It has been with great fascination that I've been following developments off the coast of Italy this past week, where one of the largest passenger vessels in the world struck a reef, tearing a giant hole in its side. In short order, the Costa Concordia was on the bottom of the ocean. Fortunately, the bottom wasn't too far away.
It's been really hard for the world not to make comparisons to the most famous shipwreck of all, the Titanic, which sank 100 years ago this April. Indeed, the similarities are striking.
The ship struck a large object. It soon sank. Thousands aboard were in chaos during a disorderly evacuation.
But there are also numerous differences, too. Concordia was not hit by a nearly invisible iceberg, moving on its own accord. The ship, which was likely equipped with the most modern of navigation hardware in the world, struck a rock in waters that have been charted since Roman times.
The ineptitude of the captain, on the bridge at the time, seems all but certain in this case. But what very few have noted, other than his lawyer, is that at least some of his actions have saved nearly all on the 4,200 people on that ship. For a ship that is a third of a kilometre long, he brought it from cruising speed to a stop and turned it around in the space of just a few boat lengths. And while the world may be shocked to see this ship on its side, the fact is they can indeed see the ship, because he essentially beached it, bringing it as close to shore as possible.
As a photographer, I recognize that lens choice can make an object seem close or far, so depending on the angle and whether the photo was taken with a telephoto or wide angle lens, the various pictures make the wreck of the Concordia seem very close or very far from the harbour of Giglio Porto. However, aerial photos reveal this 290 metre-long ship was within two boat lengths of making it inside the harbour itself, where its massive bulk would have utterly choked the harbour. With a draft of 8.2 metres (27 feet) before taking on water, it's unlikely this ship could have gotten any closer. When it flopped over, its funnel nearly touched the island. Its final disposition was probably the best place it could be in the worst of situations.
This, in turn, allowed people who could not get into lifeboats to swim for shore, and survive. It was literally the distance of a few laps of a large pool. If this ship had remained in open water, it surely would have completely capsized quickly and disappeared under the waves. The death toll may have been in the thousands, instead of six, and possibly a few dozen more, depending on resolution of the missing people's fate. Given the slow pace of the evacuation, they could have lost nearly everybody.
There is no excuse for driving the ship onto the rocks, one of which decided to stay embedded in the ship. There is also no excuse for the lack of a lifeboat drill before the ship left dock. Nor is there an excuse for the lack of leadership of the crew when it came time to warn the passengers of the imminent danger, the need to abandon ship, the lack of a mayday call, and horrible discipline in conducting the evacuation.
That the captain was found on shore well before the evacuation was complete speaks volumes of his lack of leadership. Not only was he foolhardy to drive his $570 million ship onto the rocks, but he was a coward, too.
That fool and coward may have killed dozens, but ironically saved thousands.
Brian Zinchuk is editor of Pipeline News. He can be reached at brian.zinchuk@sasktel.net
