Costa Concordia vs. Titanic:Did History Repeat Itself?

 The sinking cruise ship Costa Concordia

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Credit: flickr commons

On January 13, 2012.the shipwreck of the Costa Concorida capsized was like a replay of the shipwreck of Titanic. Did history repeat itself? Here how the two shipwrecks match up. 

Date of wrecks: The Titanic went down on April 15, 1912. The Costa Concordia capsized on Jan.13, 2012.

Size of ships: The Titanic was 882 feet and 8 inches long (268 meters) and had a tonnage of 46,000. The Costa Concordia was larger, with a tonnage of 114,500 and a length of 951 feet and 5 inches (290 m). The width of the Titanic was 92.5 feet (28 m), compared with 118 feet (36 m) for the Costa Concordia.

Bragging rights: The Titanic was the largest ship of her day. The Costa Concordia had the largest spa center ever built on a cruise ship.

People on board: 2,201 people were aboard the Titanic when it sunk, and 4,200 were aboard the Costa Concordia.

Cause of wreck: The Titanic famously hit an iceberg on its starboard side in the middle of the North Atlantic, while the Costa Concordia struck a rock on its port side when the captain brought the ship in close to the Tuscan island of Giglio in the Mediterranean Sea.

Lifeboat capacity: The Titanic's lifeboats could have carried no more than 1,178 people. Nowadays, according to the International Maritime Organization, ships are required to have plenty of lifeboat space, with enough lifeboats hanging off the port side to accommodate half of the passengers, enough on the starboard side to accommodate the other half, and room for 25 percent more of the ship's passengers in inflatable rafts stored onboard.

Time it took to sink: The Titanic went down over a period of two hours and 40 minutes. The Costa Concordia began listing about 20 minutes after it hit a rock near Giglio Island and was completely on its side within about three hours.

Depth of the wreck: The Titanic lay on the seafloor 12,460 feet (3,798 m) below the surface. The Costa Concordia essentially ran aground and is now half-submerged — the ship is unable to float in water less than 26 feet (8 m) deep.

Temperature of water: The passengers of the Titanic unlucky enough to end up in the water likely perished in a few short minutes, as the water temperature was just 28 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 2 degrees Celsius).

According to Accuweather, the air temperature when the Costa Concordia crashed was in the mid-to-low 40s Fahrenheit. The water temperature was in the mid- to upper-50s. In 50-degree water, hypothermia sets in quickly; boating guides put the time at about 60 minutes until exhaustion or unconsciousness, with death following within three hours.  

Loss of life: Only 711 of the passengers aboard the Titanic were rescued, resulting in a death toll of 1,514, according to the British Wreck Commissioner's Inquiry. As of today (Jan. 18), an estimated 11 Costa Concordia passengers were confirmed dead, with 23 still missing.

Fate of the captain: Edward J. Smith, the captain of the Titanic, went down with his ship. His body was never found.

Information and comparison is from: http://www.livescience.com