The Costa Concordia accident has very much been a ‘trail by media so far’ with Captain Schettino being branded the sole cause of the tragedy. Now I doubt this his decesions and actions were flawed, but just about every serious accident has ‘multiple-cuasation’. In other words there is normally a number of factors which combine to cause the accident and not just one single factor.
In fact, the chief prosecutor, Beniamino Deidda, in charge of the inquiry has implored investigators to look beyond the behaviour of the captain to the role played by the liner’s owners, Costa Cruises.
He said investigators needed to avert their gaze to the decisions taken by “the employer; that is to say, the ship’s owner”.
There are some alternative viewpoints which are largely being overlooked by the press:
- Concordia is the biggest ship to be lost (in terms of passenger number), in peace time, for 100 years. That’s not a bad record for the cruise industry!
- The Captain probably saved lives by turning the ship around a beaching the ship very near land.
- Full evacuation of a big-modern ship is considered the last resort. This may have explained the delay.
- This was the most successful evacuation of a big ship in history. 99% survived*.
(*I do not intend any disrespect to those who tragically lost their lives).
