As I had woken up, I decided to do my regular daily routine by getting on the computer and checking my e-mail, but I decided to check out the news, and I saw a headline that a Cruise Ship had capsized, and I right away clicked on it, and I was just in shock, I could not believe what I was seeing on the computer. I thought it was something out of a movie, but unfortunately it is real. I cannot even begin to describe how I am feeling for the Costa Concordia Cruise Ship tragedy that happened on January 14, 2012 off the coast of Italy in the Mediterranean Sea. My heart feels heavy for all those people involved in such a terrible ordeal. I am glad 4000 people were evacuated and are safe, but I feel for those who have not been found yet and unfortunately those who lost their lives. I have not stopped thinking about this since I heard about it. I started to cry and my emotions on this was on the rise.
Having been on the same Cruise Ship Company on another Cruise Ship called Costa Atlantica, and among other Cruise lines in the industry, this news even hit me harder as I have been on these huge ships before. I cannot believe how scared and eery I have been feeling the last 24-48 hours since this terrible tragic thing that happened. Now I am thinking about how all these people are going to go home without travel documents, how they will be salvaging peoples belongings, how they will even raise this enormous and a 135,000 ton ship. I know this may put a big scar on the cruise ship industry and now people may not travel with cruises anymore, and I wouldn’t blame people who are looking to travel. I know this is a very scary thing, but I really enjoy cruising and visiting so many countries all at once. This definitely will not deter me from cruising again as I have had a passion from cruise ships and cruising and for several years this has been part of my life.
My thoughts and prayers go out to all those and all the families.
YES I DID SEE THE HEADLINES AND FEEL FOR THE PUOPLE AND FAMILIES ENVOLVED, I MYSELF NEVER BEEN ON A CRUISE SHIP TO TRAVEL, I DO BELIEVE IF TRAGEDY WILL HAPPEN COULD CRUISE OR AIR SO PROBABLY I WILL STILL TRYA CRUISE VACATION SOMEDAY. HOPE ALL ENDS WELL.
Apparently the whole tragedy was caused by the Captain being too close to the shoreline in an attempt to show off to the residents of the island, as he had done in the past.
http://www.emirates247.com/news/world/costa-showboating-may-have-caused-italy-disaster-2012-01-15-1.437735
Scary.
It is shocking news and I am occasionally checking on updates. Yes, my thoughts and prayers go out to those families, especially the ones whose lives were lost.
Such a tragedy… Thoughts and prayers go out to all families.
very scary indeed. Brings back memories of the Titanic movie.
I had a feeling something was wrong before I even heard about the accident. You’re wrong about one thing though. This won’t stop people from travelling via boat. There are car crashes on a daily basis, plane crashes once in a while, etc… People will still travel. What happened was supposed to happen. It was supposed to happen to trigger something else. You never know how things are interlinked to one another, but it takes 1 domino to topple the others. I pray for those who are lost and hope they will survive alongside their brethren. People may have lost material belongings, but those are replaceable. It’s the lives that count…
touching post. thank you.
Well said.
The images are just horrific. I, too, feel so badly for the peole who had probably been dreaming of this vacation for months if not years and now all they have are tragic memories. Sad..
May God protect the living and gently take the dead, the captain and crew have some answers to give.
Its all the more eerie because it is happening in a situation which many of us either have been in or can foresee ourselves to be in. As humans, probably the best we can do is to learn from it and make the future world a better and safer place.
I understand and share your empathy for the plight of those on board the ship. However, I don’t think this tragic accident will put people off travelling by cruise. After all car accidents happen everyday and yet we all keep on driving. Same goes for any other kind of transport and we are all still flying, even after the terrifying events of 9/11. People are resilient and optimistic at heart and nothing short of sickness or death will stop us from what we really want to achieve.
Agreed. The cruise ships are built to take more passengers and make their experience more luxurious (so they’ll happily pay more) with little attention to safety, not only in the top-heavy design but also in crew quality and training. In this case the crew were inadequately trained for emergencies and many spoke no or little Italian or English.
We had a disaster for similar reasons nearer the UK – the Herald of Free Enterprise (name more appropriate than intended, maybe) was a “RoRo” (roll on, roll off) vehicle ferry. Leaving Dieppe in Belgium for the UK it capsized. The reason was that the bow doors had been left open, water flooded the vehicle compartments and when the ship turned at the mouth of the harbour the water inside unbalanced it. About 200 died, despite the crew being well-trained and doing their best and the Belgian emergency services responding brilliantly. The bow doors had been left open by one seaman who had been working about 20 hours without a rest and fell asleep. Much of the popular media blamed him, but someone should have been responsible for checking he’d closed them. There was no automatic warning system to tell the captain they’d been left open. Compartments within the vehicle decks would have stopped the incident being fatal: this had been considered, but rejected because it would reduce the number of vehicles that could be carried and hence the profits.
I love cruising too and have been on many big ships. I am hoping this tragedy spurs more safety measures, like the Titanic did in its day. What happened to the double hull that was supposed to prevent this type of accident? Why weren’t the life boats lowered in time? Why weren’t the crew better trained to respond in an emergency? Why wasn’t that emergency declared sooner? Many questions will be raised, and I am sure this will deter many people from taking a cruise in the future. Like the Titanic, many of us cruise enthusiasts thought something like this couldn’t happen with modern failsafes.
I’ve done a few cruises, on military ships, and fishing boats. I’ve never had the pleasure of cruising on a luxury liner. But one thing that is common to each type of vessel: The Captain of the ship is like a father to the family, or a king or commander in chief of a little country. He must keep that honorable responsibility on the forefront of his mind. He must remain sober and alert. There are many people counting on the Captain, and their lives are in his hands. All men and woman that pilot planes, captain ships or even drive a car — Must not be found asleep at the wheel! I wouldn’t be afraid to continue your traveling. Most of the Captains I’ve known, I was glad to trust with my life.
I have a friend and my mother on a cruise right now – I won’t really relax until they get home. Thank goodness they weren’t on this one.
I have never been on a cruise but was considering going on one. I guess accidents can occur in any travel mode. One hopes that lessons are learned and that cruises become safer in the future.
I saw what happened and I just could not believe my eyes I surely am praying for those people and their families.
I don’t trust what ppl say about year 2012 being ominous . But something or other every other day something bad is happening. Quake in italy, Cyclone in India, and now this… though small but..
may be all his could be a human error…
Reach me at Krazy Memoirs
Quake in Japan (sry not italy) My prayers with all and their families !
Reach me at Krazy Memoirs
I understand your feelings. It’s a dreadful tragedy.
thanks for sharing talin, i know how easy it is to relate when you’ve been through a similar experience as those who were on the cruise ship, I once was fortunate enough to enjoy a trip on a similar cruise between Singapore and Malaysia, and so I can imagine the shock and chaos that went through the minds of those who only wanted some rest and recreation from their work. God bless you!