Costa Concordia disaster

The Costa Concordia disaster was the partial sinking of the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia when it ran aground at Isola del Giglio,^{[p 2]} Tuscany, on 13 January 2012 with the loss of 32 lives. The ship, carrying 4,252 people from all over the world, was on the first leg of a cruise around the Mediterranean Sea, starting from Civitavecchia in Lazio, when she hit a reef during an unofficial near-shore salute to the local islanders. To perform this manoeuvre, Captain Francesco Schettino^{[p 3]} had deviated from the ship's computer-programmed route, claiming that he was familiar with the local seabed. The collision with the reef could be heard onboard and caused a temporary power blackout when water flooded the engine room. The captain, having lost control of the ship, did nothing to contact the nearby harbour for help but tried to resume the original course, before a U-turn back to Giglio. In the end, he had to order evacuation when the ship grounded after an hour of listing and partly drifting. Meanwhile, the harbour authorities had been alerted by worried passengers, and vessels were sent to the rescue. During a six-hour evacuation, most passengers were brought ashore. The search for missing people continued for several months, with all but two being accounted for.

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Costa Concordia disaster