Giglio News

Ester Percossi can still hear the screams, feel the cold and see the terror in people's eyes.She is one of the survivors of the shipwreck of the Costa Concordia, the luxury cruise liner that capsized after hitting rocks just off the coast of the small Italian island of Giglio on Jan. 13, 2012, killing 32 people in one of Europe's worst maritime disasters.Percossi and other survivors have returned to the island to pay tribute to the dead and again thank the islanders who, in the dark and dead of winter…

Italy’s government has ruled that large cruise ships and container vessels must not pass close to Venice’s historic center and should instead dock in a different location to preserve the famed lagoon.A decree approved late on Wednesday called for public consultations on building a terminal outside the lagoon where passenger vessels over 40,000 tons and container ships can berth without passing in front of Saint Mark’s square.In the meantime, large boats must dock at the industrial Marghera Port…

The Dutch emergency response team hired to free the vast ship blocking the Suez canal has pulled off some dramatic recoveries, including lifting Russia’s Kursk nuclear submarine from the Barents Sea floor, but says this is one of the trickiest.Weighing 200,000 tonnes without cargo, the Ever Given is the heaviest vessel that Smit Salvage, a subsidiary of the Dutch marine services company Boskalis contracted in the rescue, has faced in its nearly 180-year history.With real-time emergency response crews across the globe…

Venice should be put on the United Nations' list of endangered cities and cruise ships should be banned from its fragile lagoon to prevent an ecological disaster, Italy's main conservation group said on Monday.The call came less than a month after a towering cruise ship collided with a dock and a tourist boat in Venice, injuring four people and rekindling a heated debate in Italy about how to protect the historic city, which draws some 30 million tourists a year."Venice is unique and we cannot allow it to be destroyed even more than it has been already…

The former captain of the Costa Concordia cruise liner was sentenced to 16 years in prison on Friday by Italy's highest court for his role in the 2012 shipwreck, which killed 32 people off the island of Giglio, a court official said. Francesco Schettino was originally found guilty in 2015 of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning his passengers. Friday's ruling exhausted his appeals process, with the court rejecting his claim that others bore the blame for the disaster. Free pending the decision, the 56-year-old Schettino is expected to start his jail sentence in the coming hours.

Providing critical support to ensure the safety of this historic journey is Ardent’s Global Preparedness Cover (GPC), whose staff are on 24-hour response throughout the cruise ship’s transit through the Northwest Passage. “Ardent has been on the forefront of provide emergency preparedness services to its marine industry for many years, and this goes hand in hand in being prepared to respond in all regions in the world including the Arctic,” said Oliver Timofei, Ardent’s Director Emergency Management.

The prison sentence against the former captain of the Costa Concordia cruise liner for his role in the deadly 2012 shipwreck was upheld on Tuesday by an Italian court. Both Francesco Schettino, who was commanding the ship when it hit rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio, killing 32 people, and the prosecutor had appealed against the 16 years and one month sentence handed down last year. But the Florence appeals court upheld the term. Schettino was found guilty last year by a different court of multiple manslaughter…

After two previous successful motorcycling and boating events in 2013 and 2015, organizers of the Boaterz N’ Bikerz of America Hull of a Tour are back this summer for “Pacific Coast Rush,” a nine-day escorted motorcycle ride from Seattle to San Francisco, including a two-day swing down to Big Sur and Monterey. This summer’s Hull of a Tour 3 event runs July 22 – 30 and is sponsored for the second year by Freedom Boat Club, along with marine media sponsor Soundings Trade Only, platinum sponsor Regal Boats, event, producer/publicist Kenton Smith Marketing, and boating host/marine retailer Alexander Marine USA, with locations in Seattle and Newport Beach, Calif.

Senior Salvage Master Nick Sloane has joined the senior management team at Resolve Marine Group., aiming to help guide the global growth of the marine services company. The news comes just months after Resolve opened its operations in Gibraltar, expanding its emergency response capabilities to Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “Nick is a force in the industry and now that Resolve has a worldwide footprint, he is a natural fit,” said Joe Farrell, President and CEO of Resolve Marine Group.

Marine Marketers of America (MMA) is presenting a free seminar for members of the boating industry attending the Ft. Lauderdale International Boat Show. Slated for Friday November 6 from 8:30 - 10 am at Bahia Mar's Grandview Room, the event includes a membership mixer, brief association meeting, and the seminar entitled, "Collaborative Consumption Strategies for Growing Boating: How Four Companies are Engaging Former Boaters and Attracting Newcomers to the Boating Lifestyle... The seminar will be facilitated by NMMA's Chief Marketing Officer Carl Blackwell who originally organized and moderated this panel event for IBEX. Based on the positive feedback to the IBEX event…

The Boaterz ‘n Bikerz Hull of a Tour² launch of “The Freedom Ride” throttled forward yesterday from Freedom Boat Club’s Marina Jack location in downtown Sarasota, FL. The nine-day, 2000-mile motorcycle and boating tour attracted 30 members of the boating industry including their friends, and travels up the east coast to Washington D.C., concluding with participation in the 100,000-bike rally, Rolling Thunder, which honors war veterans, POWs and MIA on Memorial Day weekend. “This ride is a celebration of freedom and the great outdoors,” said tour organizer and marine industry marketing veteran Wanda Kenton Smith. “Our tour is unique in that we combine the best of the open roads with the open seas in an adventure that promotes both motorcycling and boating activity.

Crowley Maritime Corp.’s Houston-based subsidiary TITAN Salvage and Italian engineering partner Micoperi were honored with the International Salvage Union (ISU) Meritorious Service Award during the organization’s Associate Members’ Day Conference in London. The award was presented by ISU President Leendert Muller in recognition of TITAN and Micoperi’s outstanding service to the salvage industry during the successful execution of the largest single maritime wreck removal project ever to be undertaken, the Costa Concordia.

The doomed Costa Concordia was carrying a huge shipment of Mafia-owned cocaine when it set off on its final voyage, AP reports quoting investigators who have collected evidence. Authorities have collected phone and tape recordings that show the ‘Ndrangheta Calabrian criminal organization was behind the smuggling. 'Ndrangheta had its drugs hidden aboard the huge cruise ship that partially capsized in January 2012 with the loss of 32 lives, evidences have revealed. "The same ship that made us a laughing stock around the world, took the piss out of us, too," 'Ndrangheta boss Michele Rossi is heard saying to an associate, Massimo Tiralongo, according to police officers investigating the organization’s vast cocaine-trafficking operation.

A unit of one of the world's biggest cruise operators sought to reassure Italy on Friday that plans to transfer some of its operations to Germany did not mean it would move abroad. Costa Cruises, part of Carnival Corp, is based in the northern Italian port of Genoa, but transport workers union FIT-CISL fears the company's transfer plan spells job losses. Unions are concerned that the transfer of four Costa Cruises units to Hamburg would result in the loss of about 160 jobs and…

Captain Francesco Schettino was sentenced to 16 years in prison after an Italian court found him guilty of  manslaughter today for his role in the 2012 sinking of the Costa Concordia. The 52-year old was captain of a cruise liner carrying 4,252 passengers  when it sank off the coast of Isola del Giglio, Tuscany in January 2012, killing 32 people. Schettino was accused of taking the liner too close to shore and abandoning the ship while passengers and crew were still on board. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 26 years and three months. Schettino was not in the Grosseto court when the verdict was read. Schettino claimed he had taken the ship so close to land for "commercial reasons" and to please his passengers and those ashore, the BBC reported.

Schettino accused over loss of cruiseship in January 2012. Charges include manslaughter, causing shipwreck, abandoning ship. The former captain of the doomed Costa Concordia on Wednesday gave his final address to a court where he is being tried over the loss of the giant cruiseliner, saying he had been made a scapegoat in a disaster in which 32 people died in January 2012. The court in Grosseto, Italy, may hand down a verdict as early as Wednesday evening for Schettino, 54, on charges of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning his ship, defence lawyers said. Investigators severely criticised his handling of the disaster…

An Italian prosecutor asked a court on Monday to sentence the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise liner to more than 26 years in jail for his role in the 2012 disaster that killed 32 people. Francesco Schettino was the commander of the vessel, a floating hotel as long as three football pitches, when it came too close to shore and hit rocks off the Tuscan holiday island of Giglio. In summing up arguments at the trial in the nearby of Grosseto, Prosecutor Maria Navarro said Schettino should serve 14 years for manslaughter and causing injuries, nine for causing a shipwreck, three for abandoning ship, and a further three months for giving false testimony. The trial is expected to go to the jury next month.

The largest and most complex maritime salvage operation ever carried out was concluded this summer. The Costa Concordia parbuckling operation on the rocks of the Italian island of Giglio has been a success in many ways—not least for the objective to retrieve in one piece, such a massive vessel (117,000 tons) with minimal damage to the delicate marine environment on which it foundered. High performance ropes with Dyneema played a key role in the operation. DSM Dyneema has been supplying UHMWPE fiber, branded as Dyneema  for ropes used in tug and salvage operations for almost 15 years.

Officials for Italy's Tuscany region and the island of Giglio said on Monday they would seek a total of 220 million euros ($274 million) in damages from Costa Cruises, a unit of Carnival Corp, for the 2012 Concordia cruise liner disaster. The Costa Concordia was carrying more than 4,000 passengers and crew when it struck rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio and capsized, killing 32 people. The ship remained partially submerged near the port of the holiday island for more than…

The North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) announced earlier this month that Houston-based TITAN Salvage, a subsidiary of Crowley Maritime Corp., is the recipient of its 2014 Corporate Marine Environment Protection Award. The award recognizes TITAN’s proactive approach towards protecting and preserving the oceans. “TITAN is committed to ensuring the safety of our people, the public and the environment,” said TITAN’s Chris Peterson, vice president. “This accolade is a testament to our mission. Peterson will accept the award on behalf of the TITAN team at NAMEPA’s New York City conference on October 29. Lindsay Malen…

International Convention for the Safety of Lives at Sea (SOLAS), states commercial vessels must carry life rafts. In the majority of mass marine disasters globally, life rafts have been on board the vessels, but people either didn’t know how to deploy the rafts or the life rafts were not accessible. Australian company Rescue & Survival Group has designed a life raft inflation system that eliminates any human factors and any accessibility issues. The invention relies on the life raft’s slight submersion to activate, become erect and perform its designed function - to save and preserve life. On January 13, 2012, 32 lives were lost when the Costa Concordia, carrying 4,252 people, capsized and sank at Isola del Giglio, Tuscany.

A professor who invited the disgraced captain of the capsized Costa Concordia to speak at a criminology seminar has been referred to the ethics committee at Rome's La Sapienza University, the university said on Wednesday. Professor Vincenzo Mastronardi held the seminar last month reconstructing the January 2012 shipwreck in which 32 people died, complete with 3D graphics and comments from the ship's captain Francesco Schettino, the university said. Schettino is on trial for manslaughter and accused of causing the incident and abandoning the 114…

Crowley Maritime Corp. subsidiary TITAN Salvage and project partner Micoperi has confirmed that the Costa Concordia – the Concordia-class cruise ship that wrecked off Giglio Island, Italy in January 2012 – is safely moored at the Port of Genoa Voltri, Italy, marking what they describe as the completion of the largest maritime salvage job in history. Towing the disabled ship from the Tuscan Archipelago to the Mediterranean seaport of Genoa was a remarkably delicate task that required a convoy of more than a dozen support vessels, including two tugboats with a combined 24,000 horsepower and 275 tons of bollard pull at the bow for the hull, and two additional auxiliary tugs positioned aft.