Thank God for the wind. Had the captain been able to get to deeper water, it seems likely it would have capsized, killing a lot more people. Here I thought it was some purposeful strategy to run aground and really it was divine intervention or if you want, luck.

Maybe it was, just wasn't by the captain? Seems strange given he ran away at first opportunity that he would had the mind to facilitate such an plan.

Indeed, it seems fortuitous that the Concordia hit bottom where it did because it could have easily sunk completely or capsized.

I saw a computer graphic on the evening news showing the rather steep sea shelf that the Concordia is resting on now. Waves and the current could easily knock it loose, causing it to slide down this shelf into much deeper water, not to mention roll over repeatedly on its way down. That would likely be lethal to any rescue/recovery personnel onboard.

No doubt the divers involved in this effort are brave individuals. I have done some wreck diving on small vessels and it was unsettling to me in near ideal conditions. This work seems terrifying to me. Thankfully, there are people willing to risk it all, just in case there are survivors hold up somewhere on this death trap.

In another thread we are talking about cave rescue - tight spaces, darkness, a network of confusing passages. Now add water, the necessity to carry your own air supply (bulky, awkward, and finite), lots of opportunity for entanglement, and you have the situation on this ship.

Diving in restricted overhead situations, wrecks and caves, is far more hazardous than open water scuba, even with trained people.

A family from Girdwood, Alaska was on the Costa Concordia and has told their story in a local publication. (Girdwood is a small town about 35 miles south of Anchorage, and is the site of the Alyeska Ski Resort.) After boarding, they had gone to their cabin and slept through the initial collision with the rocks. Later, awakened by a ship's alarm, they were told it was just "a power outage". However, when the ship started listing, they made a very sensible choice:

“I just said, ‘let’s just go up on deck and be safe, and we’ll watch the stars. It’s probably nothing, but I don’t feel comfortable staying in the room down in this maze of hallways.’ And we really weren’t familiar with the boat yet, having been on there for only a few hours. We basically got on dead tired, had dinner and went to bed. And we did not know the way out.”

I think the take away message is, if things don't feel right, they probably aren't right. Then it's definatly time to at least start thinking about "what if". Note that they also had the good sense to grab a headlamp from their stuff, and have the kids get fully dressed.