The Costa Concordia disaster Consequences on international
maritime regulations Christelle FRANCOIS
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2 Costa Concordia 12 March 2014 Summary 1. The Costa Concordia
accident 2. The casualty investigation report 3. Response to Costa
Concordia a. IMO b. EU Commission c. Cruise ship industry 4.
Improvement to the design 5. Conclusions
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3 Costa Concordia 12 March 2014 The Costa Concordia accident 13
th January 2012 4229 on board (3206 passengers; 1023 crew) Collided
with rocks close to island of Giglio off Italian coast 21.45 hours
53 metres breach of hull involving 5 watertight compartments
Capsized in shallow water 32 dead, 157 injured
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4 Costa Concordia 12 March 2014 Casualty Investigation Report
of Italian Authorities Phase 1: Events leading up to contact with
rocks Behaviour of master and passivity of bridge team Phase 2 Not
promptly declaring emergency Delay in gathering of passengers and
crew at muster stations Abandoning ship whilst passengers and crew
still on board
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5 Costa Concordia 12 March 2014 OMI Response : MSC initiatives
90 th Session (May 2012) MSC adopted Resolution that Member States
should recommend a passenger ship companies conduct a review of
operational measures in consideration of interim operational
measures contained in MSC Circular (Now MSC.1/Circ.1446) 92 nd
Session (May 2013) MSC 1.approved draft amendments to SOLAS Chapter
III to require musters prior to or immediately upon departure
2.approved revisions to recommended interim measures
(MSC.1/Circ.1446/Rev2 3.Revised and updated the long term action
plan on passenger ship safety
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6 Costa Concordia 12 March 2014 OMI Response: operational
measures Carrying additional lifejackets to be readily accessible
in public spaces, muster stations etc. Reviewing adequacy of
dissemination and communication of emergency instructions Carrying
out muster for passengers prior to departure and inclusion of
common elements in musters and emergency instructions Limiting
access to bridge and avoiding distractions Ensuring voyage plan
takes into account IMO Guidelines Recommended Interim Measures for
passenger ship companies to enhance safety of passenger ships
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7 Costa Concordia 12 March 2014 Cruise Lines International
Association Operational Safety Review launched to evaluate existing
safety procedures identify industry best practices develop new
policies for rapid implementation to further enhance the safety of
passengers and crew Review guided by cruise industry members with
the advice and input of an independent panel of safety experts
Resulted in 10 new policies Passenger Muster Passage Planning
Personnel Access to the Bridge Excess Lifejackets Policy Recording
the Nationality of Passengers Common Elements of Musters and
Emergency Instructions Lifeboat Loading for Training Purposes
Harmonization of Bridge Procedures Location on Lifejacket Stowage
Securing Heavy Objects
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8 Costa Concordia 12 March 2014 IMO Symposium on Future of Ship
Safety On 10 and 11 June 2013 IMO hosted a major international
symposium on the future of ship safety attended by 500 delegates
Symposium urges comprehensive review of existing safety regulations
Some speakers suggested time for a new SOLAS convention to keep
track with developments in science and technology Criticism of
grandfather clauses Application of new standards to effectively 1%
of ships Gap between safety of old and new ships
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9 Costa Concordia 12 March 2014 EU Commission Approach 1.
Updating and/or amending existing EU legislation or (co) sponsoring
submissions for international standards at IMO 2. Continuing to
enforce and implement existing rules and draw lessons form best
practice 3. Promoting voluntary commitments of the industry 20
January 2012 : Brussels orders passenger ship safety review 24
April 2012 :Passenger Ship Safety Stakeholder Conference The
Commission is currently undertaking a passenger ship safety
legislative review of the current rules, in particular : o
operational issues such as watertight doors, o safe return to port,
o evacuation procedures with a view to preparing legislative
proposals in the near future EU Commission approach
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10 Costa Concordia 12 March 2014 IMPROVEMENTS ON SOLAS RULES
SINCE 2004 : Safe return to port : redundancy of vital equipments
(propulsion, steering, navigation) new ships built since 01/07/2010
On board stability computer (or shore based support) for new ships
built from 01/01/2014 Flooding detection system in compartments for
new ships built since 01/07/2010 Electronic Chart Display System
(ECDIS) for new ships built since 01/07/2011 (not later than the
1st survey after 01/07/2012 for ships built before 01/07/2011) :
route planning and route monitoring system SOLAS 2009 new standard
for the damage stability (probabilistic and deterministic) COSTA
CONCORDIA - keel laying date : 2004 Technical support in case of
emergency situations MSC.1/Circ1291 in spaces of volume greater
than max (30m 3 ;TPcm at d s ) SOLAS 2009
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11 Costa Concordia 12 March 2014 IMPROVEMENTS ON THE DESIGN :
To limit the down flooding points on the bulkhead deck (ex stairs
leading to spaces below the bulkhead deck) To re-assess the current
possibility to have watertight doors left open at sea (continuous
access of the crew to spaces including laundry, food, machinery,..)
Under discussion at IMO :
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12 Costa Concordia 12 March 2014 IMPROVEMENTS ON THE DESIGN :
To fit a double-skin protection in watertight compartments
containing equipment : a preliminary study provided by the Italian
authorities (MSC 93/6/1) shows that the estimated maximum damage
penetration is about 2.9 m (to be confirmed after further survey)
Passenger ships have no double skin protection : exemple Under
discussion at IMO :
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13 Costa Concordia 12 March 2014 IMPROVEMENTS ON THE DESIGN :
To increase the level of survivability of the ship with regard to
the damage stability aspect (through the R factor : Required
Subdivision Index Solas 2009) Based on the European projects EMSA /
GOALDS. Under discussion at IMO : GOALDS_1 & 2 are based on
studies on the improvement of the design of passenger ships (pax
and roro pax) IMO has agreed a Phase 1 : moderate increase of R
still to be decided : 50% of the difference ? Less ? More ?
Applicable to new ships only or also to existing ships ?
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14 Costa Concordia 12 March 2014 Some accidents with an impact
on the increase of the survivability : Herald of Free Enterprise :
6 th of March 1987 Estonia : 28 th of September 1994 Previous
accidents Solas 1990 (upgrading of the stability criteria) Solas
1974 Solas 1990 Solas 1990 + Stockholm Agreement ( additional
effect of water on deck ) Both having retroactive application to
existing ships
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15 Costa Concordia 12 March 2014 Conclusions Importance of
human error Human error still an enormous factor in accidents
Despite technological advances accidents still happen for same
human and organizational reasons Accident investigations may be
missing some of human and organizational factors Improvements on
the design An accident is always leading to additional rules for
the improvement of the design, for a better level of
survivability