Imagine being on your dream cruise. You’ve saved up, and you’ve just left port ready to party. Mere hours after leaving port, you feel an incredibly violent jolt throughout the whole ship. You’re told not to worry, that is everything is under control. However, you slowly start to realize that everything is definitely not under control. This is the horrifying true story that the people of the Costa Concordia lived through. The captain of the ship, Captain Schettino, ordered the ship to sail along the coast of the island of Gigilo as a salute to the crew members who were from the island. Unfortunately, the coordinates he gave to his helmsman took them too close to a rocky outcropping off the islands shore. The ship ran aground and sprung a leak on the left (port) side of the bow. This eventually caused a blackout and the ship eventually sunk, killing 32 people on board.
Photographer Jonathan Danko Kielkowski secretly snuck onto the ship to document it in photos.
Captain Schettino was charged for his role in the deaths of the people on board. The Costa Concordia has now been brought up from the shallow shores of the sea and is sitting in port. A photographer was able to get aboard the ship for an impromptu photo shoot. The pictures he took show a tragic scene. A scene that could have been avoided if not for human error and pride.
This is the side of the ship that was submerged underwater for two whole years. It looks as if it is coming apart at the seams.
The ship is currently being scrapped by the companies Titan and Micoperi. The operation is said to be an unprecedented task.
Captain Schettino ignored protocol and actually abandoned his ship while it was capsizing. He was ordered to return to the ship by a Coast Guard commander, but he did not listen.
This is a far cry from what this majestic sea-faring vessel used to look like.
It’s incredibly sad to think that 32 people lost their lives aboard this vessel. What was supposed to be a happy, care free vacation turned into an event that would ultimately claim their lives.
Thousands of people boarded this ship with the hopes of having the time of their lives. A completely different story unfolded though. I can’t imagine being one of the survivors and remembering standing along those walk ways waving as the ship departed.
This looks like what used to be a bar area. So much money invested into this ship, and all of it gone.
Imagine just sitting down to eat dinner when all of a sudden you feel a violent jolt and you are thrown from your chair.
Around half of the ship was submerged for two years. In 2014 the ship was re-floated and hauled into a port.
It almost feels like what the Titanic would have looked like if humans were able to bring her up from the bottom of the ocean.
Exploring this place would have been such a unique, but also humbling experience.
You can see someones abandoned suitcase still sitting in this room.
It’s surreal to think that many of these items were submerged underwater for two years.
This place is literally crumbling down on top of itself. I wonder how safe it was for this photographer to be walking around the ship.
This disaster was not just the fault of Captain Schettino however.
Many factors compounded to cause the devastation and loss of life that occurred on this Costa Concordia.
Inadequate safety procedures, poor evacuation procedures, communication failures, and technical defects such as faulty water-tight doors all played a part in this horrible tragedy as well as the captains negligence.
Just imagine diving through this wreckage underneath the dark ocean. I can imagine it would be quite nightmarish.
I’ve always wanted to go on a cruise. Looking at these photos however, I may have to think of another dream vacation.
The work that is going into the tear down of this giant machine is daunting. Reports say that it will take over two years.
The bridge. This is where the disaster started, with Captain Schettino’s orders to get dangerously close to the island. So much money in equipment was lost in just this one room.
I see that all the slot machines have been busted open. The total loss must be astounding!
Captain Schettino was eventually given 16 years in prison for causing the shipwreck and abandoning his passengers. Survivor groups have called the sentence too light, others however have somewhat defended the captain. They say he was merely a scapegoat for the accident as there were many other factors that contributed to the disaster that occurred. Either way, the pictures of this sunken cruise ship show the extensive damage done.