Costa Concordia causes immediate changes

Following the Costa Concordia tragedy, Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) has already implemented an industry best practice that muster drills for embarking passengers take place in port rather than within 24 hours of embarkation.

Although the casualty is still subject to an investigation, the basic facts are that on 13 January, Costa Cruises’ 114,000gt Costa Concordia departed from Civitavecchia with about 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members on a seven-day itinerary. At about 2200 the vessel struck rock off the coast of Isola del Giglio, Italy, and sustained significant damage. Subsequently the ship developed a severe list. The order was given deploy the lifeboats and abandon ship. Tragically 17 died and 15 are still missing.

The master, Francesco Schettino was on the bridge at the time of the collision. Capt Schettino was placed under house arrest facing charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship.

Two days later Pier Luigi Foschi, president and chief executive officer Costa Cruises, told the media, “We believe that it is human error and that the captain did not follow the route followed by Costa ships. We have 100 passages a year on that piece of water.” He added, “The captain wanted to show the ship off ...and so he decided to change the course of the ship to go closer to the island [within 150m] and pass in front of the little city.”

As to the sequence of events, Mr Foschi said, “We really do believe that the ship hit the rock and all the other events happened because of this.”

Speculation as to what actually happened has been rife. The exact details will only emerge when the Italian Coast Guard has published its report, which could take up to 18 months.

Bud Darr, director of environmental and health programmes at CLIA, told PST, “I hope enough time is given as we have a lot to learn from this investigation. I think it is counter-productive to rush results of something so important.”

Within a week of the incident Costa’s parent company Carnival Corp announced a comprehensive audit and review of all safety and emergency response procedures across its entire fleet.

Although the group and the industry have maintained an excellent safety record over the years, Micky Arison, chairman and chief executive officer, said, “However, this tragedy has called into question our company’s safety and emergency response procedures and practices. While I have every confidence in the safety of our vessels and the professionalism of our crews, this review will evaluate all practices and procedures to make sure that this kind of accident doesn’t happen again.”

On 27 January CLIA launched a ‘Cruise Industry Operational Safety Review’ in response to the incident. It will include a comprehensive assessment of the critical human factors and operational aspects of maritime safety. As best practices are identified, they will be shared among CLIA members and any appropriate recommendations will be shared with IMO.

An additional item on passenger ship safety has been included on the agenda of IMO’s maritime safety committee which meets in May. This comes against a background of a raft of safety measures already under review. Secretary-general Koji Sekimizu has asked the Italian Administration to report its findings to IMO as soon as possible.

CLIA members have already started conducting internal reviews and consulting external experts. It has already identified and put into effect its first best practice: CLIA member lines and those of the European Cruise Council and UK Passenger Shipping Association have agreed to conduct the mandatory muster for embarking passengers prior to departure from port, even though Solas currently requires only that it takes place within 24 hours of embarkation.

On Costa Concordia, 696 passengers of the 3,200 had embarked at Civitavecchia (of these, 90 per cent were repeaters) and the muster drill was not due until the following day. Safety videos were playing in the cabins on arrival.

Under the CLIA formal muster policy, those passengers arriving after the muster has been completed will promptly be given individual or group safety briefings that meet the requirements for musters applicable under Solas, which could be after the ship has sailed.

Cunard Line and P&O Cruises, both part of Carnival, told PST in early February that they have already been following these procedures for some time.

Discussing which areas could be next for review, Mr Darr highlighted bridge team management. “How the bridge watch team function together will certainly be of high priority to our members as they are examining their operational procedures.”

At the global media press briefing held during Riviera Maritime Media’s Passenger Ship Safety Conference on 19 January, Christine Duffy, president and chief executive officer of CLIA, said, “We are calling on IMO to undertake a comprehensive evaluation from the findings of the Costa Concordia investigation so that the cruise industry remains one of the very safest recreational industries globally.”

Later that day, Bill Wright, senior vice president of marine operations at Royal Caribbean Cruises, and the safety and shipboard operations cruise industry maritime expert for CLIA and ECC told PST that he believes bridge team/resource management to be “extremely effective”. Capt Wright explained however that while the vast majority of captains see its value, there will be exceptions where captains might have issues with a junior officer giving a piece of advice. He explained, “It requires a level of maturity. They [captains] need to be comfortable in their own skins and not, as captain, have to be flawless. We all make mistakes.”

He also said that any deviation from a voyage plan under such a system goes through a two-person check by not only the captain but the entire bridge team.

Back in 2009 PST visited the Centre for Simulator Training (CSmart) in the Netherlands, which was set up by Carnival following a review of bridge operations that resulted in a new approach. At the time Capt Hans Hederstrom, director of professional marine training and research CSmart, said, “Together with the captains we developed a new structure. We moved away from the traditional way of managing the bridge.” Since then hundreds of officers from Carnival brands have undergone training at the centre (PST, Spring 2010).

Also high on the agenda for review are evacuation procedures and emergency training. Under Solas, a ship must be evacuated within 30 minutes of the master giving the order to evacuate. Mr Darr commented, “I think it is fair to say that media reporting has raised questions of the 30 minutes [regarding Costa Concordia],” adding that irrespective of this particular incident “we can examine it on our own, based on the broad fleet of ships we have now”.

With evacuation in mind but talking generally, he said, “There is no need to wait for the regulators [for the industry to take action] and this is a good example.” He was at pains to emphasise that assessing safety is and always has been an ongoing process but acknowledged that Costa Concordia has been a “catalyst from which lessons can be applied”.

Lifeboats are required by regulation to be ready for use within five minutes from their stowed position and this too may be the subject of scrutiny. Lifeboats are required to be capable of being launched from a ship listing at 20 degrees.

The port side of Costa Concordia’s hull was ripped open by the rocks. It is not clear how many compartments were damaged or how much damage was inflicted on the starboard side or to the bottom as they remained underwater. The fact that the ship listed away from the gash is the subject of debate.

With damage stability and safe return to port being very much at the forefront of regulations it is not surprising that questions are being asked as to whether things would have been different had Costa Concordia been built to these specifications.

Mr Darr says CLIA would await the results of the investigation before drawing any conclusions about design. “Our first priority is what we can do the fastest, which is why we are focusing on operational issues right now. We are not precluding design elements but it is not our focus at the moment.”

Salvage contract

Smit Salvage was hired to remove the 2,300 tonnes of fuel (17 tanks of HFO and four of MGO) and other materials and potential pollutants from Costa Concordia. The first oil was removed on 12 February. Costa Cruises is also working on a plan to remove the ship itself. A technical committee has been set up to draw up the best plan with 10 companies invited to tender: Smit Salvage; Svitzer Salvage; Mammoet Salvage; Titan Salvage; Resolve Marine Group; T&T Marine Salvage; Donjon Marine; Tito Neri; Fukada Salvage & Marine Works; and the Nippon Salvage Co. Plans will be presented to Costa Cruises by the beginning of March with the successful one expected to be announced by the end of that month. PST