A Costa ship hit a rock and sunk near the Western side of Italy. Some dead ...some still missing. 4,000 aboard.......3 dead and 40 or so missing

Some of you know that I'm a retired ship's Master who drove Panamax ships.....and as such my mind is boggled.......

how the f**k did this guy do this????????

Just google it up... the vessel's name is Costa Concordia.....

They've just arrested the Master and first officer....jeez

I saw this on my home page this am. I wonder how come they arested them??

I've been following the story too. I know nothing about ships and have never been on a cruise but don't these ships have GPS, depth finders, and all the bells and whistles to let you know when you're about to crash into something?

I just don't get how this happened. Was the Captain sleeping? Isn't there a co-captian?

I also read that when the ship hit, the crew told people not to worry, that it wasn't a big deal. The lifeboats weren't dropped down in time AND the passengers had not yet had the safety orientation. It was to be held later that day.

So many questions. I hope there are answers.

I read a quote from one of the passengers that made me giggle (in the midst of this sad event). She said they were enjoying a show when the ship crashed, she looked around and the magician had disappeared. I'm not making fun of the situation, I just found this funny.

very indepth newscoverage over here, computerised images everything, but as you wont understand greek, this is the best i can find in english
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/14/captain-arrested-italian-cruise-ship

this next link is bit of a rag and will sensationalise but always has gived good photojournalism.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2086831/Costa-Concordia-accident-Pictures-cruise-ship-sinking-coast-Italy-Titanic-like-scene.html

and I thought a good captain always went down with his ship!

I've seen some coverage on this & wondered how such a thing could happen. I've only been on 2 cruises... my favorite was on Costa Victoria in 1999, Western Caribbean. It was a beautiful ship, classy (vs. tacky/glitzy type) cruise. I thouroghly enjoyed the 7 day experience w/ them. It was a cruise I won, a raffle.

My prayers are w/ those who have had to deal w/ this. I can only imagine how scary it must be.

Ironically I'm teaching a 500 GT masters training course and I really don't have a lot of time to post.....

Next week I'll be able to post a more detailed explanation of what I see....

regards

Cap

I heard last night that the Captain says he accidently fell in a lifeboat...sure he did. "