What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of a cruise ship? If you’re like most people, you think about a fantastic vacation at sea, enjoying a true get away from it all. Many people enjoy cruising to different parts of the world, including the Caribbean, Europe and even Alaska.
Most of us consider cruising to be safe and it really is. From time to time, however, accidents do happen and that certainly was the case with the Costa Concordia. Most of us watched the news on that day and were amazed with what had happened when this large ship suddenly found itself on its side in the water. Fortunately, the water was shallow in that area but it still took a heavy toll.
The Costa Concordia was a very unique ship. It was a luxury cruise ship and it doesn’t matter who stepped foot on it, they were going to be amazed with what it had to offer. Over 4000 passengers could be housed on the ship at one time and, since it was christened in 2006, it certainly showed thousands of individuals a good time while out at sea. Included on the ship was a casino, a multilevel theater and 1500 cabins. You could think of it as being a mobile city out to sea!
The news broke on January 13, 2012 when this massive ship struck a rock formation as it was leaving Italy. The ship sunk and most of us are familiar with the image of seeing the ship on its side in the water. Since that time, it has been pulled from the water and now, thanks to Jonathan Danko Kielkowski, we get a look at the inside and the effects are haunting.
1. The Costa Concordia struck a rock formation off the coast of a small Italian island and sank in shallow water.
The ship had been ordered to sail close to the island to salute the locals. Capt. Francesco Schettino gave the order. People were just sitting down to dinner on board when suddenly, the ship lurched as it struck the rocks. At first, people were told it was a blackout but then the situation got worse.
2. The captain was taken into custody
Not only was he arrested, Capt. Schettino was sentenced to 16 years in prison for deserting passengers and manslaughter. 32 people had died in the disaster, and the captain is now known as “Captain Coward.”
3. A salvage operation began on the cruise ship
After it was abandoned on the Tuscan coast, German photographer Jonathan Danko Kielkowski had the opportunity to swim out to it and take some pictures
4. Evidence of the frenzied escape of the passengers is seen everywhere
You can almost feel the panic as people were running for their lives
5. This theater used to be beautiful, now it is in ruins
At one time, it was filled with a joyful audience but now it is covered with mold and is in silence.
6. The casino was severely damaged. You can see the effects of the collision because these heavy slot machines have been tossed about.
People were probably sitting at these machines when the disaster struck
7. The bedrooms are especially creepy and there is nothing stately about the state rooms any longer.
Hundreds of these abandoned rooms are on the Concordia.
8. You can still see some hints of the emerald colored finish on the staircase
So much detail and color survive the crash, you can only imagine what it looked like before the accident.
9. The hallways where people used to walk now seem very eerie
These hallways no longer have their former character.
10. Jonathan found the control panels on the bridge where the captain likely stood as the ship was sinking
We can only imagine the frantic messages that were taking place on this control board
11. The elevator area still shows some hints of nautical murals but there is water below.
This would have been a beautiful place to wait for an elevator before the accident.
12. This picture is also of the elevator area but from a different perspective. Things could have been much worse.
It is still quite majestic
13. It is eerie to look down into the elevator area.
It still holds some of it’s former beauty, but it is shrouded in the reminders of what happened here.
14. This elevator entrance still looks somewhat new. Strange how it could have come through the disaster intact.
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