Comments on:

Congress holds hearing for Concordia survivors

: linkicon reporticon emailicon
Colliam7 says:: It is the year of the unbelievable! First, the resident benthics in Washington (aka Congress) decide to hold hearings on cruise ship safety because of a shipwreck occuring in Italy, for which an appropriate official investigation, by the appropriate (Italian maritime) authorities, hasn't been concluded, in fact is still in its early stages. Then, we get to listen to video clips of showboating Congressmen lamenting problems with cruise ship safety. Come one! A huge ship hits a reef, at night, in deep water (~400 feet), ripping an enormous, 'fatal' hole in its hull. It somehow manages to move / float / drift to a shallow coastal ledge, where it capsizes, but remains essentially above water. If that was luck, so be it. If it was somehow facilitated by the Captain / officers, phenomenal. Some 4200 people on borad manage to get off the ship and onto land (the crew's somewhat inept performance and the overall chaos notwithstanding, they got off the ship), with only 32 deaths (presuming the 7 still missing are dead). That is nothing short of amazing. Yes, there should be a critical assessment by operators, of how to prevent such accidents in the future. The most valuable lessons are learned from events like this. But, I wonder if we can rein in the hyenas.; reply