers drowned and a further 7 are said to be critically injured. Later reports revise the death toll as being 3.
Officials from the British Embassy are travelling to the wreck site, as some 24 British subjects are reported to be on the passenger manifest. Survivors talk of fire breaking out, electrical 'explosions' and a great deal of water being taken onboard, which suggests watertight door seal being ruptured as well as the hull being breached.
Other passengers and crew were safely evacuated by lifeboats, local boats and helicopters working in relays and taken to shelter on the island, where the local Mayor has appealed to 'anyone with a roof' to offer shelter to the rescued. Some of the crew remained aboard, but others are reported to have jumped into the sea. The shipping line, part of the Carnival Group initially insisted there was no danger of sinking. All cruise ships like aircraft carry a 'black box' usually located on the top open deck near the bow and investigators will want to run through the last moments of this once pround ship, now recorded on official records as a "WRECK" >>> more follows
Contributor: Media, Aviation, Politics & Travel Expert, Broadcaster Julian Bray UK Landline: 01733 345581 Mobile: 07944 217476 ISDN2 downline +44(0)1733 555 319 (B'cast ISDN Remote Studio) G722/APT-X Dual Codecs Glensound C5
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