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January 17th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda
Italy’s environmental minister raised the alarm about a potential
environmental catastrophe. “At the moment there haven’t been any fuel
leaks, but we have to intervene quickly,” the minister, Corrado Clini,
told RAI state radio.
Even before the accident there had been mounting calls from environmentalists
to restrict passage of large ships in the area.
The ship’s operator, Costa Crociere SpA, has enlisted one of the world’s
leading salvagers, Smit of Rotterdam, Netherlands, to handle the removal of
the 1,000-foot cruise liner and extract the fuel safely. Smit has a long
track record of dealing with wrecks and leaks, including refloating grounded
bulk carriers and securing drilling platforms in the aftermath of Hurricane
Katrina.
Meanwhile, the Italian cruise operator said Capt. Francesco Schettino
intentionally strayed from the ship’s authorised course into waters too
close to the perilous reef, causing it to crash late Friday and capsize.
The navigational version of a “fly by” was apparently made as a
favour to the chief waiter who is from Giglio and whose parents live on the
island, local media reported.
A judge on Tuesday is to decide whether Schettino should remain jailed.
“We are struck by the unscrupulousness of the reckless manoeuvre that
the commander of the Costa Concordia made near the island of Giglio,”
prosecutor Francesco Verusio told reporters. “It was inexcusable.”
The head of the UN agency on maritime safety said lessons must be learned from
the Concordia disaster 100 years after the Titanic rammed into an iceberg,
leading to the first international convention on sea safety.
“We should seriously consider the lessons to be learned and, if
necessary, re-examine the regulations on the safety of large passenger ships
in the light of the findings of the casualty investigation,” said Koji
Sekimizu, secretary-general of the International Maritime Organization.
Miami-based Carnival Corp., which owns the Italian operator, estimated that
preliminary losses from having the Concordia out of operation at least
through 2012 would be between $85 million and $95 million, though it said
there would be other costs as well. The company’s share price slumped more
than 16 per cent Monday.
Two of the missing are Americans, identified by their family as Jerry Heil,
69, and his wife Barbara, 70, from White Bear Lake, Minnesota.
Costa Crociere chairman and CEO Pier Luigi Foschi said the company would
provide Schettino with legal assistance, but he disassociated Costa from his
behaviour, saying it broke all rules and regulations.
“Capt Schettino took an initiative of his own will which is contrary to
our written rules of conduct,” Mr Foschi said in his first public
comments since the grounding.
At a news conference in Genoa, the company’s home base, Mr Foschi said that
Costa ships’ routes are programmed into their navigational systems, and
alarms go off when they deviate. Those alarms are disabled if the ship’s
course is manually altered, he said.
“This route was put in correctly upon departure from Civitavecchia,”
Mr Foschi said, referring to the port outside Rome. “The fact that it
left from this course is due solely to a manoeuvre by the commander that was
unapproved, unauthorised and unknown to Costa.”
Mr Foschi said only once before had the company approved a “fly by”
of this sort off Giglio – last year on the night of Aug 9-10. In that case,
the port and company had approved it.
Residents, however, said such displays have occurred several times in the
past, though always in the summer when the island is full of tourists.
Mr Foschi didn’t respond directly to prosecutors’ and passengers’ accusations
that Schettino abandoned ship before all passengers had been evacuated, but
he suggested his conduct wasn’t as bad in the hours of the evacuation as has
been portrayed. He didn’t elaborate.
The Italian coast guard says Schettino defied their entreaties for him to
return to his ship as the chaotic evacuation of the more than 4,200 people
aboard was in full progress. After the ship’s tilt put many life rafts out
of service, helicopters had to pluck to safety dozens of people remaining
aboard, hours after Schettino was seen leaving the vessel.
The captain has insisted in an interview before his jailing that he stayed
with the vessel to the end.
Mr Foschi defended the conduct of the crew, while acknowledging that
passengers had described a chaotic evacuation where crew members
consistently downplayed the seriousness of the situation as the ship lurched
to the side.
“All our crew members behaved like heroes. All of them,” he said.
He noted that 4,200 people managed to evacuate a listing ship at night within
two hours. In addition, the ship’s evacuation procedures had been reviewed
last November by an outside firm and port authorities and no faults were
found, he said.
Once on land, the survivors complained that Costa was stingy with assistance.
Blake Miller, who was on the ship to celebrate his partner’s 50th birthday,
said Costa representatives rebuffed his efforts to get reimbursement so he
could buy a change of clothing.
“The Costa representative at our hotel told me, ‘You might want to get a
lawyer when you get back to the States,'” Miller told The Associated
Press from his hotel in Rome, where he was staying at his own expense.
Only passengers who had paid for special insurance to cover lost belongings
would receive compensation to buy replacements, he said they were told.
Costa Crociere didn’t immediately respond to a phone message or an emailed
request for a response.
Mr Miller, of Austin, Texas, said survivors were taken to a hotel near Rome’s
airport and told Costa would pay for a single night’s stay and their plane
fare home only “if we pack up and leave the country” Sunday
morning.
Miller, who is director of business travel for Intercontinental Hotels, said
Costa representatives spoke to passengers about potential refunds or free
cruise vouchers. But in addition to the cost of the cruise, he said he had
paid hundreds of dollars for excursions during port calls and other
expenses.
Foschi, the Costa CEO, said he was certain “we’ll be able to find a
material solution that will make them happy.”
Class action suits are rare in Italy, but Italian consumer advocacy organisation
Codacons said more than 70 passengers had indicated that they wanted to join
a class-action approach to winning compensation from Costa.
“Our aim is to make every passenger obtain an indemnity of at least
10,000 euros (more than $12,500) for the material damage suffered and for
moral damage, such as the terror suffered, ruined vacations and the grave
risks that they ran,” said Codacons President Carlo Rienzi.
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