THE events of Friday the 13th of January this year will forever be emblazoned on the minds of the public.
For those of us who watched the breaking news on tv, it was like something of a Titanic déjà vu as reports streamed in about the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia, which had met with a tragic accident when it crashed into rocks and ran aground off Italy’s west coast.
For the survivors out of the 4 200 passengers who boarded the ship, and the families of passengers who are still missing and presumed dead, it’s a date that will always be marred by the memories of that day, or the painful, unanswered questions regarding their loved ones.
And for all concerned the events that led up to the cruise ship crash- ing into those rocks are the most intriguing as investigators try to work out what happened in the navigational process that led to that moment. Just what role did Captain Francesco Schettino – who made headlines for abandoning his passengers and crew – play? How did the crew evacuate the ship?
And now, after the tragedy, there are more far-reaching issues to consider such as: what are the mechanics of searching the site while safeguarding the waters against environmental damage? And what comes next for the extensive and unprecedented salvage mission?
This weekend the Discovery Channel dives into the murky waters surrounding the tragedy in a one- hour documentary that attempts to unpack these issues.
Tonight got a sneak peek of the doccie and let’s just say that with Discovery’s exclusive access to conversations that took place between the captain and the crew around the time of the accident, with some extremely interesting scientific facts about certain factors surrounding the crash – this is one doccie you don’t want to miss.
Touching on some of the highlights you can expect in the special, titled Cruise Ship Disaster: Inside the Concordia, Horwitz (pictured) said the goal was two-fold: “As Discovery Channel, we like to have science in our shows, so it’s sort of a two-fold investigation.
“One was to hear the stories of survival, which are incredibly dramatic. These people probably were terrified of what their fate was. They probably were thinking about the Titanic and going down with the ship in the cold water. These emo- tions are discussed in the show and the stories are incredibly dramatic.
“But, also, it’s an investigation. A scientific, forensic investigation as to what caused this accident, what mistakes were made, could this have been prevented and, indeed, the luck of these folks that the wind pushed the ship back towards shore, which caused it to rest on the side of the rocks and not sink into the ocean. Had that not happened, it would have been a much worse tragedy.”
Commenting on some of the content, Horwitz said it did come with challenges: “Unfortunately, speaking to anybody on the crew was impossible. They’ve yet to speak because, obviously, they’re all under investigation for the accident, but we managed to obtain footage filmed inside the bridge that, for the first time, shows the captain talking to his crew about the accident, discussing what was going on and, we believe, shows some of the confusion in the bridge at the time of the accident.
“So that look inside the bridge was just riveting, and I think this film, for the first time on television, really gave an explanation of what went wrong, but also the absolute horrendous disaster that was prevented, the loss of life that was prevented by the luck of the wind blowing the ship back into shore.”
Discovery Channel’s crew were not allowed access to the ship as it is still a crime scene, but Horwitz said they had included some civilian footage.
“I think it’s amazing in this day and age when something, a tragedy like this happens, and certain people pull out their cellphones and their iPhones and start filming, and to have that kind of access is just unprecedented.
“I think 20 years ago, a film like this would not have been possible, because we just didn’t have a video camera in everyone’s pocket, and so the footage we have, quite a bit of the footage in the film is from cellphone cameras, iPhones, people’s personal video cameras, and that inside look is really what makes this film so dramatic,” he said.
Commenting on some of the survivors whom they were able to interview, Horwiz said they were able to speak with about 10 individuals who survived the accident: “Some people who were stuck on the ship for quite a long time, some people who were able to get off the ship very quickly. The stories are incredibly dramatic. The one that strikes right to my heart is a family of four, a mother, a father and their two daughters, who were stuck on the ship until almost the bitter end who, at one point, had to discuss with each other how much they loved each other and that this could be it. They may never see each other again and, as a father myself, it really struck home how emotional it must have been for these folks.”
Processes to get the information for the documentary took about three weeks: “It was a very, very quick operation. We had teams working around the clock to complete the film.
“The graphics are incredible. The visuals are just stunning and the footage from the people on the ship really is incredibly dramatic,” explained Horwitz, adding that they also consulted maritime experts from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy.
“This is one of the top training centres in the US to train captains to be merchant marines, to be pilots of river craft, that sort of thing, so all of these guys have piloted ships across the world and they know pretty much more about this thing than, I think, anybody else in the country.”
With the developments in this tragedy still under way – not just the salvage and the environmental implications, but also aspects such as the hearings that recently started in Italy – Horwitz said they hoped to do follow-ups at a later stage.
• Discovery Channel (DStv channel 121) will dissect the Concordia marine disaster in its documentary Cruise Ship Disaster: Inside The Concordia, which premieres on Sunday at 8.55pm.