Costa Concordia

MS Costa Concordia (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkɔsta konˈkɔrdja]) is a Concordia-class cruise ship operated by Costa Crociere, a subsidiary ofCarnival Corporation and Carnival plc. She was built at Fincantieri's Sestri Ponente yards in Italy. The name Concordia ("concord" in English) was intended to express the wish for "continuing harmony, unity, and peace between European nations."
Costa Concordia is the first of the Concordia class cruise ships, followed by sister ships Costa Serena, Costa Pacifica, Costa Favolosa andCosta Fascinosa, and Carnival Splendor built for Carnival Cruise Lines. When the 114,137 GT Costa Concordia and her sisters entered service, they were among the largest ships built in Italy until the construction of the 130,000 GT Dream class cruise ships.
On 13 January 2012 Costa Concordia struck a rock in the Tyrrhenian Sea just off the shore of Isola del Giglio, near the western coast of Italy. This tore a 160-foot-long (49 m) gash in her hull. With water flooding in and listing, the ship drifted back to Giglio Island, where shegrounded, lying on her side in shallow water.[6][7] All but 32 of the 3,229 passengers and 1,023 crew were saved.
As of 29 February 2012 Costa Concordia was lying on her side on an underwater ledge with much of her structure above water, and in danger of shifting and sinking. Industry experts believe that the ship may be a constructive total loss.
On the night of 13 January 2012, at around 21:45 local time (UTC+1), Costa Concordia hit a rock off Isola del Giglio (42°21′55″N 10°55′17″E). A 50-metre (160 ft) long gash was later found to have been made in the lower hull, along 5 compartments of the engine room; consequently, power to the motors and hotel services was cut. With water rushing in, the vessel started to list to port. The ship reversed course but was now listing heavily to starboard (right side). The ship drifted back and grounded near shore, then capsized halfway, on the starboard side in an unsteady position on a rocky underwater ledge. Almost half of the ship remained above water, but it was in danger of sinking completely into a trough 70 metres (230 ft) deep.
She was carrying 3,229 passengers and 1,023 crew members, all but 32 of whom survived; as of 22 February 2012, twenty-five bodies had been found, with seven people known to be missing The 7 names unaccounted for include one unidentified body and are presumed dead. There may have been other people not listed on board. The search for bodies was abandoned at the end of January.

All lifeboats were docked before dawn.
An investigation, not completed as of 9 February 2012, focused on shortcomings in the procedures followed by the crew and the actions of the captain, who left the ship after the first hour of 6 hours of evacuation. About 300 passengers were left onboard, and there were not enough lifeboats for them, so most of them were rescued by helicopter or motorboats in the area.
Salvage experts Smit International were called in to assess removing the ship and its 2,380 tonnes of fuel. The salvage operation could take up to ten months, and the ship may be a constructive total loss.
On 8 February the ship was reported to have shifted by 24 inches (60 cm) since she grounded The structure was weakening in rough seas and bad weather, but there was no immediate prospect of her breaking up or sinking deeper.