On January 13, 2012, the Costa Concordia luxury cruise ship struck a rock off the coast of Giglio, Italy, leading to the deaths of 32 people and becoming the largest cruise ship disaster since the Titanic. A new Netflix documentary, Shipwrecked: Nightmare At Sea, explores the events surrounding the sinking, including never-before-seen footage and survivor accounts.
What Happened to the Costa Concordia?
The 290-metre-long ship, the longest cruise ship in Italy when it launched in 2005, set sail from Civitavecchia near Rome with more than 3,200 passengers and 1,023 crew members. According to the BBC News timeline, Captain Francesco Schettino ordered the ship to be steered close to the island of Giglio as a salute. Voice recordings in the Netflix documentary reveal the captain gave coordinates to the helmsman and warned, "otherwise we go on the rocks." Minutes later, the ship struck a rock, tearing a hole in its left-hand side. The engine room flooded, and the ship lost power.
Why Did the Ship Sink?
After the impact, the ship began to tilt as water continued to pour in. The crew struggled to assess the situation and relayed incomplete information to Italian authorities, initially reporting a "blackout" that downplayed the severity. Passengers and crew waited over an hour before the order to abandon ship was given. According to Italy's Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport's detailed report published in May 2013, Captain Schettino abandoned the bridge at 11:19 pm. A survivor featured in the documentary claims he was spotted among passengers on a lifeboat. A recorded conversation revealed that after midnight, a coastguard commander ordered the captain to return onboard, but he did not comply.
Casualties and Aftermath
Coastguards rescued over 4,000 people, but 32 lives were lost, including 27 passengers, five crew members, and one salvage worker. Captain Schettino was later arrested and found guilty of manslaughter and abandoning ship, receiving a 16-year prison sentence. Costa Cruises paid a fine but avoided a criminal trial. The salvage operation involved removing remaining fuel, and the ship was refloated in July 2014 and towed to Genoa for scrapping, a process that took about two years.
Netflix Documentary Details
The Netflix documentary Shipwrecked: Nightmare At Sea includes never-before-seen footage and survivor accounts, tracing the ultimate fate of the luxury vessel. It is described as an immersive watch that examines the near-unbelievable incident compared to the Titanic.
