It was an unfortunate reminder of how little of substance has been accomplished since the tragedy last January, which killed 32 of the 4200 people aboard and ranks among the worst cruise ship disasters in memory. The next 12 months will determine how long the Costa Concordia remains a disaster tourism spectacle, and whether the ship itself, and the questions about what caused it to sink, are finally put to rest.
The salvage operation, said to be the largest such project in maritime history, is turning out to be more complex than expected. Foul weather and some technical difficulties have pushed back the plan to refloat the vessel, first planned for this spring, to September. The two companies handling the $400 million job, Florida?s Titan and its Italian partner Micoperi, plan to tow the wreck to a shipyard where it will be dismantled.
As for the investigation, the legal process in Italy moves at a notoriously creep. Capt. Francesco Schettino, who infamously left the ship after having run it into the rocks, might go on trial later this year, along with seven others, and this week the Italian authorities said they would also charge the cruise ship?s owner, Costa Crociere, with gross negligence. The U.S. Coast Guard is joining the investigation of the accident along with the National Transportation Safety Board. But the full evidence, including the black box recordings, won?t be fully analyzed or released until the probe is further along, and the criminal proceeding will trump the civil investigation into what caused the accident.
In the meantime, a consortium of 26 major cruise lines, the Cruise Lines International Assn., has voluntarily adopted a series of 10 reforms, and the International Maritime Organization is considering whether to make them mandatory for all cruise ships. Most of the 10 stem from the confusion that followed the Concordia?s grounding on the reef, when passengers couldn?t get to lifeboats and received little direction from the crew.
Key changes include briefing of all passengers before or right after departure, not within 24 hours as before (or in some cases, days after sailing; designating that passage planning, like filing a flight plan, must not only be done in advance but must be adhered to by the crew; and that the ship must carry excess lifejackets.
Perhaps the biggest change in culture would be to severely restrict access to the bridge during maneuvers or times of increased vigilance. But enforcement largely would rely on an honor system, which might not stop a rogue captain (right before the Concordia crashed her captain was entertaining a guest and talking on his cell phone). What this rule proposes would be akin to the "sterile cockpit" protocols aboard airliners under 10,000 feet. In aviation, though, it's an official policy that's enforced by a government entity.
The new rules also grow out of an increasing recognition that communication among the crew is critical during an emergency. Similar to the airlines "crew resource management," the shipping industry is moving to change the idea that the captain calls the shots and can?t be challenged. As one Coast Guard veteran told me: "I have had unlicensed seamen save my butt," recalling that "early on as a captain I was going too fast in a channel, and my second mate told me 'Hey, aren?t you going too fast?' I quickly changed course. I always tell me crew: If you see something, tell me."
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