Fact sheet: The Costa Concordia cruise liner

The Costa Concordia is seen in Rome's port of Civitavecchia in a March 2009 file photo. / VINCENZO PINTO/AFP/Getty Images

Italian authorities are trying to find out why a luxury cruise liner - the largest ever built in Italy at the time she entered service - capsized off the Tuscan shore. Pictures showed a 160-foot gash in her hull.

CBS News transportation safety analyst Mark Rosenker said an accident like this is extremely rare.

"These are extremely well-built vessels, particularly these new vessels with new technologies," said Rosenker.

Built in Genoa at the Italian Fincantieri shipyards, the Costa Concordia was christened in 2006. The ship was 952 feet long with a gross tonnage of 112,000. Total passenger capacity was 3,780. Her maximum speed was 23.2 knots.

The ship contained 1,500 staterooms, 5 restaurants, 13 bars, four swimming pools, and one of the largest spas at sea.

Cruise ship runs aground off Italy, 3 dead

82 Photos

Luxury cruise ship runs aground

This was not the first accident involving the Costa Condordia, however. On November 22, 2008, the ship was pushed along the dock by high winds at Palermo in Sicily, causing damage to her bow. No injuries were reported.

Rosenker said one of the first priorities for investigators will be to examine the ship's "black box" voice recorder. ,/P>

"It actually would have recorded the voices of the people - the officers and crew that were on the bridge - and you'll be able to hear their discussion about what happened, and the decisions that they made after the vessel struck the rocks.

"The investigation will really delve into the captain's thinking, and the timing in which he made decisions, both into communicating what was going on to the passengers, ordering them to go back to their cabins to get their life preservers, and then to the final decision where you would evacuate the ship," Rosenker said.

[rwsmith29456]

Think human error was involved???

[FormerUSMCSergeant]

"The ship was 952 feet long..."
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How long is it now?

They must give journalism degrees in boxes of Cracker Jack these days.

[Fatesrider]

It's not a ship anymore. It's a reef.

Like speaking of the dead in past tense, a sunken ship (or at least one that is no longer FLOATING) is considered "dead" and usually referred to in the past tense.

[gruven13777]

Sounds exactly like the Titanic. The "indestructible" ship was loaded with so much advanced technology it was probably sailing itself while crew was probably playing video games or texting their lovers.

[jandj6488]

I have a cheap Garmin watch that tells me exactly where I am at every moment on a run. How can a billion-dollar luxury liner get far enough off course to hit a reef? Yeah, I'd say somebody was not paying attention, or an alarm was turned off. Tragic.

[venusvegasvada]

WOW! ANOTHER CBS NEWS STORY THAT'S DOESN'T DUMP YOU ON THE CBS MORNING SHOW.

CAN'T BELIEVE IT!

[Fatesrider]

If that is always happening to you, it would seem that your Internet nagivation skills are right up there with the captain of the cruise liner in the story.

[Jhihmoac]

That nasty gash will be heavily scrutinized...Along with the operations logs/recorders...Somebody messed up!

[Montana5]

It doesn't matter how well built the ship was. There was a 160 feet rip in the hull below the water line. That isn't going to have a happy ending. The real issue is how the navigator permitted this ship to be put in harm's way. This coast line has been used by shipping for over 3000 years. I can't believe there was an uncharted reef or rock. Sounds like someone wasn't paying attention.

[Fatesrider]

Given that the ship went down with only 25% of her hull torn open, I'd say the lack of proper compartmentalization was a major factor. Water-tight doors and bulkheads should have contained the flooding to the center of the ship. Proper counter-flooding would have kept it upright, but I'd say they over-compensated the counter-flooding. (notice it went over on the OPPOSITE side of the damage?)

Considering how these ships are built, this "sinking" never should have happened even if it ran into a rock. Ships have been cut in TWO, and the back half has been towed back to port to become the aft part of another ship before. The hole in this one is large, but not large enough to flood more than 1/3 of the ship, which shouldn't have been enough to sink her.