Costa Concordia disaster — disaster in which the cruise ship 'Costa Concordia' capsized and sank on 13 January 2012
The sinking of Costa Concordia killed 32 people and triggered one of the largest maritime salvage operations in history, costing an estimated $2 billion.
Key Facts
- Date of sinking
- 13 January 2012
- Deaths
- 32 (27 passengers, 5 crew)
- Total disaster cost
- ~2 billion USD
- Ship construction cost
- 612 million USD
- Captain's prison sentence
- 16 years
- Scrapping completed
- July 2017
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Captain Francesco Schettino ordered Costa Concordia to deviate from her planned Mediterranean route near Isola del Giglio, Italy, to perform an unauthorized sail-by salute. This brought the vessel dangerously close to shore, where she struck an underwater rock formation on 13 January 2012.
The impact caused severe flooding that made the ship list heavily and partially sink, coming to rest unevenly on an underwater ledge. A six-hour rescue operation brought most of the roughly 4,200 people aboard to safety, but 32 individuals died. Schettino controversially abandoned the ship while approximately 300 passengers remained on board.
Schettino was convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 16 years in prison. The wreck was declared a constructive total loss and became the subject of a landmark parbuckle salvage operation completed in 2013; the hull was towed to Genoa and scrapped by July 2017. Total costs, including compensation and salvage, reached an estimated $2 billion.
Human Cost
Each dot represents approximately 10,000 deaths. Total estimated: 32 (other)