The Partial Sinking of the Costa Concordia: Is "Women and Children First" an Antiquated Notion?

In January 2012, the Costa Concordia started its voyage off the coast of Tuscany in Italy. While there are different accounts of the facts and events leading up to the crash and Captain Francesco Schettino's actions concerning the evacuation and rescue efforts, some accounts have alleged that the actions of the captain may have caused to the boat carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew members to crash into a reef and end up resting on its side. Once the ship had crashed, it appeared that the crew members were left to evacuate the ship. When the Italian Coast Guard tried to contact the captain on board, there was no answer. When the Coast Guard finally contacted the captain by phone, his response was, "I'm not on board because the bows of the ship are coming up. We've abandoned her." The Coast Guard responded by stating, "What do you mean? You've abandoned ship?" The captain responded with, "No. No way have I abandoned ship. I'm here." The final call made by the Coast Guard went as follows: First, the Coast Guard stated, "Schettino? Listen, Schettino. There are people trapped on board," to which the captain responded by stating "Commander, please . . .," with the response of the Coast Guard being, "No, please, . . . You go on board, this is an order . . . There are already dead bodies." The captain responded by asking, "How many?," to which the Coast Guard responded by stating, "I do not know. One I know. One I heard. You are the one who has to tell me how many there are . . ." The captain responded by stating, "But you realize that it's dark and here we see nothing . . .," which drew the response "Do you want to go home, Schettino? It's dark and you want to go home? Go up on the bow of the ship on a rope ladder and tell me what you can do, how many people are there, and what they need. Now!" "All right," Mr Schettino said. "I'm going." A total of 32 people lost their lives as a result of the crash, and another 64 were injured. After the crash, there was mass confusion on board as crew members tried to regain order to get the maximum number of passengers on each lifeboat. Maritime safety procedures were established in 1914 with the adoption of the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention, which was a direct response to the Titanic disaster. Although not explicitly stated in SOLAS, the captain must be the last person to leave a sinking ship. There is a provision that the captain must exercise "prudent seamanship," referring to ensuring the safety of the crew and passengers. After the crash, the owner of the cruise ship, Carnival Corporation of Miami, saw its stock price decrease by nearly 20%.

In July 2014, two-and-a-half years after it was partially submerged, the Costa Concordia was removed from its resting place. It is considered to be the largest passenger shipwreck in history, based on tonnage. The Costa Concordia is twice the size of the Titanic. On January 26, 2015, Italian prosecutors asked the court to convict Francesco Schettino and sentence him to 26 years in jail for his role in the disaster. Schettino was accused of committing manslaughter, causing the shipwreck, and abandoning the ship while many passengers and crew members were still on board. On February 11, 2015, Francesco Schettino was convicted of multiple counts of manslaughter and abandoning ship for his actions related to the sinking of the Costa Concordia. He was sentenced to 16 years 1 month in prison. Captain Schettino and Costa Crociere, a division of Carnival Corporation, were ordered to pay $34,000 in damages to every passenger on the ship as well as several millions of euros to both local and the Italian government for the environmental damage caused by the sinking. The salvage operation has cost Costa Crociere over $1.2 billion, and the final cost including dismantling the Costa Concordia is estimated to be up to $2 billion.

Questions

1. Which stakeholder(s) did the captain of the Costa Concordia consider, based on the alleged actions described?

2. How were the different stakeholders affected by this disaster?

3. What role should Carnival Corporation have in resolving the needs of the various stakeholders impacted by this disaster?