The expert's on the show were convinced that had the ship remained in deeper water, it would have rolled and sunk. The hull damage was too extensive for the ship to remain floating for very long. Water was pouring in by the ton and too many flood compartments were damaged for the 'ship-as-a-lifeboat' concept to have been viable.

Anyone below deck would have been in trouble. Casualties would have been 'Titanic-like' had this played out in deep water, which was less than 100' feet from where they ran aground. The margin between this scenario and total disaster was less than 100'.

The wind pushing the ship aground is believed to have saved hundreds of lives and maybe even most of the lives on-board.

I can't remember if I heard this here or in the video: Captains will cruise close to land as long as possible, instead of zooming out to deep sea. They'll do this because the view out there is rather boring (all water).

I would like to see cruise ships change this policy as a result of this disaster. I don't want captains merely being more careful while cruising near the shore. I would prefer if the captain zooms out to sea as soon as possible, and only remain this close to shore if necessary for docking.

It turns out some people did jump from the ship into the water. Here is a video captured from a helicopter:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ucxfdfDzTvY



http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/16/british-survivors-recall-costa-concordia

Knowing how high these cruise ships are above the waterline, if you're at the rail and you end up about level with the sea, then that ship is in a lot of trouble!

Here's a question for any members who have practiced abandoning ship in the service might have any insight into--can you jump 20 or more feet into the water without the force of the water ripping your floation vest off? I'm talking about the big, padded type that your typical cruise ship passenger has. With your typical feet-first jump, I could easily imagine many people just squirting out from their vest when they hit the water if the straps aren't tight or else the straps themselves ripping out at the seams.