The catastrophe of an Italian cruise liner,the Costa Concordia, has resurrected all kinds of connections to Titanic. Despite some eerie parallels in survivor accounts, theyare not the same. I will spare readers any cliches to Titanic as this ought to be judged strictly on its own terms. The captain, if press accounts are to be believed, made a serious lack of judgment by failing to use proper seamanship. And he may have abandoned ship without good cause. Transcripts of exchanges between the Italian Coast Guard and the captain telling him to return to his ship are damning.

It is almost predictable that politicians want to jump into the fray. In 1912 there were serious and compelling reasons to do so. Both inquiries, American and British, uncovered a lot of important details that resulted in major changes. Lifeboats for all, 24 hour communication watches, better attention to iceberg threats (International Ice Patrol), changes in shipbuilding etc. Technology has vastly improved since then. Radar, satellites, more accurate charts, better ship handling technologies. Even with the most sophisticated of technology implemented on modern day ships, catastrophes can still happen.

Mighty Poseidon wields a powerful trident and waves can knock the best designed ship around. Cruise ships and passengers caught in a terrible storm that thrashes them about have to trust the captain and his crew to get them safely through the night. Nearly every cruise ship today is designed with safety of passengers in mind. And few run into serious problems. Most western nations have strict regulations and the United States is considered the toughest (and the reason so many cruise lines register their ships elsewhere). And most ships are regularly inspected for safety compliance. The ship officers and bridge crew have to be competent and experienced. Regular drills to deal with emergencies are common.

Nothing though compares to the real thing. In An Officer and Gentleman one of the aviation candidates asks if the water simulation (where you simulate falling into the ocean after bailing out) is like the real thing. The petty officer says it is not at all like the real thing. And that is why you drill often, so that when the moment comes you avoid panic and think through the situation. There are conflicting accounts whether the crew responded well to the catastrophe. The fact that so many passengers were secured says something went right. Otherwise we could be talking about large numbers dead instead of the low number thus far.

The inevitable investigations will reveal more fully how the catastrophe happened. Right now it appears the captain and first officer made serious mistakes but one must resist coming to conclusions until all the facts are in. Press reports, especially initial ones, can be very unreliable. There will no doubt be problems found, they nearly always are. Jumping in and demanding hearings on cruise line safety is nothing more public grand standing by politicians desperate to show they are concerned. This is not 1912 and what happened was likely poor seamanship rather than a major flaw in either safety regulations or ship building design.

Additional Info:

Some very interesting images and more details can be found at Universe Today.