Costa Concordia Passengers told to go back to their cabins

[bookboo]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/...world-europe-16641592

When the planes hit the twin towers, supervisors of various offices told people to go back to their offices!

Well, this has certainly taught me a lesson, ignore them and get the hell out of there!

[venator]

In 1992, I was working in an office on Bridge Street, Manchester, when an IRA bomb went off less than 500 yards away. There were only 2 of us working, and we decided to stay there and get the computers working again.

About an hour later, another bomb went off near the Cathedral, where many people had gathered to take refuge.

We could have gone that way....

[Ankou]

i was watching this on telly this morning and discussing with mrs kou, but to be fair unless you are next to a jolly boat, where on the ship would you go ?

she said she'd climb to the highest point, but then if the boat flipped it'd be a long drop either way possibly on to rocks, possibly into the sea. if you chose to go one side of the boat or the other to a muster point/jolly boat - who's to know you aint chosen the wrong side?

so bookboo - from where and how would you get out of there, bearing in mind you are having a massive blind panic, fearing for your life and you have 10 seconds to decide ?

[Philtaz]

That's often the problem with drills/training.

It usually turns to rat sh*t when the excrement actually does collide with the air conditioning in such conditions.

[Ankou]

i think that finding bodies kitted out in life jackets right next to the muster points, bought that home to bear philatz. its got the whole cruise industry in a quandry.

[EDDIE51]

Are cruise bookings down since this disaster? anyone thinking of booking but has changed their mind ?

[humbersloop]

The trouble with the Costa story is it's tumbling out piecemeal and very generalised headlines are being quickly drawn as a result. It's like taking a town of 4,500 people and saying because x happened in somebody's front room, y must be true in every house. Only the IMO investigation is going to get close to the whole story.

There were obviously huge institutional shortcomings. Although they hadn't done an evac drill, telling people to go back to their cabins may have been a not bad stab at crowd control on someone's part. Had they done an evac drill, the instruction is go back to your cabin, dress warmly, pick up any medication, put on your life jacket and go to your muster station.

^^ Once there, Ankou, you have to take your chances. Tell mrs kou not to jump though, the safest (ie least worse) place is still on the ship; you stay as dry as you can as long as you can.

[Ankou]

true humbersloop, hence my q to bookboo - 'get the hell out of there' but go where ?

[humbersloop]

^ That was me being too po-faced then. :-(

[Ankou]

not at all, just hoping for a response!

[humbersloop]

Perhaps inhibited by drowning or hypothermia?

[EvianBaby]

I'm with Ankou. Especially in relation to the twin towers. Where exactly where they supposed to go?

[sp1814]

humbersloop

I was thinking about that - was hypothermia really an issue in the seas that the ship sank?

[Ankou]

sp - "Hypothermia is the main cause of death resulting from exposure to the elements. The body heat loss is 25 times greater in the water than in the air. Even in tropical water, a man immersed (without protection) for an extended period of time will die from hypothermia. (In the 80s a dive boat sunk in the warm water of the Sea of Cortez. The only people who survived were the ones who were able to grab their wetsuits. Survivors still suffered from hypothermia). In cold water, dying from hypothermia might be a matter of minutes."

so it is quite likley, especially if they are in the sea at night.

evian, if you are with me who's driving the boat?

[humbersloop]

Sp, possibly -link to an American site that gives fairly good approximate figures.

http://www.seagrant.u...mmunities/hypothermia

[sddsddean]

In reply to EDDIE51, I go on loads of cruise and use the Cruise Critic website where, as you can imagine, there has been much 'heated' debate. Several members are Travel Agents (both US and European) and all have said that they have not had one cancellation. I think people realise this is a rare event (like a plane crash) and in fact the most dangerous part of your holiday is still the drive to the airport/port. 10 people a day still lose theres lives on the roads in the UK alone, but still everyone keeps driving!

[Baldric]

I can understand why the crew told the passengers to go back to their cabins, It was to give the Captain a clear run at the lifeboats (allegedly)

[Ankou]

sdsdean/eddie - i missed that point. i was referring more to the drills/training exercises carried out by seasoned crew than the tourism fall out. it seems they may all have to revisit their procedures.

my in laws are going on their 1st cruise soon after overcoming their fear of boats and the sea. even they accept this is an extremely rare event and are not swayed from going.

[bookboo]

Yes, I see your respective points. I think, not taking what I said literally, people could turn to their instincts. A gentleman from one of the burning towers said that instinctively he ignored the order to go back to his office (despite being completely unaware of what had actually happened) and instead he evacuated the building.

With that said, in cases of like Venator's I guess it comes down to whether your number is up or not.