• Another body was found, said to be an elderly woman with a life vest,  bringing the death toll up to 16
• 16 are still reported missing
• Preparation began today for the removal of the ships bunkers(fuel) via siphoning. Divers have started making underwater preparations according to the salvage team, Smit.
• You can see the crane on a barge assisted by a tug in the below webcam snapshot
• 

Yikes! I can’t tell whether it’s in jest or not. I guess we’ll see if Jim Walker is invited back on the podcast.

#Cruise executives refuse to go to Giglio http://t.co/5EmuaS9l where is leadership from #Carnival & #Costa? Watching Miami Heat games?

January 22, 2012 10:39 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@CruiseLaw

James (Jim) Walker

@CruiseLaw Hopefully you're able to catch some football today between the smear campaigns.

January 22, 2012 11:06 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@CruiseRadio

Doug Parker

@CruiseRadio are you wearing Carnival panties too?

January 22, 2012 11:20 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@CruiseLaw

James (Jim) Walker

@CruiseLaw Im just making sure you are enjoying some football -- you know I don't care what you write, unless I'm in it.

January 22, 2012 11:24 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@CruiseRadio

Doug Parker

@CruiseRadio my football season ended when Saints lost.

January 22, 2012 11:27 pm via TweetDeckReplyRetweetFavorite

@CruiseLaw

James (Jim) Walker

• 2 more bodies were just found. The death toll rises to 15.
• 18 are still missing
• By now I’m sure you’re aware that the accident was caused by the Captain navigation too close to the Island. Last night into this morning, news broke that according to a transcript of the captions police testimony, Costa Cruises “ordered” the Captain to sail unusually close. He referred to this action as a “salute.”
• According to Italian news La Repubblica, prosecutors are intresting in getting their hands on the captains laptop “given the haste with which it changed hands.” (referring to the speculation that it was given to the “Mysterious Blonde”)
• Tourists are said to be flocking to the tiny island to see the shipwreck. Pretty disrespectful if you ask me.

• The ship that will be used to offload the bunkers(fuel) from the Concordia, is expected to arrive latter today.

• Death toll now up to 13
• The passenger was found on submerged deck near the bow of the vessel
• Number of missing now at 20
• Divers entered the Captain’s cabin and according to Italian news agency ANSA, removed his safe and two suitcases
• According to MSNBC, the Captain immediately knew he was in trouble after striking the rocks:

Via cell, Schettino to Roberto Ferrarini (marine operations director for Costa Cruises): “I’ve got myself into a mess, there was contact with the seabed. I am telling you the truth, we passed under Giglio and there was an impact.”

“I can’t remember how many times I called him in the following hour and 15 minutes. In any case, I am certain that I informed Ferrarini about everything in real time,” he said, adding he had asked the company to send tug boats and helicopters.

If the above is true then it very well could indicate that no one though the problem was that serious. If that’s the case, then it explains a lot about the delayed response. Perhaps the Captain and the senior officers were unable to to make an accurate assessment of the situation from their standpoint.

Is it just me or should Costa’s CEO really stop talking…. Doesn’t seem like these put the company in the best light.

If anyone’s curious,  Pier Luigi Foschi, formally titled Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Costa Crociere, S.p.A. and Director made $4,562,326.

but when I see video below, its hard to believe. I’m referring to the gCaptain interview where a member of the crew said shame to all those criticizing them.

The above video shows how divers are searching the balconies and looking into all the cabins.

Here’s what has happened yesterday and today.

• The number of missing is at 21.
• Divers recovered a body this morning bringing the death toll up to 12. The passenger was said to have a life jacket on. They were found in a narrow passageway near an evacuation staging point at the aft of the ship.

• Maritime surveyors on land are using laser sights to track the movement of the ship on the rocks. There have been further reports of her shifting over night.

• The chairman of RINA, Gianni Scerni, the classification society for the Costa Concordia, has resigned with immediate effect from January 17, 2012.
• Light fuel is reported to have been seen around the wreck.
• 

The video above shows that the vessel impacted the rocks prior to the Port of Giglio at a speed of just over 15kts. If the above is to be believed based on vessel heading, the captain made it worse by turning to starboard. The vessel has a gash on her port side. By swinging to starboard, she exposed her gash to a rush of water as the aft was swinging out. I can guarantee that this action will be critiqued in the final report; or sooner based on the way info has been leaking lately.

Last night Carnival Corp. chairman and CEO Micky Arison tweeted:

We just announced a comprehensive Audit &Review of Safety & Emergency Response Across All our Cruise Lines

source

Also last night, rival Royal Caribbean CEO Adam Goldstein also posed the following on his blog:

By coincidence, half of our Captains and most of our Hotel Directors arrived in South Florida for our annual Fleet Operations leadership conference over the weekend. This gave our Chairman Richard Fain and me a timely opportunity to underscore both our excellent 42 year safety record and more importantly to emphasize the imperative of keeping our record intact into the future.

source

Make sure to read more on Mr. Goldstein’s blog entry as it goes more in depth and is a really good read.