Costa Concordia Pics & Video: How Did the Cruise Ship Sink?

by NowPublic Staff | January 16, 2012 at 09:20 am

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Costa Concoridia: Error after Error

The Costa Concordia ran aground off the coast of Giglio, Italy on January 13, 2012, carrying 4,235 passengers and crew. Six bodies were recovered so far, and up to a dozen passengers are still missing. [Update: 29 people are still missing after the Costa Concordia sinking; the count was inexplicably raised from 12 to 29]

You can see photos and video of the sunken Costa Concordia below.

Francesco Schettino, captain of the Costa Concordia, has been arrested and charged with multiple homicides, shipwreck, and abandoning his ship.

What Happened to the Costa Concordia?

The sinking of the Costa Concordia is being blamed on human error. If left alone, the Costa Concordia's navigation would not have taken it so close to shore. Also, no mayday call was issued, though the passengers were alerted that something was amiss.

Passengers were initially warned of an "electrical problem", which was not actually the issue: the issue was a big hole in the side of the ship.

Once the Costa Concordia was sinking, passengers found out that there wasn't enough room in the lifeboats for all of them. One wonders how many noted that this is the 100th anniversary year of the Titanic sinking.

The Costa Concordia is owned by Costa Crociere, an Italian company that is in turn owned by Carnival Cruise Lines. The Carnival Splendor, owned by the same firm, caught fire off the coast of Mexico in 2010.