KARIBUNI

Pata habari za kila siku, burudani,matangazo, na mengineyo mengi pia unaweza kuacha maoni yako kuhusu tovuti hii.

Monday 16 January 2012

Hope fades for 16 still missing with search suspended as stricken cruise ship slips into the sea

Rescue divers have suspended the search for missing people 'indefinitely' after the Costa Concordia slipped 9cm from its rocky resting place - prompting fears it will soon plummet 100 metres down to the bottom of the Mediterranean.
Stormy weather has hampered search efforts this morning, with Giglio's Mayor Sergio Ortelli saying: 'The hopes of finding any more survivors are fading.' There are also worries oil could start to spill from the ship - sparking an environmental disaster.
A five-year-old Italian girl and her father are believed to be among the passengers still missing after the grounding of the Costa Concordia.
William Arlotti, 34, and his daughter Dyana, from Rimini, are among 16 still unaccounted for after the luxury cruise ship ran aground off the island of Giglio and then partially sank on Friday night, Italian media reports.
The naming of the remaining missing people comes as investigators revealed another body had been found - taking the official death toll to six.
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Suspended: Rescue divers have stopped searching for missing people after the Costa Concordia started to slip into the sea
Suspended: Rescue divers have stopped searching for missing people after the Costa Concordia started to slip into the sea - a total of 16 are still unaccounted for and the death toll has now risen to six

Postponed: Giglio's Mayor has admitted that 'hopes are fading' for finding any more survivors of the disaster
Postponed: Giglio's Mayor has admitted that 'hopes are fading' for finding any more survivors of the disaster. Dyana Arlotti, 5, and her father William are among those missing
Five-year-old Dyana's mother, Susy Albertini told Italian newspaper Voce di Romagna: 'I have made hundreds of phone calls to my ex-husband, but he does not respond.
'I called all the authorities, the Police Prefecture to the Marina di Grosseto, the fire department, but nobody can tell me anything about my daughter.The last time I saw Dyana was Thursday morning. I took her to kindergarten.

 
'In the evening her father picked her up. It is not the first time she has gone with her father on a cruise. I heard there were problems on the ship on Saturday morning from his parents. Meanwhile, I continue to call everyone and no one can tell me anything about my daughter.'
Miss Albertini's mother, Alberta Sartini, added: 'We are waiting for news, we are on tenterhooks.My daughter had trusted to give the child to her former husband and the child was happy to go on a cruise with him. I hope with all my heart they come back.'
Smashed: Divers pictures inspecting a broken window in a bid to find more survivors
Smashed: Divers pictured inspecting a broken window in a bid to find more survivors, but they have had to call their search off as the ship has started to fall into the sea from the rocky resting place it has been perched on

Italy
Frogman: Scuba divers have had to stop searching the stricken ship as it starts to fall into the sea. There are also fears oil could start pouring from the vessel, prompting an environmental disaster

The sixth victim was a man, found in a corridor in the part of the ship that was still above water, who was still wearing his orange lifejacket. Others confirmed dead include two men, 86-year-old Italian Giovanni Masia and Spaniard Guillermo Gual, 68, discovered at an emergency gathering point near the restaurant.
Two French passengers and Peruvian crew member Tomas Costilla Mendoza have also been confirmed dead. The number unaccounted for increased because two Sicilian women, originally listed among the evacuated, have not contacted relatives. Of the sixteen missing, ten are passengers and six crew members.
Six of the tourists are Italian, including Arlotti and his daughter, a couple from Biella and two women from Enna in Sicily. Two Americans on their 'holiday of a lifetime' are also still unaccounted for.  Gerald and Barbara Heil, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, were confirmed as missing by their daughter.
Frantic: Rescue divers have had to suspend their search for missing people in and around the partially submerged Costa Concordia
Frantic: Rescue divers have had to suspend their search for missing people in and around the partially submerged Costa Concordia

Chaotic: A five-year-old Italian girl and her father are believed to be among the passengers still missing after the sinking of the Costa Concordia
Gounded: Search teams are no longer trawling the Costa Concordia for missing people after it partially sank on Friday night
Gounded: Search teams are no longer trawling the Costa Concordia for missing people after it partially sank on Friday night

Submerging: The Costa Concordia pictured today, as fears grow a storm could dislodge it from its resting place and sent it plummeting 100 metres down to the bottom of the sea
Submerging: The Costa Concordia pictured today, as fears grow a storm could dislodge it from its resting place and sent it plummeting 100 metres down to the bottom of the sea

Complicated: Firemen lower a stretcher down the upturned deck of the partially submerged Costa Concordia
Complicated
Action: Firemen lower a stretcher down the upturned deck of the partially submerged Costa Concordia (left) as scuba divers continue searching this morning (right)

SAFETY ON MEGA CRUISE SHIP LINERS DEFENDED

Costa Concordia
A cruise ship design technical expert today dismissed suggestions that huge modern liners lacked stability.
The sight of the 114,000-tonne Costa Concordia lying on its side off the coast of Italy has raised questions about the safety of such mega-liners.
But such gigantic vessels are in fact safer than ever, according to Robert Ashdown, the European Cruise Council's technical, environment and operations director.
He said: 'It's just not right to say that the design of the hull of these big ships is unstable. These ships are more stable than they have ever been.
'They can stand up to anything the weather can throw at them. They are designed to strict international standards.'
He said that ever since the Titanic disaster of 1912, the SOLAS (Safety of Lives at Sea) convention has governed ship safety and has kept the number of ocean tragedies to a minimum.
And Pervuian tourism student Peruvian Erika Soria, 26, who was working on the ship, is also missing.
Her father Saturnino told Pervuian TV: 'My concern is that the authorities intensify their search and find my daughter wherever she is.
'She has to be found, dead or alive. The pain of not knowing what’s happened to her is killing us. I haven’t given up hope of seeing her alive again.'
Rising turbulence this morning led to concerns that the ship - which has on board some 2,500 tons of fuel - could become unstable, creating the threat of a possible environmental disaster on top of the human loss.
No leaks into the pristine waters have been reported so far, and a Dutch firm has been called in to help extract the fuel.
Environment Minister Corrado Clini said: 'The environmental risk for the island of Giglio is extremely high. The goal is to avoid that the fuel leaks from the ship. We are working on this. The intervention is urgent.'
But, offering glimmers of hope, three people were rescued yesterday. A young honeymooning South Korean couple, both aged 29, were plucked alive from the wreckage. 
Jeong Hye Jim and his wife Kideok Hanmarito became stranded two decks below rescuers who eventually heard their screams.
And the ship's cabin service director, 57-year-old Manrico Giampetroni, was discovered in an air pocket in a flooded restaurant two days after the incident. He was trapped after breaking his leg, and was dramatically winched to safety.
Confirmation of the sixth death comes as investigators look into reports that the ship's captain might have been 'showing off' when he steered the vessel too close to rocks.
Captain Francesco Schettino's behaviour is said to be under close scrutiny as he faces accusations he abandoned the vessel before ensuring all of the 4,200 people aboard were safely evacuated.
It is thought that Capt Schettino sailed as close to land as he did as he wanted to salute to a friend on shore.
The display was said to be in a 'salute of respect' for a former Costa cruises commander Mario Palombo who retired in 2006 due to ill health and whose family were originally from Giglio.
Inspection: Rescue workers look at the top of the Costa Concordia cruise ship as search efforts continue
Forlorn: A woman looks on at the Costa Concordia cruise liner two days after it ran aground off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio
Inspection: Rescue workers look at the top of the Costa Concordia cruise ship (left) as a woman looks on at the wreckage (right)

Wreck: The Costa Concordia pictured last night dangerously keeled over off the Giglio Island
Wreck: The Costa Concordia pictured last night dangerously keeled over off the Giglio Island

Hungarian dancer Erzsebet Szilagyi who was on board cruise ship Costa Concordia runs towards her relatives upon her arrival at the Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary
Hungarian dancer Erzsebet Szilagyi who was on board cruise ship Costa Concordia runs towards her relatives upon her arrival at the Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport in Budapest, Hungary
Free: Hungarian dancer Erzsebet Szilagyi, a survivor of the Costa Concordia grounding, runs towards her relatives upon her arrival at the Budapest Liszt Ferenc International Airport

SHIP OWNERS FACE £62m LOSS

P&O
The owner of stricken cruise liner Costa Concordia today said the loss of the ship would wipe up to £62 million from its profits this year.
Carnival, which owns Costa Cruises, said the grounded vessel would be out of service until at the least the end of its financial year to November 30.
However, Carnival, which is listed on the London and New York stock exchanges, said it was insured to the tune of £21million for the vessel.
Micky Arison, chairman and chief executive of Carnival, said: 'At this time, our priority is the safety of our passengers and crew.
'We are deeply saddened by this tragic event and our hearts go out to everyone affected by the grounding of the Costa Concordia and especially to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives.
'They will remain in our thoughts and prayers.'
Shares in Carnival were down 21 per cent today, wiping nearly £1 billion from its market value.
Its stock had already fallen about 30 per cent over the previous year as the weak economic climate hit demand for cruises.
Carnival Corporation & PLC is the world's largest cruise ship operator. It owns 11 brands, including P&O (above), Cunard and Princess Cruises.
It is a dual-listed company, with headquarters in Southampton in the UK and Miami in the US.
Carnival plc, the British side of the business, is concerned with UK operations, but does have responsibility for Costa Cruises, Carnival Cruises and Holland America Line.
As British survivors spoke of the 'screaming and crying' as they tried to get off the stricken vessel, the ship's owner Costa Crociere said 'preliminary indications' suggested Capt Schettino may have been guilty of 'significant human error'.
The ship's Italian owner, a subsidiary of Carnival Cruise lines, issued a statement late Sunday saying there appeared to be 'significant human error' on the part of the captain, Francesco Schettino, 'which resulted in these grave consequences'.
It said in a statement: 'The route of the vessel appears to have been too close to the shore, and the captain's judgment in handling the emergency appears to have not followed standard Costa procedures.'
Carnival PLC, the owner of the capsized boat, saw its share price plummet by around a fifth.
Carnival CEO Micky Arison said in a statement: 'At this time, our priority is the safety of our passengers and crew.

'We are deeply saddened by this tragic event and our hearts go out to everyone affected by the grounding of the Costa Concordia and especially to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives.'
Authorities were holding Schettino for suspected manslaughter and a prosecutor confirmed yesterday they were also investigating allegations the captain abandoned the stricken liner before all the passengers had escaped.
According to the Italian navigation code, a captain who abandons a ship in danger can face up to 12 years in prison.
Schettino insisted he did not leave the liner early, telling Mediaset television that he had done everything he could to save lives. He said: 'We were the last ones to leave the ship.'
Questions also swirled about why the ship had navigated so close to the dangerous reefs and rocks that jut off Giglio's eastern coast, amid suspicions the captain may have ventured too close while carrying out a manoeuvre to entertain tourists on the island.
Residents of Giglio said they had never seen the Costa come so close to the dangerous 'Le Scole' reef area.
'This was too close, too close,' said Italo Arienti, a 54-year-old sailor who has worked on the Maregiglio ferry between Giglio and the mainland for more than a decade.
Pointing to a nautical map, he drew his finger along the path the ship usually takes and the jarring one close to shore that it followed on Friday.
Costa captains have occasionally steered the ship near port and sounded the siren in a special salute, Arienti said.  Such a nautical 'fly-by' was staged last August, prompting the town's mayor to send a note of thanks to the commander for the treat it provided tourists who flock to the island, local news portal GiglioNews.it reported.   
But Arienti and other residents said even on those occasions, the cruise ship always stayed far offshore, well beyond the reach of the 'Le Scole' reefs.
Coast Guard Cmdr. Filippo Marini said divers had recovered the so-called 'black box', with the recording of the navigational details, from a compartment now under water, though no details were released.
All 35 Britons on board, including 12 crew, are safe. Britons who were on board the stricken ship have now arrived back home and spoken about their ordeal. Mandy Rodford, 45, and her husband John, 46, from Rochester in Kent, were celebrating their fourth wedding anniversary on the vessel when it ran aground.
Searching: Italian coastguards continued the operation yesterday
Searching: Italian coastguards continued the operation yesterday

Questions: Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino has been arrested
Survivor: Manrico Giampetroni was winched to safety more than 36 hours after becoming trapped in a flooded restaurant
Questions: Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino (left) has been arrested, as Manrico Giampetroni (right) has spoken after he was winched to safety more than 36 hours after becoming trapped in a flooded restaurant

WIFE 'SAVED BY HUSBAND' WHO HANDED HER HIS LIFEJACKET

A survivor told how her husband saved her life before drowning - because there was 'nobody there' to save him.
Frenchwoman Nicole Servel, 61, said Francis Servel, 71, gave her his lifejacket before they leapt off the sinking cruise ship.
She said: 'I owe my life to my husband – it’s obvious he saved me.' She managed to swim for shore, while Mr Servel was swept underwater and drowned.
Speaking from her home near Toulouse, south west France, Mrs Servel said: 'He shouted  'jump, jump, jump. I can't swim so he gave me his life jacket.
'I froze and couldn’t jump, but he jumped off the ship and shouted upwards 'Come on, don't worry.
'I jumped off and the last thing I heard him say was that I would be fine. Then I never saw him again.
'The water was only eight degrees. When I was alone in the water I thought of my children, my grandchildren. The thought of them kept me afloat. It kept me living. I do not know how I did it.
'I swam for several minutes. I am unable to say exactly how long. And then I found myself on a rock. Villagers came to pick us up. They led us to a church. I was very cold, frozen. In the sacristy we found a cassock. I took it. It made me warm.'
The couple had only been on board the Mediterranean cruise ship for seven hours before disaster struck.
Mrs Rodford, who had been hesitant about going on the holiday because she does not like water, said: 'I just thought my life was gone. I just thought my life was over, getting in that water.
'I thought, if I don't die from the swimming part, I'm going to die from the shock of having to get in it.'
Speaking at London's Heathrow Airport, after flying back from Rome yesterday, Mr Rodford said they first thought something was wrong when they were eating their dinner.
He said he heard 'a crunch', then his drink started sliding along the table. The couple asked a crew member if there was a problem, but they were told: 'No, it's the engine.'
He added: 'Then the lights went out and came back on. And then it (the ship) started going the other way, and quite a lot the other way.
'All the plates were coming off the tables and smashing, and it was just like bedlam. Everyone was getting the life jackets, but they told us to stay. They said: 'It's all right, it's under control'.'
They described sliding down the corridors across the width of the ship to reach the starboard side, which was closest to the water.
The couple chose a cabin on the sixth floor without a window, because of Mrs Rodford's fear of water, and their room was on the side of the ship submerged in the sea.
A group of British dancers who worked on the ship also came back to Heathrow yesterday. James Thomas, 19, from Sutton Coldfield, said: 'My life was that ship for six months, and now it's gone.'
Describing the evacuation, he said: 'It was chaos, because we had to go through the centre of the ship, which had been obliterated by the tilt. Everything was everywhere.' Mr Thomas said he was in charge of a group of 20 staff on board the boat as they helped passengers to muster stations and life rafts.
He said: 'It was handling everyone else that was the biggest problem.' Rose Metcalf, 23, from Wimborne in Dorset, wiped away tears as she revealed she had written a note to her mother in case she did not survive. She was one of the last people to be rescued by a helicopter after she clambered from Deck Four to Deck Five.
She said: 'There was just so much panic so I decided to wait until the water was high enough so I could jump or swim, but I didn't want to be inside. I was just keeping practical. I was making sure the people on my life raft had their jackets done up. I was trying to keep people talking, was trying to keep the mood calm and keep practical. My heart was racing, but I was calm to everyone else.'
Miss Metcalf said she used her watch to time how quickly the water was creeping up the side of the ship, and estimating what degree the vessel was lying in the sea. Phoebe Jones, from Walton-on-Thames in Surrey, said: 'It feels really surreal. It still doesn't feel like I'm home.'
The 20-year-old was on stage performing a magic show and was about to clamber into a tiny box when the ship ran aground.
Miss Jones said the were no alarms or warnings, but she instinctively went to her nearest rendezvous point. The dancer said it took some time for the events to sink in.
Honeymooners: Newlyweds Jeong Hye Jim (left) and Kideok Hanmarito (right) were trapped inside their cabin when their screams were heard by rescuers
Honeymooners: Newlyweds Jeong Hye Jim (left) and Kideok Hanmarito (right) were trapped inside their cabin when their screams were heard by rescuers

Search: Divers have been undertaking the dangerous task of looking for missing people
Wreckage: Furniture can be seen falling out of the ship
Search: Divers have been undertaking the dangerous task of looking for missing people

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