S. Fla. Cruise Company: Ship Stuck Submerged Rock Before Tipping
HOLLYWOOD (CBS4/AP)—The South Florida company of a luxury cruise ship that ran aground and tipped over, leaving at least three dead and 70 people still unaccounted for, said the ship struck a submerged rock before tilting.
Three bodies were recovered from the sea after the Costa Concordia ran aground off the tiny island of Giglio near the coast of Tuscany late Friday, tearing a 160-foot gash in its hull and sending in a rush of water.
Three people reported dead were identified as two French passengers and a Peruvian crewman. The ANSA news agency said Saturday that the bodies of the three men were in a morgue. It did not cite a source.
The company that operated the Costa Concordia, Costa Cruise Lines, has its U.S. head office in Hollywood, Florida. Notably, Costa Cruise Lines is owned by Doral-based Carnival Corp.
Carnival Corp. said on January 13 Costa Cruises' vessel, the Costa Concordia, departed from Civitavecchia, Italy with approximately 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members on a seven-day voyage.
"At approximately 10:00pm CET, the vessel struck rock off the coast of Isola del Giglio, Italy and sustained significant damage causing the ship to list severely," the cruise line said. "The order was given to abandon ship and deploy the lifeboats."
Gianni Onorato, president of Costa Crociere, released a statement Saturday providing some insight into what happened when the luxury cruise liner went aground off the coast of Italy.
"On the basis of the initial evidence — still preliminary — Costa Concordia, under the command of Master Francesco Schettino, was sailing its regularly scheduled itinerary from Civitavecchia to Savona, Italy, when the ship struck a submerged rock."
Onorato said the captain and its crew took immediate action.
"Captain Schettino, who was on the bridge at the time, immediately understood the severity of the situation and performed a maneuver intended to protect both guests and crew, and initiated security procedures to prepare for an eventual ship evacuation."
But things quickly took a turn for the worse.
"Unfortunately, that operation was complicated by a sudden tilting of the ship that made disembarkation difficult."
Carnival posted tweets on Twitter early Saturday afternoon.
"Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the grounding of the Costa Concordia and especially the loved ones of those who lost their lives," the first tweet read.
"We wish to recognize and thank the Italian Coast Guard and everyone in Italy who has provided such extraordinary assistance," the second tweet read.
Although the company said immediate actions were taken, guests aboard the ship disagree.
Slideshow: Passengers Of Costa Concordia Arrive Porto Santo Stefano
Survivors described Saturday a chaotic evacuation, as plates and glasses crashed and they crawled along upended hallways trying to reach safety.
By morning Saturday, the ship was lying virtually flat off Gigio's coast, its starboard side submerged in the water and the huge gash showing clearly on its upturned hull.
Passengers described a scene reminiscent of "Titanic," complaining the crew failed to give instructions on how to evacuate and once the emergency became clear, delayed lowering the lifeboats until the ship was listing too heavily for many of them to be released.
Helicopters plucked to safety some people who were trapped on the ship, some survivors were rescued by boats in the area, and witnesses said some people jumped from the ship into the dark, cold sea. Coast guard rescuers were continuing to search the ship for passengers.
Authorities still hadn't counted all the survivors by the time they reached mainland 12 hours later.
The evacuation drill was only scheduled for Saturday afternoon, even though some passengers had already been on board for several days.
"It was so unorganized, our evacuation drill was scheduled for 5 p.m.," said Melissa Goduti, 28, of Wallingford, Connecticut, who had set out on the cruise of the Mediterranean hours earlier. "We had joked 'What if something had happened today?"'
"Have you seen 'Titanic'? That's exactly what it was," said Valerie Ananias, 31, a schoolteacher from Los Angeles who was traveling with her sister and parents on the first of two cruises around the Mediterranean. They all bore dark red bruises on their knees from the desperate crawl they endured along nearly vertical hallways and stairwells, trying to reach rescue boats.
"We were crawling up a hallway, in the dark, with only the light from the life vest strobe flashing," her mother, Georgia Ananias, 61, said. "We could hear plates and dishes crashing, people slamming against walls."
If you know of any Floridian passengers who were aboard the ship, kindly call the CBS4 news desk 305-639-4500.
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