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Essay on Crisis Management Analysis - Costa Concordia Disaster

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Following the signal to abandon ship, it took Costa Cruises just under three hours to release their first statement. The company confirmed the evacuation of approximately 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crewmembers from the Costa Concordia. The press release stated that at the time, the cause of the incident could not be confirmed and assured the public that they were “working with the highest commitment to provide all needed assistance to guests, crew members and the local Italian authorities”. The statement poses questions by stating that “approximately 1,000 passengers of Italian nationality were on board, as well as more than 500 Germans, and 250 North Americans. This only accounts for half of the number of passengers. Costa should have …show more content…

The key messages conveyed by Foschi were that the company has a strict safety policy, all crew behaved according to evacuation procedures and that the poor judgment of Captain Schettino caused the incident. Many questions and allegations were brought up during the conference such as reports that the captain left the ship before all passengers and crew had been evacuated. Foschi responded by saying, “We are unable to ascertain whether he left the ship before the conclusion of the evacuation. Some internal testimony indicates that he really tried to stay on board but we have to wait for the formal investigation.” So, Foschi stated that the company had to wait for the conclusion of the formal investigation to comment any further on that allegation, yet they were quick to put all the blame on the captain to mitigate their own liability. Foschi said that the captain wanted to “salute” the island of Giglio by bringing the ship close to the shore. He did not follow the authorized route that was frequently used by Costa Ships and brought the ship about 150 metres from the island where it struck the rock, which was clearly marked on charts. Foschi confirmed that on one other occasion, August 9th and 10th 2011, another Costa ship sailed close to shore but the path was approved by all necessary authorities and the ship was never less than 500 metres from the

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