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The plot thickens as lawyers for the survivors announced that cocaine was found on the hair of the captain. A report found traces of cocaine on the outside of a hair sample taken from the captain. The lawyers requested new drug testing on the captain due to the findings in this report, but the consultants who performed the analysis found no evidence of drugs in the urine or inside the hair strand and stood by their results.
Traces of cocaine were found on the hair sample and within the envelope that contained the hair sample. Medical experts who performed the toxicology testing disregarded concerns since the urine and the testing of the inside of the hair strands showed no evidence of cocaine. Experts feel the modest amounts of cocaine found on the hair sample does not invalidate the findings, and the toxicology report on the urine and hair strands would show if there was consumption of cocaine.
The Costa Concordia hit a rock off the coast of Giglio on January 13, 2012. The ship's hull was damaged by a rock and almost immediately started to capsize. Evacuation orders were not ordered for approximately one hour later. Panic struck the over 4,000 passengers and crew on board while trying to evacuate the ship. Some passengers resorted to jump overboard when some of the lifeboats were inoperable due to the ships tilt. Reports say that everything was extremely chaotic with some passengers not even receiving the ship's safety drill procedures. 32 people are presumed dead, which includes 15 bodies that have not been found.
The captain, Francesco Schettino, is being investigated for possible manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship. He has been been under house arrest since the shipwreck. Schettino has maintained his innocence and insists the rock was not on his navigational charts.
There have been reports of the captain, Francesco Schettino, having accounts of prior insubordination. Regardless of the method of travel, companies owe it to their passengers to have a strict policy for hiring and maintaining the best employees possible. I am not sure what issues, if any, they have had with this captain, but in most job situations if you do not follow instructions you are fired. We may never know the reason of this terrible tragedy. Passengers board ships, planes and trains everyday with the expectations of being safe. With everything we choose to do in life, there is a level of risk. With the amount of ships on the water every day there is still a low level of incidences of safety issues.
I have taken many cruises and I still feel very safe. With tragedy, comes change. The cruise industry has already implemented a mandatory safety drill for cruise ships before leaving port. It is my hope that they take a look into every aspect and continue to evaluate what they can do to keep passengers safe. Traveling and vacations are an important part of our lives, and the travel companies owe it to us to have a safe and great experience.
I mostly cruise on Princess lines. We have the emergency drill BEFORE leaving the embarkation port. I love Princess, one of the best cruise lines. I have cruised twice with Costa. Both cruises not bad. I am, however, considering a Caribbean cruise with Costa as the prices are sooooooo dirt cheap right now, even going solo!! So, I'll see.
I agree 100%. The captain was responsible for the passengers on that ship. He should face strict punishment for the crime. The cruise industry needs to monitor and hold their personnel to the highest standards. Passengers need to be informed of what to do if anything like this happens and a captain that will lead the emergency evacuation. When passengers board a ship they need to be prepared for anything that may arise.
I watched a full documentary on this the other night. It was almost 100 years to the date of the Titanic and just as scary. The fact that the captain "fell" into the lifeboat with the rest of the crew before anyone else got the opportunity to leave is pure cowardly. It is unbelievable situation and the entire reason the ship crashed was pure "captain ego". Hopefully he faces the punishment for this crime. I do still think that cruises are safe, but you can't be naive to the fact that something like this could happen.
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