17 January 2012
The tragic accident involving the cruise ship, Costa Concordia, off the coast of Italy continues to incite a lot of comment in the pree as more details of what actually happened are revealed. In a nutshell the blame is alleged to be that of the captain who apparently deviated from the authorised navigable channel to bring the ship closer to the isola de Giglio in order to give a salute to one of his friends. The captain said that these sail-by- salutes, with a three horn blast, were a regular occurrence.
He maintains that rock he struck,, which caused a great gash in the hull below the waterline, was not marked on the maps.
The most alarming revelation to-date was the recording of the pilot ordering the Captain to return to the ship to ensure that all the passengers were evacuated safely. Naval tradition, since time immemorial, is that the Captain is always the last to abandon ship. (The Captain of The Titanic went down with his ship, which was not uncommon in those days).
Todate the death toll is 6 with another 29 passengers still unaccounted for. The captain has been arrested on a variety of charges, but certainly I would not like to be in his shoes.
My friends the Orde-Powlette’s – who I mentioned a couple of days ago – have connections with an internationally renowned neurologist who is heading a team of other eminent medical personages who, according to my friends, have made some progress in the MND field. I have been given an introduction to this man and will speak to him over the telephone. Having said that, with the greatest respect to my friends, I should have thought that my own MND team would have been only too aware of such research if it had any chance of success. But, grasping at straw, I am prepared to follow up any lead and am grateful to the Orde-Powlett’s for the introduction. I will revert back to the readers when I have something to report
Cllck here for today’s diversion .I reproduce this precisely as I received it. I have absolutely no idea whether it is true or not, but, one way or the other, it is very amusing.