Some answers to the perplexing questions about the sinking of the cruise ship Costa Concordia

                                                             Photo from CNN

These are the events of the last hour and a half that Costa Concordia was afloat.

These events also give rise to further questions.

The attached link will take you to the Reconstruction of last hour and a half before the grounding of the Costa Concordia.  The narration is by Captain John Konrad, a USCG Licensed Master Mariner Unlimited, using the AIS Data (Automatic Identification System) by www.QPS.nl.  The AIS Data information is constantly transmitted from a ship to give data to other ships in the area regarding position, speed and course.  The narrative starts at 8:27 p.m., about 18 minutes before Costa Concordia hit the rock that ripped a hole in her side.

You can see step by step the decisions made by the Captain from before he hit the rocks that ripped the gash in Costa Concordia’s side until the final grounding at about 10:00 p.m.

The ship was cruising at 15.5 knots, heading straight for Giglio Island which was less than a mile away.  The captain still had options that he did not exercise that could have saved the ship from any damage.

The unanswered question is why?

Why did the captain not reduce Costa Concordia’s speed or even reverse the engines?  Reversing the engines may have been uncomfortable for the passengers but the ship and lives would have been saved.

Why did the captain continue to steam toward Giglio Island at 15.5 knots for almost 10 minutes past the best point to turn to make a close run past the port of Giglio?  Every foot he continued past the optimum turning point would increase the angle of the turn he would have to make to miss the rocks.  That increasing angle would put him further and further away from the port of Giglio where he was trying to make the close pass.

When the captain finally made the turn to avoid the rocks, why did he make a shallow turn instead of a FULL turn to starboard?  A full starboard turn, with the rudder all the way over, would have been very uncomfortable for the passengers at that speed and there may have even been some injuries, but it could have saved lives and the Costa Concordia.

In this day of GPS, Radar, Chart Plotters and every other electronic aid on the bridge this tragedy should never have happened.  Part of it is explained in the Captain’s testimony; he was not using all of the electronics so close at hand, he was navigating visually.

This reconstruction of events video is 14 and a half minutes long and it gives us a good idea of what happened, but not why all of these options were ignored.

To see the video, follow this link:      http://vimeo.com/35351659

The probable reason the Costa Concordia ended up laying on her starboard side is that she was drifting sideways at a little over 0.5 knots when the stern grounded. At that point the bow increased its speed to 0.7 knots as it swung around before it grounded, the bottom of the ship on the starboard side hitting the sand and rocks first.

The Costa Concordia is a tall sided ship with a lot of weight in the upper decks.  As the bottom starboard side of the ship hit the sand and rocks, the momentum would cause the stability pendulum (center of gravity) to shift to starboard.  The water in the damaged hull would also rush to the starboard side, like a water hammer, increasing the stability swing, and these two factors could cause the ship to roll toward that side.

Hopefully when the Voyage Data Recorder is analyzed, we will have a better understanding of the details of what happened.

I don’t think we will ever know why it happened.

Disaster at Sea – Perplexing Questions About the Sinking of the Costa Concordia

90-foot gash in port side of the Costa Concordia - from CNN

It is too early to know all the facts and perhaps we will never know them all, but the sinking of the Costa Concordia raises some perplexing questions.

When a ship is taking on water due to major damage on one side, it will start listing as the water rushes in and that side of the ship gets heaver.  The danger in this is if the list gets too big the ship will roll over and capsize.  A 90 foot gash in the side of a ship will cause major compartment flooding especially if the end of the gash extends just past a bulkhead and into an additional compartment.  This would be especially true in large compartments such as the engine room or machinery spaces.

The usual procedure to offset this is to counter flood; that is to flood compartments on the undamaged side of the ship thus easing the list.  The ship will settle deeper in the water but it will minimize the list and avoid capsizing.   The result would be a minimal list which would allow the life boats on both sides of the ship to be deployed safely.


The odd thing about the Costa Concordia sinking is that the damaged port side of the ship is out of the water.  Is it possible that both sides of the ship were breached at the same time? Perhaps there is a larger gash ripped in the starboard side causing her to list and sink on that side.  That does not seem likely.  She was holed on her port side for 90 feet.  If there was greater damage on the starboard side, you would think that she would have sank like a rock.

We don’t know what the bottom terrain is like at the sink site.  It is possible, but unlikely, that a sharply sloping bottom caused her to go over on her starboard side and expose the 90 foot gash in her side. However, the bottom generally slopes down getting deeper the further you get away from an island.

Is it possible that counter flooding was ordered and it got away from them causing the ship to sink on the starboard side?

It may take months or even years for these questions to be answered.

Whatever the answer the Costa Concordia ended up in the best position for salvage with most of the damage exposed for ease of temporary repair before being refloated.

It is unthinkable to suspect that the Costa Concordia was purposefully sunk on her starboard side for ease of salvage at the risk of the passengers safety. At the time of this writing, the black box was just recovered. Perhaps it will answer some of these questions.

Launching a boat at a super high tide

On October 27, 2011 at 9:33 am there was a 6.9 foot high tide.  It just so happens that at 9:32 am I was launching my boat to take a family out to bury their father/grandfather at sea.  As you can see in the picture, the high tide was up over the launch ramp and actually on the level part of the approach area.  I knew that this was going to be a problem.

I have a hard and fast rule:                   I NEVER put the back tires of my truck in the salt water!  This day, I backed toward the ramp and stopped as usual with my back tires at the water’s edge. 

Problem 1: My trailer has reached the edge of the ramp and is starting to go under the water but the boat is still 90% out of the water.

The best thing to do at this point is to go and get a bite to eat and wait until the tide recedes a little.

Problem 2:  The family is waiting to take their loved one’s ashes to sea – NOW.

I had no choice but to back up into the salt water.  I backed up until the surge was up past the driver’s door.  At this point the back tires of my SUV are only in about 2.5 inches of water because the ramp is almost level at this point.  I am not going to go any further into the water so I figured I would give it a try.

As I unhooked the winch strap from the bow of the boat it did not move – it was solid as a rock.  Usually the stern of the boat would be afloat by now, but not today.

I had already warmed up the engine before I left home, so I started the boat, put it in reverse and nothing happed – it was solid as a rock.

The wave surge that was coming in was only about 3 inches high.  So I waited for a surge to hit the back of my boat and gunned the engine to about one quarter throttle for about 1 or 2 seconds until the prop just started to cavitate and lost its bite on the water.  I had to do this 4 times, timed with the surge until the hull broke free from the skids and I was able to back off of the trailer.

If you encounter this problem, you must pay close attention to the engine RPM and be very careful.  When the prop cavitates and loses it bite on the water the engine will over rev very quickly and you could easily damage or ruin the engine.  As soon as the prop starts to cavitate you need to drop the throttle back to an idle or neutral. Whenever your back tires get into the salt water be sure when you get home to hose down the tires, rims, back axle and wheel wells to reduce the risk of corrosion.

The day turned out beautiful.  The water was super calm and we scattered the ashes of the family’s father/grandfather about ¾ of a mile off of Crystal Pier.

The second picture is when I reloaded my boat at 11:00 am - an hour and a half later.  You can see the kelp left at the high water mark just ahead of my front tires.  When I launched, that kelp line was under my front door.

All turned out well but be careful:  tomorrow, Saturday October 29, 2011 there is a 6.4 high tide at 10:58 am.

Enjoy the water and safe boating!

Unprovoked attack on a US Aircraft Carrier today in San Diego Harbor

The Schooner Californian making a stealthy approach on the USS Midway 

On this cloudy day, with scattered showers, there was an unprovoked attack on a US Aircraft Carrier in San Diego Harbor. The USS Midway Museum (CV-41) was the victim of a surprise attack during a mock cannon battle today.  The Schooner ‘Californian’, the official California State Tall Ship, made the surprise attack on the Midway.  

The Schooner Californian fires on the USS Midway 

Several shots were fired as the Californian crossed the bow of the USS Midway (CV-41).  As the smoke cleared, there were no signs of damage or reports of injuries – they were, after all, firing blanks.

Festival of Sail – San Diego September 2 - 5, 2011

The Tall Ships are coming to San Diego!

This one arrived Saturday August 27.

Talk about a Green Burial

This is a picture of an ‘Eternal Reef’ on the ocean floor.

The cremated ashes are encased in a concrete reef ball with the same PH as the ocean.  The reef ball is lowered to the ocean floor and you have the beginnings of a whole new underwater ecosystem.

It begins with microscopic creatures moving into the specifically designed nooks and crannies on the reef ball surface.  As these start to grow and multiply, larger sea life moves in to harvest this new bountiful food source.  This continues until you have a whole new ecosystem from the microscopic to a larger fish habitat.

All of this new life because one person wanted their ashes put in a reef ball on the ocean floor.

That is about as ‘Green’ as a burial can get.

Ashes on the Sea is proud to offer this final resting place through Eternal Reefs.

Back from Near Extinction.

In the late 1960’s the future of the Brown Pelican was bleak.  DDT was causing their egg shells to be so thin that very few Brown Pelican eggs survived incubation to hatch each year.

They usually just broke in the nest before maturity.

Today we saw a wonderful site!  There was a huge bait ball of sardines about one mile off of the entrance of Mission Bay, San Diego.  

The bait ball was under siege; Brown Pelicans and Sea Gulls from above as well as Dolphin and Sea Lions from below.

The Brown Pelican is back.

Enjoy the pictures and the video. 

It is a wonderful sight.

Something you don’t see every day.

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