The Life of Costa Concordia #history #ship #shiplife #shipwreck #costaconcordia #cruise ship #italy
Launched: 2 September 2005 Maiden voyage: 14 July 2006 Out of service: 13 January 2012 Fate: Capsized & partially sank in 2012 off Isola del Giglio, Tuscany. Salvaged in 2014 & subsequently scrapped in Genoa, Italy in 2017. Costa Concordia was a cruise ship operated by the Italian cruise line Costa Crociere. She was the first of her class & when the 114,137-ton Costa Concordia & her sister ships entered service, they were among the largest ships built in Italy until the construction of the 130,000 GT Dream-class cruise ships. On 22 November 2008, Costa Concordia suffered damage to her bow when high winds over the Sicilian city of Palermo pushed the ship against its dock. There were no injuries & repairs started soon after. Initial repairs were completed by the December following the incident, but dents were still visible. The area was later fully repaired in 2011 during the ship's refurbishment. On 13 January 2012 at 21:45, Costa Concordia struck a rock in the Tyrrhenian Sea just off the eastern shore of Isola del Giglio. This tore open a 53-metre (174-foot) gash on the port side of her hull, which soon flooded parts of the engine room, cutting off power from the engines & ship services. As water flooded in, the ship listed as she drifted back towards the island & grounded near shore, then rolled onto her starboard side, lying in an unsteady position on a rocky underwater ledge. The evacuation of Costa Concordia took over 6 hours & of the 3,229 passengers & 1,023 crew known to have been aboard, 32 died. Francesco Schettino, the ship's captain at that time, was tried & found guilty of manslaughter, causing a maritime accident & abandoning his ship. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2015. The wreck was salvaged 3 years after the incident & then towed to the port of Genoa, where she was scrapped.