32 personer dog när Costa Concordia gick på grund

The Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia capsized and sank after striking an underwater rock obstruction off Isola del Giglio, Tuscany, on 13 January 2012, with the loss of 33 lives. The ship, carrying 4,252 people, was on the first leg of a cruise around the Mediterranean Sea, starting from Civitavecchia in Lazio, Italy, when she deviated from her planned route at the Isola del Giglio, coming closer to that island, and struck a rock formation on the sea floor. The impact could be heard by passengers on board and caused a temporary power blackout when water flooded the engine room. The captain, Francesco Schettino, ordered evacuation after an hour of drifting, during which the ship had started to list. Meanwhile, the harbour authorities were alerted by worried passengers, and vessels were sent to the rescue. During a six-hour evacuation, most passengers were brought ashore. The search for missing people continued for several months, the last missing person was found in the wreck on 3 November 2014. Costa Concordia, operated by Costa Crociere (Costa Cruises), is one of the largest ships ever to be abandoned, dominating international media in the days after the disaster. Captain Schettino was arrested on preliminary charges of manslaughter in connection with causing a shipwreck, failing to assist 300 passengers, and failing to be the last to leave the wreck. Costa Cruises offered compensation to passengers (to a limit of €11,000 a person) to pay for all damages, including the value of the cruise. One-third of the passengers took this offer. There were immediate fears of an ecological disaster, but all the fuel was extracted by 24 March 2012, without any significant leak. Costa Concordia was officially declared a "constructive total loss" by the insurance company, and her salvage was "one of the biggest maritime salvage operations". On 16 September 2013, the parbuckle salvage of the ship began, and by the early hours of 17 September 2013, the wreck was set upright on its underwater cradle. In July 2014, the ship was refloated by large caissons (metal tanks) attached to its sides and was towed 320 kilometres (200 miles) to its home port of Genoa. The total cost of the disaster, including victims' compensation, refloating, towing and scrapping costs, is estimated to be around $2 billion, more than three times the $612 million construction cost of the ship. On 11 February 2015, after a trial of more than eighteen months, Captain Schettino was found guilty of manslaughter of 32 passengers and sentenced to 16 years in prison. Prosecutors had asked for a 26-year sentence, but the court gave Schettino ten years for multiple manslaughter, five years for causing the shipwreck, one year for abandoning the passengers, and one month for providing false information to port authorities. Five other employees had received prison sentences between 18 and 34 months in earlier plea bargains. In 2016, Schettino's appeal was rejected and the sentence upheld. A final appeal is currently pending. He would remain free until the end of the process. No charges were brought against the British/American owners of the Italian Costa Cruises' ship, despite the poor safety culture promulgated by them on board Costa Concordia.