A mind-boggling accident
Having spent countless hours over the past 3 years at the Argostoli cruise liner pier, the Costa Concordia accident at Giglio Island makes me sad beyond words.
Those hours upon hours of gazing at those floating palaces as they glided in and out of the bay—marveling at the diverse group of people coming off the boats—bring the tragedy on the Tuscany coast closer to home than it actually is.
Surmounting this feeling is the reality that the Concordia has a couple of sister vessels, operated by the same company, which either dock here or bypass the island at incredibly short distances to the shore.
It is amazing how a super cruise liner's state-of-the art equipment could not avert a collision with an otherwise insignificant rock formation.
You'd think that the waters along these cruise routes would be fully charted. On the other hand, should this accident prove to be the result of poor human judgement, what is the sense of all the technology if a skipper can override warning systems?
Reading all the news reports on the accident, I could not but think of all the happy faces coming off the boats, eager to explore, to discover, or simply to bask in the warm sunshine. I even wondered if any passengers of the ill-fated Concordia have been on one of the cruise ships making a port call to Argostoli.
The Costa Concordia's sister vessel, the Costa Fortuna, is a frequent guest in our waters; it sails past Skala and Poros once a week in the summer on it's return journey from the eastern Mediterranean.
See previous post on cruise ships:
➥AND WATCH 'EM ROLL AWAY AGAIN
Having spent countless hours over the past 3 years at the Argostoli cruise liner pier, the Costa Concordia accident at Giglio Island makes me sad beyond words.
Those hours upon hours of gazing at those floating palaces as they glided in and out of the bay—marveling at the diverse group of people coming off the boats—bring the tragedy on the Tuscany coast closer to home than it actually is.
Surmounting this feeling is the reality that the Concordia has a couple of sister vessels, operated by the same company, which either dock here or bypass the island at incredibly short distances to the shore.
 |
| CS Costa Fortuna sailing by Kefalonia |
Unchartered waters or human error?
It is amazing how a super cruise liner's state-of-the art equipment could not avert a collision with an otherwise insignificant rock formation.
You'd think that the waters along these cruise routes would be fully charted. On the other hand, should this accident prove to be the result of poor human judgement, what is the sense of all the technology if a skipper can override warning systems?
Reading all the news reports on the accident, I could not but think of all the happy faces coming off the boats, eager to explore, to discover, or simply to bask in the warm sunshine. I even wondered if any passengers of the ill-fated Concordia have been on one of the cruise ships making a port call to Argostoli.
 |
| Costa Fortuna sailing past Poros, Kefalonia |
See previous post on cruise ships:
➥AND WATCH 'EM ROLL AWAY AGAIN
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