The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #142686   Message #3296640
Posted By: Brian May
26-Jan-12 - 11:26 AM
Thread Name: BS: Costa Concordia Sinking-2012
Subject: RE: BS: Costa Concordia Sinking-2012
Thanks - fascinating.

One of the features that jumped out was that the double hulls were separated by over a metre! Can you imagine trying to 'sell' that idea to a cruise line company - that would mean that portholes would need to be through a tube over a yard long. A complete non-starter.

When you consider that we are able to buy GPS off the shelf which gives position, in real time, up to about 10 feet in accuracy - with a battery back up, there was no excuse for this vessel to be where it was. God only knows what a vessel of that displacement requires below the surface. Risk assessment is also predicated on not losing the vehicle (ship, aircraft or whatever) for a single failure. Frankly I don't believe it was caused by a power interrupt to the steering, the vessel couldn't get a licence to operate with no redundancy in-built.

They can only 'park' in the largest of harbours too. Personally, I think this disaster and the points it highlights (not least, the insurance claim to come) will find a radical re-think of this whole industry.