'We all suffer from PTSD': 10 years after the Costa Concordia cruise disaster, memories remain

GIGLIO, Italy — Ten years have passed since the Costa Concordia cruise ship slammed into a reef and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio. But for the passengers on board and the residents who welcomed them ashore, the memories of that harrowing, freezing night remain vividly etched into their minds.

The dinner plates that flew off the tables when the rocks first gashed the hull. The blackout after the ship's engine room flooded and its generators failed. The final mad scramble to evacuate the listing liner and then the extraordinary generosity of Giglio islanders who offered shoes, sweatshirts and shelter until the sun rose and passengers were ferried to the mainland.

Italy on Thursday is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration that will end with a candlelit vigil near the moment the ship hit the reef: 9:45 p.m. on Jan. 13, 2012. The events will honor the 32 people who died that night, the 4,200 survivors, but also the residents of Giglio, who took in passengers and crew and then lived with the Concordia's wrecked carcass off their shore for another two years until it was righted and hauled away for scrap.

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“For us islanders, when we remember some event, we always refer to whether it was before or after the Concordia,” said Matteo Coppa, who was 23 and fishing on the jetty when the darkened Concordia listed toward shore and then collapsed onto its side in the water.

“I imagine it like a nail stuck to the wall that marks that date, as a before and after,” he said, recounting how he joined the rescue effort that night, helping pull ashore the dazed, injured and freezing passengers from lifeboats.

The sad anniversary comes as the cruise industry, shut down in much of the world for months because of the coronavirus pandemic, is once again in the spotlight because of COVID-19 outbreaks that threaten passenger safety. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control last month  warned people across-the-board not to go on cruises, regardless of their vaccination status, because of the risks of infection.

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'We all suffer from PTSD'

For Concordia survivor Georgia Ananias, the COVID-19 infections are just the latest evidence that passenger safety still isn’t a top priority for the cruise ship industry. Passengers aboard the Concordia were largely left on their own to find life jackets and a functioning lifeboat after the captain steered the ship close too shore in a stunt. He then delayed an evacuation order until it was too late, with lifeboats unable to lower because the ship was listing too heavily.

“I always said this will not define me, but you have no choice," Ananias said in an interview from her home in Los Angeles, Calif. “We all suffer from PTSD. We had a lot of guilt that we survived and 32 other people died.”

Prosecutors blamed the delayed evacuation order and conflicting instructions given by crew for the chaos that ensued as passengers scrambled to get off the ship. The captain, Francesco Schettino, is serving a 16-year prison sentence for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning a ship before all the passengers and crew had evacuated.

Ananias and her family declined Costa’s initial $14,500 compensation offered to each passenger and sued Costa, a unit of U.S.-based Carnival Corp., to try to cover the cost of their medical bills and therapy for the post-traumatic stress they have suffered. But after eight years in the U.S. and then Italian court system, they lost their case.

“I think people need to be aware that when you go on a cruise, that if there is a problem, you will not have the justice that you may be used to in the country in which you are living,” said Ananias, who went onto become a top official in the International Cruise Victims association, an advocacy group that lobbies to improve safety aboard ships and increase transparency and accountability in the industry.

Costa didn’t respond to emails seeking comment on the anniversary.

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'We did something incredible'

Cruise Lines International Association, the world’s largest cruise industry trade association, stressed in a statement to The Associated Press that passenger and crew safety was the industry's top priority, and that cruising remains one of the safest vacation experiences available.

“Our thoughts continue to be with the victims of the Concordia tragedy and their families on this sad anniversary," CLIA said. It said it has worked over the past 10 years with the International Maritime Organization and the maritime industry to “drive a safety culture that is based on continuous improvement."

For Giglio Mayor Sergio Ortelli, the memories of that night run the gamut: the horror of seeing the capsized ship, the scramble to coordinate rescue services on shore, the recovery of the first bodies and then the pride that islanders rose to the occasion to tend to the survivors.

► Cruising during COVID-19: Cancellation, refund policies vary by cruise line

Ortelli was later on hand when, in September 2013, the 115,000-ton, 1,000-foot long cruise ship was righted vertical off its seabed graveyard in an extraordinary feat of engineering. But the night of the disaster, a Friday the 13th, remains seared in his memory.

“It was a night that, in addition to being a tragedy, had a beautiful side because the response of the people was a spontaneous gesture that was appreciated around the world,” Ortelli said.

It seemed the natural thing to do at the time. “But then we realized that on that night, in just a few hours, we did something incredible.”

capsized cruise ship italy

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The Costa Concordia Disaster: How Human Error Made It Worse

By: Becky Little

Updated: August 10, 2023 | Original: June 23, 2021

Night view on January 16, 2012, of the cruise liner Costa Concordia aground in front of the harbor of Isola del Giglio after hitting underwater rocks on January 13.

Many famous naval disasters happen far out at sea, but on January 13, 2012, the Costa Concordia wrecked just off the coast of an Italian island in relatively shallow water. The avoidable disaster killed 32 people and seriously injured many others, and left investigators wondering: Why was the luxury cruise ship sailing so close to the shore in the first place?

During the ensuing trial, prosecutors came up with a tabloid-ready explanation : The married ship captain had sailed it so close to the island to impress a much younger Moldovan dancer with whom he was having an affair.

Whether or not Captain Francesco Schettino was trying to impress his girlfriend is debatable. (Schettino insisted the ship sailed close to shore to salute other mariners and give passengers a good view.) But whatever the reason for getting too close, the Italian courts found the captain, four crew members and one official from the ship’s company, Costa Crociere (part of Carnival Corporation), to be at fault for causing the disaster and preventing a safe evacuation. The wreck was not the fault of unexpected weather or ship malfunction—it was a disaster caused entirely by a series of human errors.

“At any time when you have an incident similar to Concordia, there is never…a single causal factor,” says Brad Schoenwald, a senior marine inspector at the United States Coast Guard. “It is generally a sequence of events, things that line up in a bad way that ultimately create that incident.”

Wrecking Near the Shore

Technicians pass in a small boat near the stricken cruise liner Costa Concordia lying aground in front of the Isola del Giglio on January 26, 2012 after hitting underwater rocks on January 13.

The Concordia was supposed to take passengers on a seven-day Italian cruise from Civitavecchia to Savona. But when it deviated from its planned path to sail closer to the island of Giglio, the ship struck a reef known as the Scole Rocks. The impact damaged the ship, allowing water to seep in and putting the 4,229 people on board in danger.

Sailing close to shore to give passengers a nice view or salute other sailors is known as a “sail-by,” and it’s unclear how often cruise ships perform these maneuvers. Some consider them to be dangerous deviations from planned routes. In its investigative report on the 2012 disaster, Italy’s Ministry of Infrastructures and Transports found that the Concordia “was sailing too close to the coastline, in a poorly lit shore area…at an unsafe distance at night time and at high speed (15.5 kts).”

In his trial, Captain Schettino blamed the shipwreck on Helmsman Jacob Rusli Bin, who he claimed reacted incorrectly to his order; and argued that if the helmsman had reacted correctly and quickly, the ship wouldn’t have wrecked. However, an Italian naval admiral testified in court that even though the helmsman was late in executing the captain’s orders, “the crash would’ve happened anyway.” (The helmsman was one of the four crew members convicted in court for contributing to the disaster.)

A Questionable Evacuation

Former Captain of the Costa Concordia Francesco Schettino speaks with reporters after being aboard the ship with the team of experts inspecting the wreck on February 27, 2014 in Isola del Giglio, Italy. The Italian captain went back onboard the wreck for the first time since the sinking of the cruise ship on January 13, 2012, as part of his trial for manslaughter and abandoning ship.

Evidence introduced in Schettino’s trial suggests that the safety of his passengers and crew wasn’t his number one priority as he assessed the damage to the Concordia. The impact and water leakage caused an electrical blackout on the ship, and a recorded phone call with Costa Crociere’s crisis coordinator, Roberto Ferrarini, shows he tried to downplay and cover up his actions by saying the blackout was what actually caused the accident.

“I have made a mess and practically the whole ship is flooding,” Schettino told Ferrarini while the ship was sinking. “What should I say to the media?… To the port authorities I have said that we had…a blackout.” (Ferrarini was later convicted for contributing to the disaster by delaying rescue operations.)

Schettino also didn’t immediately alert the Italian Search and Rescue Authority about the accident. The impact on the Scole Rocks occurred at about 9:45 p.m. local time, and the first person to contact rescue officials about the ship was someone on the shore, according to the investigative report. Search and Rescue contacted the ship a few minutes after 10:00 p.m., but Schettino didn’t tell them what had happened for about 20 more minutes.

A little more than an hour after impact, the crew began to evacuate the ship. But the report noted that some passengers testified that they didn’t hear the alarm to proceed to the lifeboats. Evacuation was made even more chaotic by the ship listing so far to starboard, making walking inside very difficult and lowering the lifeboats on one side, near to impossible. Making things worse, the crew had dropped the anchor incorrectly, causing the ship to flop over even more dramatically.

Through the confusion, the captain somehow made it into a lifeboat before everyone else had made it off. A coast guard member angrily told him on the phone to “Get back on board, damn it!” —a recorded sound bite that turned into a T-shirt slogan in Italy.

Schettino argued that he fell into a lifeboat because of how the ship was listing to one side, but this argument proved unconvincing. In 2015, a court found Schettino guilty of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, abandoning ship before passengers and crew were evacuated and lying to authorities about the disaster. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. In addition to Schettino, Ferrarini and Rusli Bin, the other people who received convictions for their role in the disaster were Cabin Service Director Manrico Giampedroni, First Officer Ciro Ambrosio and Third Officer Silvia Coronica.

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10 years later, Costa Concordia disaster is still vivid for survivors

The luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia lays on its starboard side after it ran aground off the coast of Italy in 2012.

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Ten years have passed since the Costa Concordia cruise ship slammed into a reef and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio . But for the passengers on board and the residents who welcomed them ashore, the memories of that harrowing, freezing night remain vividly etched into their minds.

The dinner plates that flew off the tables when the rocks first gashed the hull. The blackout after the ship’s engine room flooded and its generators failed. The final mad scramble to evacuate the listing liner and then the extraordinary generosity of Giglio islanders who offered shoes, sweatshirts and shelter until the sun rose and passengers were ferried to the mainland.

Italy on Thursday is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration that will end with a candlelit vigil near the moment the ship hit the reef: 9:45 p.m. on Jan. 13, 2012. The events will honor the 32 people who died that night, the 4,200 survivors, but also the residents of Giglio, who took in passengers and crew and then lived with the Concordia’s wrecked carcass off their shore for another two years until it was righted and hauled away for scrap.

“For us islanders, when we remember some event, we always refer to whether it was before or after the Concordia,” said Matteo Coppa, who was 23 and fishing on the jetty when the darkened Concordia listed toward shore and then collapsed onto its side in the water.

“I imagine it like a nail stuck to the wall that marks that date, as a before and after,” he said, recounting how he joined the rescue effort that night, helping pull ashore the dazed, injured and freezing passengers from lifeboats.

The sad anniversary comes as the cruise industry, shut down in much of the world for months because of the coronavirus pandemic, is once again in the spotlight because of COVID-19 outbreaks that threaten passenger safety. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control last month warned people across-the-board not to go on cruises , regardless of their vaccination status, because of the risks of infection.

A couple stands on a rear balcony of the Ruby Princess cruise ship while docked in San Francisco, Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is investigating a cruise ship that docked in San Francisco on Thursday after a dozen vaccinated passengers tested positive for coronavirus. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

A dozen passengers on cruise ship test positive for coronavirus

The passengers, whose infections were found through random testing, were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, according to the Port of San Francisco.

Jan. 7, 2022

For Concordia survivor Georgia Ananias, the COVID-19 infections are just the latest evidence that passenger safety still isn’t a top priority for the cruise ship industry. Passengers aboard the Concordia were largely left on their own to find life jackets and a functioning lifeboat after the captain steered the ship close too shore in a stunt. He then delayed an evacuation order until it was too late, with lifeboats unable to lower because the ship was listing too heavily.

“I always said this will not define me, but you have no choice,” Ananias said in an interview from her home in Los Angeles. “We all suffer from PTSD. We had a lot of guilt that we survived and 32 other people died.”

Prosecutors blamed the delayed evacuation order and conflicting instructions given by crew for the chaos that ensued as passengers scrambled to get off the ship. The captain, Francesco Schettino, is serving a 16-year prison sentence for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning a ship before all the passengers and crew had evacuated.

Ananias and her family declined Costa’s initial $14,500 compensation offered to each passenger and sued Costa, a unit of U.S.-based Carnival Corp., to try to cover the cost of their medical bills and therapy for the post-traumatic stress they have suffered. But after eight years in the U.S. and then Italian court system, they lost their case.

“I think people need to be aware that when you go on a cruise, that if there is a problem, you will not have the justice that you may be used to in the country in which you are living,” said Ananias, who went onto become a top official in the International Cruise Victims association, an advocacy group that lobbies to improve safety aboard ships and increase transparency and accountability in the industry.

Costa didn’t respond to emails seeking comment on the anniversary.

Cruise Lines International Assn., the world’s largest cruise industry trade association, stressed in a statement to the Associated Press that passenger and crew safety were the industry’s top priority, and that cruising remains one of the safest vacation experiences available.

“Our thoughts continue to be with the victims of the Concordia tragedy and their families on this sad anniversary,” CLIA said. It said it has worked over the past 10 years with the International Maritime Organization and the maritime industry to “drive a safety culture that is based on continuous improvement.”

For Giglio Mayor Sergio Ortelli, the memories of that night run the gamut: the horror of seeing the capsized ship, the scramble to coordinate rescue services on shore, the recovery of the first bodies and then the pride that islanders rose to the occasion to tend to the survivors.

Ortelli was later on hand when, in September 2013, the 115,000-ton, 1,000-foot long cruise ship was righted vertical off its seabed graveyard in an extraordinary feat of engineering. But the night of the disaster, a Friday the 13th, remains seared in his memory.

“It was a night that, in addition to being a tragedy, had a beautiful side because the response of the people was a spontaneous gesture that was appreciated around the world,” Ortelli said.

It seemed the natural thing to do at the time. “But then we realized that on that night, in just a few hours, we did something incredible.”

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10 years later, Costa Concordia survivors share their stories from doomed cruise ship

Ten years after the deadly Costa Concordia cruise line disaster in Italy, survivors still vividly remember scenes of chaos they say were like something straight out of the movie "Titanic."

NBC News correspondent Kelly Cobiella caught up with a group of survivors on TODAY Wednesday, a decade after they escaped a maritime disaster that claimed the lives of 32 people. The Italian cruise ship ran aground off the tiny Italian island of Giglio after striking an underground rock and capsizing.

"I think it’s the panic, the feeling of panic, is what’s carried through over 10 years," Ian Donoff, who was on the cruise with his wife Janice for their honeymoon, told Cobiella. "And it’s just as strong now."

More than 4,000 passengers and crew were on board when the ship crashed into rocks in the dark in the Mediterranean Sea, sending seawater rushing into the vessel as people scrambled for their lives.

The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, had been performing a sail-past salute of Giglio when he steered the ship too close to the island and hit the jagged reef, opening a 230-foot gash in the side of the cruise liner.

Passengers struggled to escape in the darkness, clambering to get to the life boats. Alaska resident Nate Lukes was with his wife, Cary, and their four daughters aboard the ship and remembers the chaos that ensued as the ship started to sink.

"There was really a melee there is the best way to describe it," he told Cobiella. "It's very similar to the movie 'Titanic.' People were jumping onto the top of the lifeboats and pushing down women and children to try to get to them."

The lifeboats wouldn't drop down because the ship was tilted on its side, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded on the side of the ship for hours in the cold. People were left to clamber down a rope ladder over a distance equivalent to 11 stories.

"Everybody was rushing for the lifeboats," Nate Lukes said. "I felt like (my daughters) were going to get trampled, and putting my arms around them and just holding them together and letting the sea of people go by us."

Schettino was convicted of multiple manslaughter as well as abandoning ship after leaving before all the passengers had reached safety. He is now serving a 16-year prison sentence .

It took nearly two years for the damaged ship to be raised from its side before it was towed away to be scrapped.

The calamity caused changes in the cruise industry like carrying more lifejackets and holding emergency drills before leaving port.

A decade after that harrowing night, the survivors are grateful to have made it out alive. None of the survivors who spoke with Cobiella have been on a cruise since that day.

"I said that if we survive this, then our marriage will have to survive forever," Ian Donoff said.

Scott Stump is a trending reporter and the writer of the daily newsletter This is TODAY (which you should subscribe to here! ) that brings the day's news, health tips, parenting stories, recipes and a daily delight right to your inbox. He has been a regular contributor for TODAY.com since 2011, producing features and news for pop culture, parents, politics, health, style, food and pretty much everything else. 

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Costa Concordia: Italy marks ten years since cruise ship disaster

The luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia lays on its starboard side after it ran aground off the coast of the Isola del Giglio island, Italy on Jan. 13, 2012.

Thirty-two people died when the ship slammed into a reef and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio.

Italy will mark the 10th anniversary of the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster on Thursday with a daylong commemoration.

The events will end with a candlelight vigil at 9:45 pm when the ship hit the reef.

It will also honour the 4,200 survivors and the residents of Giglio who took in passengers and crew, offering clothes and shelter until passengers could return to the mainland.

"For us islanders, when we remember some event, we always refer to whether it was before or after the Concordia," said Matteo Coppa, who was 23 and fishing on the jetty when the darkened Concordia listed toward shore and then collapsed onto its side in the water.

"I imagine it like a nail stuck to the wall that marks that date, as a before and after," he said, recounting how he joined the rescue effort that night, helping pull ashore the dazed, injured and freezing passengers from lifeboats.

The boat would stay off the coast of the island for another ten years until being removed in 2014.

The anniversary comes as the cruise industry, shut down in much of the world for months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is once again in the spotlight because of virus outbreaks that threaten passenger safety.

For Concordia survivor Georgia Ananias, the COVID-19 infections are just the latest evidence that passenger safety still isn’t a top priority for the cruise ship industry.

“I always said this will not define me, but you have no choice," Ananias said in an interview from her home in Los Angeles, Calif. “We all suffer from PTSD. We had a lot of guilt that we survived and 32 other people died.”

Prosecutors blamed a delayed evacuation order and conflicting instructions given by crew for the chaos that ensued as passengers scrambled to get off the ship.

The captain, Francesco Schettino, is serving a 16-year prison sentence for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning a ship before all the passengers and crew had evacuated.

Ananias and her family declined Costa’s initial $14,500 compensation offered to each passenger and sued Costa, a unit of US-based Carnival Corp., to try to cover the cost of their medical bills and therapy for the post-traumatic stress they have suffered. But after eight years in the US and then Italian court system, they lost their case.

“I think people need to be aware that when you go on a cruise, that if there is a problem, you will not have the justice that you may be used to in the country in which you are living,” said Ananias, who went onto become a top official in the International Cruise Victims association, an advocacy group that lobbies to improve safety aboard ships and increase transparency and accountability in the industry.

Costa didn’t respond to emails seeking comment on the anniversary.

Cruise Lines International Association, the world’s largest cruise industry trade association, stressed in a statement to The Associated Press that passenger and crew safety was the industry's top priority, and that cruising remains one of the safest vacation experiences available.

“Our thoughts continue to be with the victims of the Concordia tragedy and their families on this sad anniversary," CLIA said. It said it has worked over the past 10 years with the International Maritime Organisation and the maritime industry to “drive a safety culture that is based on continuous improvement."

Andrew Medichini/AP Photo, FILE

For Giglio Mayor Sergio Ortelli, the memories of that night run the gamut: the horror of seeing the capsized ship, the scramble to coordinate rescue services on shore, the recovery of the first bodies and then the pride that islanders rose to the occasion to tend to the survivors.

Ortelli was later on hand when, in September 2013, the 115,000-ton, 300-metre long cruise ship was righted vertical off its seabed graveyard in an extraordinary feat of engineering. But the night of the disaster, a Friday the 13th, remains seared in his memory.

“It was a night that, in addition to being a tragedy, had a beautiful side because the response of the people was a spontaneous gesture that was appreciated around the world,” Ortelli said.

It seemed the natural thing to do at the time. “But then we realised that on that night, in just a few hours, we did something incredible.”

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Ten years on, Costa Concordia shipwreck still haunts survivors, islanders

The cruise liner Costa Concordia is seen during the "parbuckling" operation outside Giglio harbour

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Costa Concordia: Ten years on pianist recalls terrifying escape from the capsized cruise liner

Ten years on from the tragedy, Antimo Magnotta has revealed how he still has "terrible flashbacks" and can remember people's screams as the enormous vessel tipped over off the coast of Italy.

Thursday 13 January 2022 17:06, UK

Antimo Magnotta was a pianist on the Costa Concordia cruise ship

On 13 January 2012, the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Tuscany after hitting a rock in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

Francesco Schettino, the captain of the cruise liner, was jailed for 16 years for multiple manslaughter after the disaster that left 32 people dead.

On the tenth anniversary of the tragedy, the ship's Italian pianist Antimo Magnotta, who is now living and working in London, has relived his terrifying ordeal and told Sky News how he is still tormented by flashbacks from what he witnessed.

I was working in a very elegant bar at the back of the ship called Bar Vienna. I remember it was a beautiful night, a starry night, the sea was very calm and quiet.

Then all of a sudden the ship suddenly swerved and started tilting. It was really unexpected because the conditions at sea meant it made no sense for this to happen.

I thought to myself - "did we hit a whale or a giant monster or something?".

I fell over and the piano started drifting on stage. I left the bar and found myself stumbling along sloping corridors with passengers and crew members. I was heading to the centre of the ship where there would be more balance.

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When I got there I found myself with other crew members and passengers on this huge dancefloor. We were expecting some instructions, some kind of explanation, but the ship began to have multiple blackouts and power failures.

The ship was performing some very strange movements, it was tilting on one side and then slowly titling on the other side, I was thinking to myself - "what is this?".

More than 30 people died when the cruise ship capsized

Passengers and crew members were screaming and calling out names. We couldn't see each other in the darkness.

It was quite cinematic I must say, it looked like a David Lynch film actually.

Finally, after more than an hour, the emergency signal on board was sounded.

I was a pianist, but I was also a crew member, and I had been trained to carrying out certain duties in an emergency.

I reached my master station and was in charge of a roll call for 25 crew members to embark on a life raft. I remember four people on my list were missing.

I was expecting a crew member from the bridge (the room where the ship is commanded) to come downstairs and lead myself and my crew members to our designated life raft.

But no one came from the bridge, and of course the ship, in the meantime, was still performing this very macabre choreography of slowly capsizing.

While the ship was tipping over I was confronted with a portrait of an ongoing tragedy, a grotesque paradox.

People left the vessel on rescue boats after it hit a rock

It was like being inside a cabinet of horrors. I mainly remember the sounds - there was this cacophony from the bowels of the ship. People were screaming.

I describe the ship in this moment as being like a swan in agony. It was suffering.

I eventually saw a crew member dressed all in white carrying a box of walkie talkies. I asked him what was going on.

He whispered: "Don't you know? We hit a rock, and this caused a massive leak on the side of the ship."

He was very agitated, he was running on adrenaline, and said: "You know what, the best suggestion would be for you to run for your life, and if you can, abandon the ship."

I thought this must be some kind of joke, but then he just vanished.

Everyone was really panicking and end up scattering all around.

Antimo Magnotta, centre, was working on the ship when it hit a rock in January 2012

This was the very beginning of my personal nightmare, because I had to perform a gruelling evacuation of the ship.

I knew where the life raft I was supposed to get on was located, and I knew it would now be under water.

I was 41 at the time and said to myself I can't die, this must be a joke.

But I started thinking about my daughter and this triggered a reaction in me, so I started climbing on some metallic bars, some ladders, pipes, whatever I could find in my way.

It took some time, but I found myself on the flank of the ship outside, facing the dark sea, holding onto a winch, a crane, I was holding on to this rope like I was clinging on to life itself.

Mr Magnotta is pictured on a vessel during happy times

All I had to do was just wait to be rescued, It was difficult because it was pitch dark, the most difficult thing to do was to make myself visible.

This lasted pretty much four hours.

The ship was more or less on it side by this point, breaching at a very dramatic angle, maybe 80 to 85 degrees, if not more.

It was like the carcass of a stranded whale. I could feel and hear the death rattle of the ship.

When I was on the flank of the ship I felt something is deteriorating, disintegrating, my image, my story, was fading away, it was vanishing, "I can't die," I said to myself.

I was not alone of course, there was a bunch of between 35 to 40 people around me, passengers and crew members.

I could see rescue boats and there was very frantic activity in the water. Helicopters were hovering above but they didn't seem to see us.

The ship's captain Francesco Schettino was jailed for 16 years after the disaster

Eventually a little rescue boat was sent for us, and I will always say, jumping in this little rescue boat was like jumping back to life.

It was 3am, more than five hours after the ship hit the rock, that the rescue boat dropped me off at Giglio Island.

It was like celebrating a second birthday, it was the beginning of my second life.

Unfortunately, later on, I learned that two fellow musicians had lost their lives. My friend, a Hungarian violinist, who lost his life, had just gone down to his cabin.

I just thought to myself what if it had been the other way round?

This has haunted me for a long time.

capsized cruise ship italy

In the aftermath of the disaster I was devastated and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

I had mental scars still lingering, survivor's guilt and chronic insomnia. I couldn't play the piano anymore. I had a stone in my chest and not a heart.

I took up a new form of self-therapy and started writing, and I would cry sometimes of course.

It was a way to express myself and my anger.

These days I feel much better and I play the piano in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Now I am feeling much better, but still I have terrible flashbacks and insomnia - my sleep is always interrupted.

July 1, 2014

Capsized Costa Concordia Is Finally Set to Leave Its Watery Grave

Final preparations are under way to refloat and remove the Costa Concordia from the pristine waters off Giglio in what has been the largest and most expensive maritime salvage operation ever attempted. 

By Barbie Latza Nadeau

Editor’s Note: For Scientific American’s complete coverage of the Costa Concordia disaster see links at the end of this story.

After more than two and a half years and $1 billion, the capsized cruise ship Costa Concordia is about to set sail again, although it won’t be under its own power. The move could not come too soon, because the risk that it will damage the environment is much higher now than when the ship originally crashed near the Tuscan island of Giglio in January 2012.

If all goes well, the crippled vessel , which was rotated to an upright position (parbuckled) in September, will be lifted to the surface in an even riskier operation sometime around the middle of July—likely the 14th because the salvors working on the operation are superstitious enough to avoid having the refloat in progress on the 13th.

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So far, the biggest problem the uplift team has faced was detachment of a flotation caisson in April. These caissons are large metal boxes into which compressed air will be pumped to float the ship. Salvage crews repaired and remounted the escaped caisson and are now finishing installation of the remaining ones. The Concordia will have 30 caissons in all to carry out the refloat. Once the ship has been lifted, two of the caissons will have to be refitted to help keep the craft ship afloat while it is being towed 240 kilometers to Genoa, where it will be dismantled.

Lifting the ship more than 12 meters off the giant underwater platforms that have been supporting it since September will take three or four days, but raising it the first two meters will be the most dangerous part of the exercise. That’s when the hull could crack and spill out a toxic stew of chemicals, rotten food and debris trapped since the shipwreck that has been swilling around inside the sunken ship for more than two years. If the hull breaks apart, the ship would likely never be removable from Giglio in one piece and would have to be dismantled in situ.

Once the ship is floated two meters off the platforms, salvors will carry out crucial checks to make sure the ship has no hidden fissures or further structural damage. Then they will move it eastward some 30 meters to begin the full refloat. Franco Porcellacchia, project manager for Costa Cruises, told Scientific American that the ship will be then be lifted above the surface deck by deck, with salvage crews stopping after each new deck emerges to look for environmentally harmful substances as well as clean the debris so that it does not leak into the sea. Italy’s environmental ministry is “greatly concerned” that the wrecked ship will spew flotsam and contaminants all the way to Genoa. But the engineers working on the project and Costa Cruises (which is owned by American Carnival Cruises) have assured them that the pollution produced en route to Genoa will be “temporary and of little significance.”

The superficial debris that salvagers will remove before the vessel sets sail includes mattresses, suitcases and personal effects belonging to guests as well as fully stocked freezers (that could pop when the water pressure is eased) and entire restaurants with plates, utensils, tables and chairs. And even if the hull remains intact, bunker fuel left in the tanks and engines, along with other harmful chemicals such as cleaning supplies could also befoul the water if not removed promptly.

The risks posed by raising the ship are real but leaving the Costa Concordia in place is not an option because as the ship decays and saltwater and waves crash against it, the likelihood of pollution fouling the waters off Giglio rises. Salvors have told Scientific American that they cannot guarantee the ship would survive another winter intact. “It’s far more dangerous to the environment to leave it where it is than to tow it away,” said Franco Gabrielli, Italy’s Civil Protection chief, when he met with Giglio residents this week to explain the process. “It must go as soon as possible.”

Barbie Latza Nadeau is an American journalist who has worked from Rome since 1996. She is author of the upcoming book, Roadmap to Hell: Sex, Drugs and Guns on the Mafia Coast , about sex trafficking and organized crime in Italy.

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10 years later, Costa Concordia disaster vivid for survivors

FILE — The luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia lays on its starboard side after it ran aground off the coast of the Isola del Giglio island, Italy on Jan. 13, 2012. Italy is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Giuseppe Modesti)

FILE — The luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia lays on its starboard side after it ran aground off the coast of the Isola del Giglio island, Italy on Jan. 13, 2012. Italy is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Giuseppe Modesti)

FILE— The grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia is seen through a window on the Isola del Giglio island, Italy, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

FILE— Oil removal ships near the cruise ship Costa Concordia leaning on its side Monday, Jan. 16, 2012, after running aground near the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, last Friday night. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

FILE— The Costa Concordia ship lies on its side on the Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, Italy, Monday, Sept. 16, 2013. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

FILE— A sunbather gets her tan on a rock during the operations to refloat the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia on the tiny Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, Italy, Saturday, July 19, 2014. Once the ship has refloated it will be towed to Genoa’s port, about 200 nautical miles (320 kilometers), where it will be dismantled. 30 months ago it struck a reef and capsized, killing 32 people. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

FILE— The wrecked hulk of the Costa Concordia cruise ship is towed along the Tyrrhenian Sea, 30 miles off the coast of Viareggio, Italy, Friday, July 25, 2014. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Fabio Muzzi)

FILE— A view of the previously submerged side of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, off the coast of the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Italy, Monday, Jan. 13, 2014. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

FILE— A passenger from South Korea, center, walks with Italian Firefighters, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012, after being rescued from the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which ran aground on the tiny Italian island of Isola del Giglio. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

FILE— A woman hangs her laundry as the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia is seen in the background, off the Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, Italy, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap.(AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

FILE— In this photo taken on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012, Francesco Schettino, right, the captain of the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia, which ran aground off the tiny Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, is taken into custody by Carabinieri in Porto Santo Stefano, Italy. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Giacomo Aprili)

Experts aboard a sea platform carry oil recovery equipment, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, as they return to the port of the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, where the cruise ship Costa Concordia, visible in background, ran aground on Ja. 13, 2012. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

FILE— Seagulls fly in front of the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, Italy, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

FILE— Italian firefighters conduct search operations on the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia that ran aground the tiny Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

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GIGLIO, Italy (AP) — Ten years have passed since the Costa Concordia cruise ship slammed into a reef and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio. But for the passengers on board and the residents who welcomed them ashore, the memories of that harrowing, freezing night remain vividly etched into their minds.

The dinner plates that flew off the tables when the rocks first gashed the hull. The blackout after the ship’s engine room flooded and its generators failed. The final mad scramble to evacuate the listing liner and then the extraordinary generosity of Giglio islanders who offered shoes, sweatshirts and shelter until the sun rose and passengers were ferried to the mainland.

Italy on Thursday is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration that will end with a candlelit vigil near the moment the ship hit the reef: 9:45 p.m. on Jan. 13, 2012. The events will honor the 32 people who died that night, the 4,200 survivors, but also the residents of Giglio, who took in passengers and crew and then lived with the Concordia’s wrecked carcass off their shore for another two years until it was righted and hauled away for scrap.

“For us islanders, when we remember some event, we always refer to whether it was before or after the Concordia,” said Matteo Coppa, who was 23 and fishing on the jetty when the darkened Concordia listed toward shore and then collapsed onto its side in the water.

“I imagine it like a nail stuck to the wall that marks that date, as a before and after,” he said, recounting how he joined the rescue effort that night, helping pull ashore the dazed, injured and freezing passengers from lifeboats.

The sad anniversary comes as the cruise industry, shut down in much of the world for months because of the coronavirus pandemic, is once again in the spotlight because of COVID-19 outbreaks that threaten passenger safety. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control last month warned people across-the-board not to go on cruises , regardless of their vaccination status, because of the risks of infection.

For Concordia survivor Georgia Ananias, the COVID-19 infections are just the latest evidence that passenger safety still isn’t a top priority for the cruise ship industry. Passengers aboard the Concordia were largely left on their own to find life jackets and a functioning lifeboat after the captain steered the ship close too shore in a stunt. He then delayed an evacuation order until it was too late, with lifeboats unable to lower because the ship was listing too heavily.

“I always said this will not define me, but you have no choice,” Ananias said in an interview from her home in Los Angeles, Calif. “We all suffer from PTSD. We had a lot of guilt that we survived and 32 other people died.”

Prosecutors blamed the delayed evacuation order and conflicting instructions given by crew for the chaos that ensued as passengers scrambled to get off the ship. The captain, Francesco Schettino, is serving a 16-year prison sentence for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning a ship before all the passengers and crew had evacuated.

Ananias and her family declined Costa’s initial $14,500 compensation offered to each passenger and sued Costa, a unit of U.S.-based Carnival Corp., to try to cover the cost of their medical bills and therapy for the post-traumatic stress they have suffered. But after eight years in the U.S. and then Italian court system, they lost their case.

“I think people need to be aware that when you go on a cruise, that if there is a problem, you will not have the justice that you may be used to in the country in which you are living,” said Ananias, who went onto become a top official in the International Cruise Victims association, an advocacy group that lobbies to improve safety aboard ships and increase transparency and accountability in the industry.

Costa didn’t respond to emails seeking comment on the anniversary.

Cruise Lines International Association, the world’s largest cruise industry trade association, stressed in a statement to The Associated Press that passenger and crew safety was the industry’s top priority, and that cruising remains one of the safest vacation experiences available.

“Our thoughts continue to be with the victims of the Concordia tragedy and their families on this sad anniversary,” CLIA said. It said it has worked over the past 10 years with the International Maritime Organization and the maritime industry to “drive a safety culture that is based on continuous improvement.”

For Giglio Mayor Sergio Ortelli, the memories of that night run the gamut: the horror of seeing the capsized ship, the scramble to coordinate rescue services on shore, the recovery of the first bodies and then the pride that islanders rose to the occasion to tend to the survivors.

Ortelli was later on hand when, in September 2013, the 115,000-ton, 300-meter (1,000-foot) long cruise ship was righted vertical off its seabed graveyard in an extraordinary feat of engineering. But the night of the disaster, a Friday the 13th, remains seared in his memory.

“It was a night that, in addition to being a tragedy, had a beautiful side because the response of the people was a spontaneous gesture that was appreciated around the world,” Ortelli said.

It seemed the natural thing to do at the time. “But then we realized that on that night, in just a few hours, we did something incredible.”

Winfield reported from Rome.

capsized cruise ship italy

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Captain of Ship That Capsized Off Italy in ’12 Is Convicted

By Gaia Pianigiani

  • Feb. 11, 2015

capsized cruise ship italy

ROME — An Italian court on Wednesday convicted the captain of a cruise liner that capsized in 2012 , killing 32 people, of manslaughter and sentenced him to just over 16 years in prison for his role in one of the worst maritime disasters in modern Italian history.

The captain, Francesco Schettino, 54, was convicted of multiple counts of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the vessel, the Costa Concordia, before all of its 4,229 passengers and crew members had been evacuated. The court also barred him from commanding a ship for five years and from ever holding public office.

The captain’s lawyers said they would appeal the verdict. Captain Schettino will remain free in the meantime; under Italian law, the appeals process can take years to resolve. The captain was not in the courtroom when the verdict was read.

Prosecutors in the Tuscan town of Grosseto, where the trial was held, had sought a sentence of more than 26 years for Captain Schettino , whom they held responsible for sailing too close to shore and hitting a submerged rock off the island of Giglio, and for not promptly ordering the ship’s evacuation.

Francesco Pope, one of Captain Schettino’s lawyers, called the prosecutors’ sentencing request “enormous” in a telephone interview after the verdict was announced. “I’d only like to point out that the judges reduced that by almost half,” he said.

In closing arguments that went on for days, prosecutors attacked Captain Schettino’s conduct on the night of the shipwreck, calling him a “reckless idiot” and accusing him of making deadly mistakes and lying to passengers, maritime authorities and rescue officials.

One of the prosecutors, Alessandro Leopizzi, noted how the captain had managed to reach Giglio safely, “without even getting his feet wet,” while passengers remained on the tilting ship. In taped conversations from that night , the captain told a coast guard official that he had tripped onto a lifeboat before the evacuation was completed.

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Although Captain Schettino acknowledged some responsibility for the disaster during the trial, he defended the decisions he made, such as not dropping the anchor soon after the ship struck the rock. He also said he delayed sounding an alarm to prevent greater panic among the passengers.

“I was put in a media meat grinder,” Captain Schettino said in his final remarks to the court before the verdict was read Wednesday. “That has put the entire responsibility for this incident on to me, with no respect for the truth.”

He maintained in court that he had saved lives by steering the cruise liner toward the coast. In defending his actions, the captain said his orders were not executed correctly by his crew, including an Indonesian helmsman who veered the ship in the opposite direction. Captain Schettino also cited technical malfunctions.

Several passengers told the court about various equipment failures in the chaotic hours after the impact, including a faulty emergency generator, as well as mistakes made by other crew members, some of whom spoke neither Italian nor English.

The court also ordered Captain Schettino and the company that operated the ship, Costa Cruises, to pay damages of 30,000 euros, or about $34,000, in compensation to each passenger, and several million euros to local and national government bodies for the environmental harm caused by the accident.

Captain Schettino was the only defendant in the trial. Five other employees of Costa Cruises who were indicted in the case were allowed to make plea deals in the early stages of the proceedings; none are serving prison time.

The company has already paid €1 million in administrative sanctions in connection with the disaster, and it offered in January to settle with each uninjured passenger for about $14,400.

Under Italian law, companies can be held responsible for their employees’ conduct, but the ship’s operator was not indicted in the case. Costa Cruises is controlled by the Carnival Corporation.

The 19-month trial was held in a theater because of the large number of people involved, including hundreds of witnesses who discussed complicated technical details.

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Costa Concordia Captain Francesco Schettino boards grounded off Italy coast for 1st time since disaster

Updated on: February 27, 2014 / 4:36 AM EST / CBS News

GIGLIO, Italy -- Captain Francesco Schettino stepped aboard the Costa Concordia Thursday for the first time since it capsized off Italy's coast with him at the controls more than two years ago.

Schettino arrived on Giglio aboard a ferry from Italy's mainland Tuesday night, after the Tuscan court agreed to let him go back onto the ship. The court in Grosseto, where Schettino is facing charges of manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing a shipwreck, authorized an inspection on the Costa Concordia to be carried out by a group of experts and attended by the former captain.

He stepped onto the stricken vessel at about 10:30 a.m. local time (4:30 a.m. Eastern).

Specifically, experts will be examining an electrical generator in the ship's engine room and the bridge. Judge Giovanni Puliatti stressed that Schettino was being allowed onto the ship "as a defendant, not a consultant" and therefore that he could board the ship to help investigators, but not to ask questions.

Thursday is the second inspection authorized by the court since the beginning of the year in an effort to determine whether any factors beyond human error contributed to the loss of life in the disaster.

The first court-requested inspection was carried out on January 23. Just one day before that, two employees of the Concordia's operator, Costa Crociere, are believed to have inspected the emergency power unit, boarding the vessel illegally after it was sealed by investigators. That has led Grosseto prosecutors to open a separate investigation into Costa Concordia guardian Franco Porcellacchia and Captain Camillo Casella.

Until now Schettino has been the sole defendant in the case involving the actual wreck, and he continues to deny the charges. On the ferry to Giglio he explained his desire to return to the island to an Italian journalist: "I have always said that I put my reputation on the line. This is an act due to give dignity to the living and to pay tribute to the dead, to establish the truth and to honor all the Italian commanders."

Schettino's lawyer Domenico Pepe described his return to the island as an act of courage. He said it was an emotional moment for his client and that his going aboard the ship could help ascertain the facts.

Residents on Giglio, however, were not pleased by Schettino's return to the island, and nor were some of the victim's families.

"It makes no sense for Schettino to be here now," Samantha Brizzi, who works at one of the island's real estate agencies, told CBS News. "It's too late, and too late to help with investigations. Where was he when parents were looking for their children and loved ones on that night?"

Another woman, who has lived on Giglio for 60 years, said Schettino should not bear the blame for the disaster alone. "Mistakes happen in life," she said. "Others are responsible as well."

Locals recalled their shock on the night of the disaster and the captain's decision to abandon the ship before the more than 4,000 passengers and crewmembers had been evacuated -- a move which has seen him dubbed the "Coward Captain" in the Italian press. Residents opened up their homes, provided warm clothes, blankets and food to the stranded passengers. Many said they would be unable to forget that night for the rest of their lives.

They were hugely relieved when salvage workers on the island managed last year to successfully rotate the 114,500-ton ship into an upright position. The unprecedented salvage operation continues, and workers hope to re-float the ship in the next few months and then tow it away from Giglio.

Residents are looking forward to that day, but a decision as to where the ship will be taken for scrapping is still pending.

This story was filed by CBS News' Sabina Castelfranco

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capsized cruise ship italy

Deadly Costa Concordia Shipwreck Captured in Stunning Image from Space

The deadly Costa Concordia shipwreck has been captured in a stunning high resolution image from space that vividly shows the magnitude of the awful disaster with the huge luxury cruise ship precariously tipped on its side just off of the Tuscan coastline of the Italian Island of Giglio [Isola del Giglio]. See the full image and close-up below.

The newly released image was taken by a commercial owned by DigitalGlobe and flying some 300 miles overhead in low Earth orbit. The photo from a WorldView satellite was snapped on January 17, 2012 and shows exactly where the cruise ship ran aground five days ago on Friday, January 13, 2012 when it was steered way to close to the shoreline.

The photo is a surreal view of the massive ship on its side, submerged on the shoreline in the Mediterranean Sea snapped through scattered clouds. The sight is something really hard to believe – imagine the movie Titanic.

capsized cruise ship italy

The Mediterranean waters temperature was about 57 F.

Shocking infrared video shows people frantically crawling over the side of the listing ship – tilted completely on its side – frantically trying to get into the lifeboats using rope lines – at night.

Passengers said it was an “Out of body experience.” Strangers helping strangers

Amazing new video shows the rocks clearly embedded in the hull of the wrecked ship.

The ship soon began listing off the Italian coastline in darkness. At a moment’s notice objects started flying through the air and the frightened passengers boarded lifeboats as fast as they could, apparently with no practice training beforehand.

capsized cruise ship italy

11 people are confirmed dead so far and about two dozen people are still missing today as emergency rescue crews furiously search every nook and cranny on the cruise ship in a desperate bid to find anyone who may still be alive.

capsized cruise ship italy

Rescue efforts were temporarily suspended today (Jan. 18) due to rough seas. The Costa Concordia is loaded with several thousand gallons of diesel fuel oil which could contaminate the surroundings.

capsized cruise ship italy

According to the DigitalGlobe website , the Colorado based company owns and operates the most sophisticated constellation of high-resolution commercial earth imaging satellites – . QuickBird, WorldView-1 and WorldView-2 which are capable of collecting over 500 million km2 of quality imagery per year with high resolution cameras.

The DigitalGlobe satellites are used for defense and intelligence, civil agencies, mapping and analysis, environmental monitoring and oil and gas exploration.

capsized cruise ship italy

Now look in the opposite direction and see fabulous photos of the ISS crossing the Moon shot from a telescope in Houston, Texas Dazzling Photos of the International Space Station Crossing the Moon!

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13 Replies to “Deadly Costa Concordia Shipwreck Captured in Stunning Image from Space”

“Amazing new video shows the rocks clearly embedded in the hull of the wrecked ship.”

The link on the word “wrecked” leads to a UT story on the Phobos Grunt.

That kinda thing happens quite a lot… I think UT uses software to automatically pick out key words and link to related articles… not always sucessfully!

They have never worked on this site. The automatically generated links do more harm than good

I’m inclined to agree. Sampling a few random links takes one to completely unrelated pages. I suggest either taking the time to link to actually relevant material or just turn off the “auto-linking”.

YOU can turn them off at your web browser, for free, forever and for good web browser hygiene and computer security. There are many solutions, but most people seem to use noscript.net . Easy.

Looks like a poor fake image. Ship far too large and floating above the clouds!!!!

No it doesn’t, no it’s not and no it’s not.

Ottimo, pure qui siam finiti -.-

It’s a fake. Go look at a webcam of the port: http://www.webcams.travel/webcam/1298809230-Weather-Isola-del-Giglio-Panoramica-Porto-Giglio-Porto

It’s not fake. You realize the image is in gray scale, right?

Doing a quick measurement in Google Earth of the location shows the ship to be about 300m long. According to Wikipedia it’s 290m. So I’m inclined to believe the image is legit.

And if you squint and look closely, I believe you can see the captain “tripping and falling into a lifeboat”….

So that is what it would look like to an ET monitoring us for low earth orbit. They’d probably wonder why we don’t pilot our ships better.

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Captain Of Capsized Cruise Ship Held In Italy

Sylvia

Sylvia Poggioli

Investigators in Italy are analyzing the cruise ship's data recorder to determine how and why the vessel veered off course and collided with a rocky reef off the coast of Tuscany. More than a dozen people are unaccounted for.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

You may have seen the dramatic images over the weekend: a luxury liner that ran aground off the coast of Italy and then turned on its side. At least six people died. And of the 4,200 people on board, more than a dozen are still unaccounted for. Rough weather today has forced officials to suspend rescue operations, and the focus now is on the captain, who is under arrest. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports.

SYLVIA POGGIOLI, BYLINE: Investigators are already analyzing the ship's black box to determine how and why the Costa Concordia veered off course and collided with a rocky reef close to the shore of Giglio Island. But they'll be further assisted by a wealth of documentation provided by passengers themselves - the many videos they shot on mobile phones. This clip comes from Ronald Patricio Gonzales of Chile.

The video shows hundreds of passengers wearing life vests crowded on the deck. The atmosphere is confused, people shouting, terrified; nobody has told them what to do.

(SOUNDBITE OF SCREAMING)

POGGIOLI: The scene shifts outdoors, chaos and relief as island residents come out on their boats to rescue passengers. Claudio Masia later told us the ship had tilted so much, it was no longer possible to lower the lifeboats.

CLAUDIO MASIA: (Through translator) We were left to our own devices. We huddled on the keel, waiting, then we lowered a rope ladder. People came in their boats and rescued us - my mother, two children, my wife, and my nephew. But I can't find my father. I don't know where he is.

POGGIOLI: The body of 86-year-old Giovanni Masia, wearing a life vest, was found by divers Sunday afternoon in a submerged part of the ship.

The Costa Concordia shipwreck is a tale of the courage of many and the cowardice of one - the man in charge. Captain Francesco Schettino was already on shore hours before the last passengers were rescued from the tilting ship. Coast guard officials repeatedly ordered him back on board but he refused. He's now under arrest on suspicion of multiple manslaughter, shipwreck, tampering with evidence, and abandoning ship.

The shipping company issued a statement saying it appears the captain made errors in judgment. Francesco Verusio is the prosecutor heading the investigation.

FRANCESCO VERUSIO: (Through translator) It was a hazardous maneuver. He got too close to the island, some 150 yards from the coast. The captain gave the alarm around 10:42 p.m., one hour after the collision.

POGGIOLI: Verusio adds bringing the ship so close to Giglio was part of a maritime practice - a fly-by with the sounding of sirens, a salute to show off the brightly-lit luxury liner to the islanders.

The shipwreck took place in a stretch of the Mediterranean said to be the biggest designated marine park in Europe. The rocky reefs are a scuba diver's paradise, a natural habitat of dolphins, and a protected area for many fish species. Now there is fear of an environmental disaster. Officials say so far none of the ship‘s fuel has leaked.

A Dutch firm has been called in to help extract the fuel from the ship's tanks before anything leaks into the pristine waters. Environment Minister Corrado Clini says the passage of massive luxury liners in this stretch of sea has gone on too long.

CORRADO CLINI: (Through translator) These floating condominiums, which offer thrills for tourists, are a serious danger for the environment. We have to move quickly to prevent these huge ships, which are not equipped with a double hull, from entering these delicate areas.

POGGIOLI: The minister today will attend an emergency on-site meeting with experts to assess how to remove the shipwreck as quickly and safely as possible.

Sylvia Poggioli, NPR News, Rome.

Copyright © 2012 NPR. All rights reserved. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

  • Travel Updates

Two crew members die during ‘incident’ on Holland America cruise ship

Two crew members on board a Holland America cruise ship have been killed in the engine room after falling victim to a horrific incident.

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Two crew members on a Holland America cruise ship died during an “incident” in the ship’s engineering space, the cruise line said.

The crew members, identified as third engineer Joseph Terrado and wiper Wawan Gusnawan, died Friday while the Florida-based Nieuw Amsterdam was at Half Moon Bay in the Bahamas, Holland America said in a statement.

Two crew members died while on board the ship. Picture: supplied.

USA Today reports Mr Terrado was from the Philippines and Mr Gusnawan was from Indonesia.

Initial reports suggest the deaths occurred following “an accidental steam release in an engineering space”.

Authorities were notified and the cause of the accident is being investigated, the cruise line said, adding that crew members were being offered counselling.

“All of us at Holland America Line are deeply saddened by this incident and our thoughts and prayers are with our team members’ families at this difficult time,” the statement read.

“The safety, security and welfare of all guests and crew are the company’s absolute priority.”

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capsized cruise ship italy

It later said the Bahamas Maritime Authority was leading the investigation.

Third engineer Joseph Terrado and wiper Wawan Gusnawan, died on Friday.

“The Bahamas Maritime Authority and the Dutch Safety Board are currently investigating. Safety is always our top priority, and we are working to understand what, if anything, can be learned from this tragic accident,” the spokesperson said to USA Today , noting that earlier reports that the crew members died in a fire on board were incorrect.

The ship set sail out of Fort Lauderdale on March 16 for a seven-night trip, and returned to Fort Lauderdale around two hours late on Saturday, and left for its next cruise about three hours late.

The three people who died after a freak wave knocked over their fishing boat have been revealed, with four of the five on board part of one family.

A man whose body was recovered from Sydney Harbour after he went missing during a night out at a popular nightclub has been identified as a beloved tourist.

A model is facing five years in prison for taking ‘upskirt’ pictures at a royal monument in Thailand with her act sparking backlash.

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  • Human Interest

Baltimore Bridge Collapses After Being Struck by Cargo Ship in 'Mass Casualty' Event

The vessel struck the Francis Key Scott Bridge in the early hours of Tuesday morning

capsized cruise ship italy

A bridge in Baltimore has collapsed after being hit by a large container ship. 

The Francis Scott Key Bridge collapsed into the Patapsco River in the early hours of Tuesday morning and sent several vehicles into the river, according to multiple outlets. 

Baltimore City Fire Department spokesperson Kevin Cartwright told CNN that the collapse was a "mass casualty multi agency incident.”

“This is a dire emergency,” Cartwright told the Associated Press . “Our focus right now is trying to rescue and recover these people.”

Rescue workers are searching for up to 20 people, according to CNN. "Unfortunately, we understand that there are up to 20 individuals who may be in the Patapsco River as well as multiple vehicles," Cartwright told the outlet.

Speaking during a press conference on Tuesday morning, Baltimore Fire Department Chief James Wallace said two people had been rescued from the water, per CNN. One of the individuals was uninjured, while the second was transferred to the hospital in a "very serious condition."

JIM LO SCALZO/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Wallace added that authorities are continuing to search for upwards of seven people. “We are still very much in an active search and rescue posture at this point, and we will continue to be for some time,” Wallace said, per the outlet.

Fire dept. spokesperson Cartwright told WTOP that at least seven vehicles had fallen into the river and a dive team had been deployed to help rescue those in the water.

Cartwright also told CNN that conditions were "unsafe" for rescuers due to "some cargo or retainers hanging from the bridge" following the collision with the 900-ft cargo ship.

In footage shared on X (formerly Twitter) by the Harford County, MD Volunteer Fire & EMS, a large portion of the bridge, which opened in 1977, can be seen collapsing into the water.

The ship caught fire after the incident, according to AP, and black smoke was seen billowing out of it.

Harford County Md Fire & EMS PIO Media Page/Facebook

According to MarineTraffic , a ship-tracking company, per ABC News , the container ship was a Singapore-flagged vessel and struck the bridge at around 1:30 a.m. local time. It was heading to Sri Lanka, according to the tracker.

The bridge — part of the Interstate 6-95 — is a major artery for the people of Baltimore, which has the 9th-largest port in the U.S., with more than 12 million cars crossing over the four-lane bridge last year, Good Morning America reported.

Baltimore Mayor Brandon M. Scott said in a post shared on X shortly after the incident, "I'm aware of and en route to the incident at the Key Bridge. I have been in contact with @BaltimoreFire Chief Wallace, @GovWesMoore @JohnnyOJr, and @AACoExec. Emergency personnel are on scene, and efforts are underway."

In a statement shared on X, Maryland Governor Wes Moore declared a "state of emergency" in Baltimore shortly before 5:45 a.m. local time.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. "We are working with an interagency team to quickly deploy federal resources from the Biden Administration," the statement read in part. "We are thankful for the brave men and women who are carrying out efforts to rescue those involved and pray for everyone’s safety."

"We will remain in close contact with federal, state, and local entities that are carrying out rescue efforts as we continue to assess and respond to this tragedy," the statement concluded.

PEOPLE has reached out to the Baltimore City Fire Department, the Baltimore Police Department and the U.S. Coast Guard for additional information.

This is a breaking news situation. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

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capsized cruise ship italy

Carnival Freedom cruise ship catches fire for second time in less than 2 years

T he Carnival Freedom cruise ship experienced its second fire in less than two years, and passenger footage caught the flames with smoke coming from the ship's exhaust funnel Saturday afternoon. 

"That's nutty," X user @breezebreeze_ can be heard while showing the fire aboard the ship.

Carnival Cruise Line put out several tweet replies regarding the incident they say happened at 3:15 ET. 

"Carnival Freedom reported a fire on the port side of the ship’s exhaust funnel," one of the posts read. "The ship was 20 miles off Eleuthera Island, Bahamas, heading to Freeport after a canceled call to Princess Cay due to weather."

CARNIVAL FREEDOM CRUISE SHIP SEEN ON FIRE AT GRAND TURK

The news prompted passengers of the ship's upcoming departure from Port Canaveral on Monday to ask the cruise line if their itinerary would go off as planned.

READ ON THE FOX BUSINESS APP

"Is the cruise for the Carnival Freedom March 25 departing cruise from Port Canaveral still planning on going?" one X user asked Carnival. "We need to know for travel purposes!"

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"I can almost guarantee it'll be canceled," another X user wrote about the ship's next planned cruise. "This isn't the first time this has happened ironically to this ship, and the following sailing when it happened that time were canceled, but obviously not confirm[ed]."

Carnival quickly responded to quell any rumors, saying it does not expect any impact on the next Carnival Freedom voyage. 

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The Freedom's exhaust funnel caught fire in May 2022 while the ship was docked at Grand Turk Island in Turks and Caicos. Video from then also showed the ship’s funnel – referred to by some as the whale tail – consumed by flames and smoke. 

The part of the ship that caught fire is designed to help direct the flow of exhaust gases away from the ship, according to the Crown Cruise Vacations website. 

CARNIVAL CRUISE CREW MEMBERS HELP RESCUE 12 PEOPLE FROM OCEAN AFTER CARGO VESSEL CAPSIZES

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"The ship’s fire response team was quickly activated, and the ship’s captain also turned the vessel towards the heavy rain in the area to maximize the efforts to put out the flames," Carnival said about Saturday's fire. "Eyewitnesses reported the possibility of a lightning strike and that is being investigated."

Carnival said the captain made "multiple announcements to guests and crew" about the fire. The port side of the funnel fell onto Deck 10, Carnival said. No injuries were reported.

The Carnival Freedom was in Freeport as scheduled Sunday, according to CruiseMapper. Carnival said there are no operational issues with the ship’s systems.

Fox Business' Greg Norman contributed to this report. 

Original article source: Carnival Freedom cruise ship catches fire for second time in less than 2 years

Carnival Freedom reported a fire on the port side of the ship’s exhaust funnel March 23, 2024. @breezebreeze_ via Storyful

IMAGES

  1. Updated: Cruise Ship Runs Aground then Capsizes Off Coast of Italy

    capsized cruise ship italy

  2. The Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia capsized and sank after

    capsized cruise ship italy

  3. Cruise Ship Capsized Off Italy’s Tuscan Coast [VIDEO]

    capsized cruise ship italy

  4. woah! Unbelievable photos of the capsized cruise ship Costa Concordia

    capsized cruise ship italy

  5. Cruise Ship Capsized Off The Coast Of Italy [VIDEO]

    capsized cruise ship italy

  6. The 114,500-tonne Costa Concordia cruise ship capsized after it ran

    capsized cruise ship italy

COMMENTS

  1. Costa Concordia disaster

    MS Costa Concordia in Palma, Majorca, in 2011. Costa Concordia (call sign: IBHD, IMO number: 9320544, MMSI number: 247158500), with 3,206 passengers and 1,023 crew members on board, was sailing off Isola del Giglio on the night of 13 January 2012, having begun a planned seven-day cruise from Civitavecchia, Lazio, Italy, to Savona and five other ports. The port side of the ship struck a reef at ...

  2. Survivor recounts Costa Concordia cruise capsizing 10 years later

    0:00. 1:35. GIGLIO, Italy — Ten years have passed since the Costa Concordia cruise ship slammed into a reef and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio. But for the passengers on board and the ...

  3. Costa Concordia disaster

    Costa Concordia disaster, the capsizing of an Italian cruise ship on January 13, 2012, after it struck rocks off the coast of Giglio Island in the Tyrrhenian Sea.More than 4,200 people were rescued, though 32 people died in the disaster.Several of the ship's crew, notably Capt. Francesco Schettino, were charged with various crimes.. Construction and maiden voyage

  4. The Costa Concordia Disaster: How Human Error Made It Worse

    The Italian captain went back onboard the wreck for the first time since the sinking of the cruise ship on January 13, 2012, as part of his trial for manslaughter and abandoning ship.

  5. How the Wreck of a Cruise Liner Changed an Italian Island

    GIGLIO PORTO, Italy — The curvy granite rocks of the Tuscan island of Giglio lay bare in the winter sun, no longer hidden by the ominous, stricken cruise liner that ran aground in the turquoise ...

  6. 10 years later, Costa Concordia disaster haunts survivors

    Associated Press. Jan. 12, 2022 2 PM PT. GIGLIO, Italy —. Ten years have passed since the Costa Concordia cruise ship slammed into a reef and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio. But for ...

  7. 10 years later, Costa Concordia survivors share their stories from

    Survivors remember scenes of chaos like something out of 'Titanic,' a decade after the Italian cruise ship ran aground in the Mediterranean Sea, killing 32 people. Jan. 12, 2022, 1:20 PM UTC.

  8. Costa Concordia: Italy marks ten years since cruise ship disaster

    Italy will mark the 10th anniversary of the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster on Thursday with a daylong commemoration. Thirty-two people died when the ship slammed into a reef and capsized off ...

  9. Key dates in Costa Concordia shipwreck, trial and cleanup

    2 of 12 | . FILE— The grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia is seen through a window on the Isola del Giglio island, Italy, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers ...

  10. Ten years on, Costa Concordia shipwreck still haunts survivors

    She is one of the survivors of the shipwreck of the Costa Concordia, the luxury cruise liner that capsized after hitting rocks just off the coast of the small Italian island of Giglio on Jan. 13 ...

  11. Costa Concordia: Ten years on pianist recalls terrifying escape from

    On 13 January 2012, the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia capsized off the coast of Tuscany after hitting a rock in the Tyrrhenian Sea. Francesco Schettino, the captain of the cruise liner, was ...

  12. Costa Concordia: How cruise ship tragedy transformed an island ...

    The Costa Concordia cruise ship lays aground near the port on January 9, 2013 on the Italian island of Giglio. ... The body of a woman was recovered by Italian coast guard divers from the capsized ...

  13. Capsized Costa Concordia Is Finally Set to Leave Its Watery Grave

    After more than two and a half years and $1 billion, the capsized cruise ship Costa Concordia is about to set sail again, although it won't be under its own power. The move could not come too ...

  14. 10 years later, Costa Concordia disaster vivid for survivors

    Published 12:13 PM PDT, January 12, 2022. GIGLIO, Italy (AP) — Ten years have passed since the Costa Concordia cruise ship slammed into a reef and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio. But for the passengers on board and the residents who welcomed them ashore, the memories of that harrowing, freezing night remain vividly etched into their ...

  15. Captain of Ship That Capsized Off Italy in '12 Is Convicted

    ROME — An Italian court on Wednesday convicted the captain of a cruise liner that capsized in 2012, killing 32 people, of manslaughter and sentenced him to just over 16 years in prison for his ...

  16. Concordia Cruise Disaster

    The Costa Concordia cruise ship that capsized off the coast of Italy in January 2012 is now right-side-up after a 19-hour operation Sep 17, 2013 5 more bodies found in Concordia wreckage

  17. Costa Concordia Captain Francesco Schettino boards grounded off Italy

    Costa Concordia salvage continues two years later 03:04 When the vast cruise ship ground into the rocky shore of the Italian island of Giglio on Jan. 13, 2012, 32 people lost their lives. The ...

  18. Deadly Costa Concordia Shipwreck Captured in Stunning Image from Space

    Full view of Capsized Costa Concordia Cruise Ship, Giglio, Italy- January 17, 2012 The Costa Concordia luxury cruise ship ran aground in the Tuscan waters off of Giglio,Italy on Friday, January ...

  19. What happened to the Costa Concordia?

    The total cost to scrap Costa Concordia was nearly $800 million. Following the removal of the fuel in March 2012, plans were set in place to arrange for the ship to be scrapped, and for two-and-a-half years, Costa Concordia remained off the coast of Italy. In September 2013, a parbuckling procedure brought the ship to an upright position.

  20. Captain Of Capsized Cruise Ship Held In Italy : NPR

    Captain Of Capsized Cruise Ship Held In Italy. Investigators in Italy are analyzing the cruise ship's data recorder to determine how and why the vessel veered off course and collided with a rocky ...

  21. On This Day: Costa Concordia capsizes off coast of Italy

    In 2012, the cruise ship Costa Concordia slammed into a rocky shoal near the Italian coast and capsized, killing 32 people. In 2016, three winning tickets split the largest lottery jackpot in the ...

  22. Two crew members die during 'incident' on Holland America cruise ship

    Two crew members on board a Holland America cruise ship have been killed in the engine room after falling victim to a horrific incident. less than 2 min read March 27, 2024 - 12:12PM

  23. Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapses After Being Struck by Cargo Ship

    According to MarineTraffic, a ship-tracking company, per ABC News, the container ship was a Singapore-flagged vessel and struck the bridge at around 1:30 a.m. local time. It was heading to Sri ...

  24. Carnival Freedom cruise ship catches fire for second time in less ...

    CARNIVAL JUBILEE CRUISE SHIP RESCUES 2 MEN STRANDED IN GULF OF MEXICO ... CARNIVAL CRUISE CREW MEMBERS HELP RESCUE 12 PEOPLE FROM OCEAN AFTER CARGO VESSEL CAPSIZES. ... shown in Italy in 2007 ...