Many stories of bravery and humanity yet to unfold through the disaster which caused the cruise ship to run aground with many fatalities and still other passengers yet to be found, this story of the violinist going back for his violin after helping passengers to safety and the Italian rock drummer also missing after helping fellow passengers escape is just one of many I'm sure,
RIP to all who perished, and condolences to your families
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/d ... -1.1008315

It's a terrible disaster, to be sure. And highly cinematic.

The recorded radio argument between the coastguard and captain where they suggest he should not have left the ship yet and should get back there immediately is highly suggestive. I strongly suspect that gentleman is in a crapload of trouble and might be looking at 12 years in prison for manslaughter.

On the other hand, the way the cruiseline's owners rushed to heap blame onto him within two days of the sinking and before any kind of investigation had taken place indicates serious problems with the management culture within that company. If I was booked onto one of their forthcoming cruises I'd be looking to cancel straight away.

Cheers - C

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Mass Maritime Academy has a very realistic simulator
and they showed it on the news and how the events
occurred...quite amazing footage!

It even simulates the Captain's "alleged" falling off...

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Being able to play and enjoy music is a gift that's often taken for granted.

Don't leave home without it!

I'm afraid it will be "conditional intent", not more.

It's a stupid maneuver, it went terribly wrong, his reaction to the incident was not appropriate and people died. His intention was to do this maneuver of "bow" in front of that island. A very old tradition in navigation, btw.

In law, the intention is one of the criteria:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intention_(criminal_law)

He was not "doing an unlawful act" in the legal sense while setting the ship on a rock, that's the difference to manslaughter in most systems of law.

Regards

David

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"Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc...and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons."

Hi David: you may well be right.

Though the Italian prosecutor (investigative council, or whatever the heck they're called there) on TV last night used the word manslaughter. I don't think it's merely the stupidity of crashing the ship on the rock that's the issue; it's what he did after. The delays and misdirection in ordering the abandoning of the ship, culminating in departing himself before his duty to organise the evacuation was completed.

However, you are closer in every sense to Italy, so we'll pay attention to what you say.

Cheers - C

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My stepmother is Italian .... and she's head of a leading reinsurance's marine business. I'll hear her opinion this weekend. I suppose the italian law is close to UK law, so you could look that up. The dividing line is really the "unlawful doing". If you just happen to commit a terrible mistake, it cannot be manslaughter.

What makes me sick is the fact that it wasn't the first time they did this maneuver. I wonder what the first officer was doing, and what the rest of the crew were thinking while it happened.

Did you know that the governor of this island sent a letter in which he expressed his gratitude for these close encounters? It was a touristic attraction. In the end, it's a chain of bad decisions.

Cheers

David

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"Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc...and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons."

Ah-ha! You are definitely the one with his finger on the pulse, then. Be most fascinating to hear what your stepmother has to say about it all.



I have no idea about that. In English law we have many degrees of manslaughter: voluntary manslaughter, involuntary manslaughter, constructive manslaughter, criminally negligent manslaughter... etc, etc.

On the other hand, it could just be that the guy on the TV was speaking a language that was not his own and was using a word inaccurately; especially when the investigation has barely got started. We probably needn't get too hung up on a particular word.

What did surprise me was that he said a 12 year prison sentence was a possibility. Even if he doesn't necessarily know legal words in a foreign language he presumably knows the range of penalties in his own judicial system. 12 years is a hefty sentence for something that certainly wasn't done deliberately, even if there was major negligence.

That ship's captain will not be a happy fella at this moment.



I agree. And I bet the company is going to turn out to have a large share of blame too, regardless how they are trying to dodge it at present. There's clearly a bad management culture here as well as an irresponsible captain.

Cheers - C

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What a terrible loss of the Hungarian Violinist. He was unselfish by helping passengers and wanted to retrieve his beloved Violin and did not make it. The thing now that worries me is the 500,000 gallons of fuel in the ship leaking out. It would be a ecological mega-disaster to the Maritime life and coast. From the Italian media the Captain is the most hated man in Italy right now. I think he's going to get some serious time out of this.

I was very surprised to learn that the company is American.



Costa is a Carnival company.

You know, yesterday I wondered if there is still somebody struggling for survival on this boat. It could be. This is what makes me really sad at the moment. The ship moved this morning, so they had to take the divers out.

Cheers

David

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"Humans think they are smarter than dolphins because we build cars and buildings and start wars etc...and all that dolphins do is swim in the water, eat fish and play around. Dolphins believe that they are smarter for exactly the same reasons."