Last Friday the Costa Concordia cruise liner struck a reef and subsequently sunk near to shore off the coast of Italy. Here's a link to the best story I've been able to find: click here for report!

"The 114,500-tonne Costa Concordia was on a trip around the Mediterranean when it "hit an obstacle" near the island of Giglio off the coast of Tuscany."

The Costa Concordia has the dubious distinction of being the largest cruise liner to ever have sunk.

Over 4000 people were aboard, three are confirmed dead and 17 are still missing according to this report.

The captain safely evacuated the ship after grounding it adjacent to the shore, and is under investigation for manslaughter. He had abandoned the ship before the vast majority of passengers were safely ashore.

Charley Noble