Video: Passengers Of Wrecked Cruise Ship Told "Everything Is Fine"

Divers continue to search for the 20 missing passengers of the wrecked cruise ship (AP)

A video taken by a passenger of the wrecked Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia shows a member of the ship's staff asking everyone to remain calm and return to their cabins or remain in the lounges. The announcement, which came 40 minutes after the ship hit rocks off the coast of the island of Giglio, is designated as being "from the captain," and the woman stresses that "everything is fine."

The staff member also tells the passengers that the crew has "finished" with the "electrical problem with the generator," and notes that "everything is under control."

The video will no doubt bolster the multi-million dollar class-action lawsuit that is expected to be filed in Miami next week by two US law firms joined with the Italian consumer association Codacons, the Telegraph reports. Costa Cruises, the ship's operator which is owned by the US-based Carnival Group, has insisted that it was the "character problems" of Captain Francesco Schettino that are to blame for the twelve deaths and numerous injuries, and have offered refunds and compensation to passengers.

Schettino has been accused of not reporting the crash soon enough, thus delaying the evacuation of the ship.

There are also allegations that Schettino, who is on tape refusing the orders of a superior to board the ship after abandoning it, was distracted by a 25-year-old Moldovan dancer who had been on the ship for six months as a Russian translator. She has acknowledged spending time with Schettino, but denies any romantic involvement with the captain.

"You know why?" she told an Italian newspaper. "Because he is always showing everyone a photo of his daughter when she was small. A man who wants a lover does not behave like that."

Twenty passengers remain missing, as divers continue to search the grounded cruise ship.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Christopher Robbins in News on January 21, 2012 2:45 PM

Comments [rss]

"Tim Osman"

Just like they told everyone in the south tower to remain where they were

mallhonitor

Instead of beginning the evacuations, they tell people to go back to their cabins. I wonder how many of the deaths that day could have prevented had they acted responsibly after hitting the rocks.

Cat Scratch Fever

I guess "Fine" must be a relative term.

BombaySplashVermouth

It is going to take a lot of work to overcome this mess. I hope they let the survivors take care of the captain.

nicemarmot

Why are people always lied to during emergencies like this? I mean, it's one thing to play down what happened. You don't need to tell people "our dumbshit captain just steered us into the fucking rocks and now the ship is going to sink Titanic-style." You could just say something like, "There's been an incident and to be safe, we're going to evacuate the ship. Please proceed to the lifeboats." It's not like people don't know something is up when the lights go out and their dinner goes flying everywhere.

Sulayman

I don't think this individual in the video had the knowledge and lied about it. Most likely the captain or crew told the staff to calm everyone and act natural. Heck, the captain probably lied to everyone under him. Evacuation is supposed to be an orderly process once the crew is prepped. You don't want people jumping overboard or trying to launch their own boats, and more importantly the ship was supposed to have its safety drill the next night, so the guests were unprepared.