This feature is satire and news coverage of what happened to the partially sunk cruise ship Costa Concordia in 2012. Rocks in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the east coast of Isola del Giglio, Italy. The resulting damage claimed the lives of several passengers and crew on board.
The narrator begins by tracing the onboard interactions that caused the ship to go off course, and the efforts made to correct the course after the mistake was discovered. Not that much at first because they didn’t even inform the passengers of the extent of the damage and the danger they were in. Meanwhile, the passengers realized something was wrong and sought help from their family, who contacted the Harbor Master.
The Harbor Master and the Coast Guard often tried to help, but the captain refused for a long time, effectively delaying efforts that could have helped the passengers. As events unfolded, it became clear that those in charge of the ship were more concerned about their own safety. Passengers are responsible for ensuring that they can disembark with the assistance of a rescue team.
As a result, passengers received little compensation from the company that owns the cruise ship, but the individual crew members responsible also had to face their own judgments in court. It also reveals disturbing details about a couple who were asleep throughout the ordeal and about a female passenger who seemed to distract the captain. The skipper who abandoned ship was eventually convicted of manslaughter after numerous appeals. It took several years for the ship to stand upright. Demolition also took several years.
The sarcastic explanation of events adds some humor without detracting from the attention to detail that is described. It raises some interesting ideas about leadership and responsibility in times of crisis.
