The Costa Concordia often travelled to a port near Rome and on its journey the ship would pass the island of Giglio. Local residents would often come to the shoreline to see the huge vessel as it passed along, normally far out at sea. The last time the vessel passed though, the residents were very surprised to see that it was incredibly close to shore and very close to the rocky outcrops that are around the island.
At 9:30 in the evening, the vessel struck rocks and this caused an enormous disturbance through out the ship. The vessel had over 3000 passengers on board and most of them were sitting down to their dinners at this time. The hull had been torn beneath the waterline by rocky outcrops and within an hour the ship had almost capsized.
Shortly after the ship hit the rocks the captain gave the order for the vessel to be evacuated and people started scrambling for the lifeboats. The question that is remaining in people’s minds is why the ship was sailing so close to the shore, where it is known to be very dangerous. Some people on the shore said that the ship could have been as close as 150 metres from the coast.
The captain of the vessel has said that he was still 300 metres away from the rocky outcrops and this is a safe distance. He also claimed that the charts indicated that there were no rocks underwater in the area. The owner of the ship, Costa, has stated that the vessel was on its normal route and the navigation system indicated that there were no problems.
The statement is contrary to what people on the island are saying, with many stating that the ship was much closer than they have ever seen before. Prosecutors are currently examining the case and one theory being considered is that the captain was sailing close to shore in order to honour the tradition of the ship passing the island.
The ship had apparently sailed close to the shore last year and this had encouraged the mayor of the town on the island to congratulate the captain of the ship as he was responsible for boosting tourism in the area. The mayor of the town has commented about the event, “The passing of the ship is a popular event on the island and many people come to the jetty to watch it go by. There is tower that we light in celebration of the ships passing and it is quite an astounding sight”
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