ITALIAN CRUISE SHIP AGROUND NEAR GIGLIO OFF THE TUSCAN COAST

The Italian Costa Concordia cruise ship went aground right in front of the Porto, the harbor of the Isle of Giglio near the Tuscan coast. The reasons for the disaster are not clear yet. The Italian newspaper La Repubblica reports that the ship may have steered towards the harbor as an emergency measure after having hit a reef, which according to the captain of the ship is not reported on the nautical charts. 

On close up fotos part of the reef can still be seen stuck in the side of the ship. The BBC indicates human error and a power cut as other possible causes to the disaster. 

The Costa Concordia cruise ship is one of the biggest ships of the Costa Cruise fleet. The now American owned company specializes in cruises around the Mediterranean. On their internet side the Costa Concordia was described as imposing and majestic, 'a real floating temple of fun'. It is understandable that some of the passengers rescued mention the Titanic when talking about the event. The cruise ship had a total of 1500 cabins and between passengers and crew more than 4000 people were on board when the ship went aground.