Tag: Italy

The coastguard evacuated the passengers and no injuries were reported More than 260 people were rescued early Saturday from a ferry which ran aground off Italy in a snow storm, while emergency services freed people trapped in cars and trains in freezing temperatures.The Shardon ferry ran aground shortly after setting off from Civitavecchia port near Rome, causing panic among the 262 passengers who feared a repeat of a cruise ship tragedy in the area last month which killed 32 people.Coastguard spokesman Carnine Albano said the accident, which tore a 25-meter (80-foot) hole in the ship's side above the waterline, was caused after the vessel was buffeted by a violent snow storm from the north-east.The coastguard evacuated the passengers and no injuries were reported.Heavy snowfalls in Rome caused the normally mild-weather capital to grind to a halt. Schools were closed in much of central and northern Italy and streets were widely deserted after authorities warned people to stay indoors.Over 150 people were stuck in a train for 10 hours overnight in the Abruzzo region with scarce water supplies.Emergency services also rescued 20 people blocked in their cars overnight near Rome, and two people were taken to hospital.Tuscany region ordered all emergency ...

Italian ship hijacked by pirates in December with 18 crew members on board Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti on Wednesday asked his Somali counterpart Abdiweli Mohamed Ali for help in freeing an Italian ship hijacked by pirates in December with 18 crew members on board.Monti asked Ali at a meeting in Rome "to do everything in his power" to liberate the Enrico Ievoli cargo ship, which has six Italians, five Ukrainians and seven Indians on board, the government said in a statement.Ali assured Monti "of his personal engagement in aiding the liberation of the Italian ship and its crew, underscoring his government's strong commitment to preventing the scourge of piracy," the statement said.The ship, which was carrying 15 750 tons of caustic soda from the United Arab Emirates to the Mediterranean, was boarded by pirates on December 27 off the coast of Oman, just days after another Italian vessel was released.The same ship had already been attacked by pirates in 2006 off Yemen.A total of three hijacked Italian vessels were freed from Somali pirates in November and December 2011, two of them reportedly following ransom payments.The Savina Caylyn, an oil tanker with five Italians and 17 Indians on board, was ...

Italy has to reply within two months The Commission is concerned that Italy has incorrectly implemented EU legislation on environmental liability, leading to insufficient protection for Italian citizens. On the recommendation of Environment Commissioner Janez Potočnik, the Commission is sending Italy an additional reasoned opinion to ask it to adjust its national legislation accordingly. If Italy fails to reply within two months, the Commission may refer the case to the European Court of Justice.The Environmental Liability Directive (ELD) establishes a legal framework for environmental liability based on the "polluter pays" principle, with the aim of preventing and remedying environmental damage. Natural and legal persons who operate or control activities listed in the Directive are strictly liable for the damage they cause to the environment through their activity. Such damage includes damage to water bodies, protected species or natural habitats, or soil.While many provisions of the Directive have been transposed correctly, the Commission has particular concerns about the absence of strict liability, and the possibility open to operators of using financial compensation rather than remediation. For instance, Italian legislation lacks provisions which should oblige operators in a number of activities to remedy environmental damage they have generated even if they are ...

EU mission to observe the rescue and marine pollution operations Upon the invitation of the Italian Civil Protection authorities, an EU mission to observe the rescue andmarine pollution operations on the Costa Concordia cruise ship is going to be deployed today.The goal of the six-member expert team will be to observe the rescue and marine pollution operations and to issue a report with its main findings in order to share lessons learnt with all Participating States in the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.The EU team deployed today by the Commission's Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) combines expertise in the fields of civil protection, marine pollution and search and rescue. The team is joined by a colleague from the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA) and from the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit.The team will produce a report to be shared with the 31 European countries which belong to the European Civil Protection Mechanism and with partners in the UN.Source: European Commission News

Sixteen still missing from the roughly 4,200 people aboard Costa Concordia In his answers to prosecutors, defense attorneys and a judge, the captain of the ill-fated cruise ship Costa Concordia admitted he made a "mistake" in colliding with rocks off the Italian island of Giglio.However, in statements made during a phone conversation with a friend earlier this month, Capt. Francesco Schettino said managers pressured him to steer the ship to the area where the collision occurred, two Italian newspapers reported Wednesday.Both Costa Cruises and authorities have criticized Schettino's behavior. He is under house arrest and faces possible charges of manslaughter, shipwreck and abandoning ship when the vessel struck rocks and rolled over onto its side in the waters off the island on January 13.A 16th body was found Tuesday on the ship. Sixteen others are missing from the roughly 4,200 people aboard the cruise liner -- 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members -- at the time of the collision."I hit this projection of rock, that seems almost stuck into the ship, but this was my mistake," Schettino said in the 126-page transcript. "... There isn't anything I can say, as I was convinced that passing within .28 of a mile ...

To remove a half-million gallons of fuel from the grounded cruise ship A barge carrying a crane and other equipment hitched itself to the toppled Costa Concordia on Tuesday, signaling the start of preliminary operations to remove a half-million gallons of fuel from the grounded cruise ship before it leaks into the pristine Tuscan sea.Actual pumping of the oil isn't expected to begin until Saturday, but teams from the Dutch shipwreck salvage firm Smit were working on the bow of the Concordia on Tuesday and divers were to make underwater inspections to identify the precise locations of the fuel tanks.They were at work on the now-hitched Meloria barge as divers who blasted through a submerged section of the third-floor deck located another body from the wreckage, bringing the death toll to 16.The Concordia ran aground and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio on Jan. 13 after the captain veered from his approved course and gashed the ship's hull on a reef, forcing the panicked evacuation of 4,200 passengers and crew.The 16 bodies found so far include the one located on the third-floor deck Tuesday. Seven of the badly decomposed bodies remain unidentified and are presumed to be among some ...

Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Tragedy Salvage experts can begin pumping fuel from a capsized cruise ship as early as Tuesday to avert a possible environmental catastrophe and the ship is stable enough that search efforts for the missing can continue, Italian officials said.The decision to carry out both operations in tandem was made after instrument readings determined that the Costa Concordia was not at risk of sliding into deeper waters, Franco Gabrielli, chief of the national civil protection agency, told reporters Monday on the island of Giglio."The ship is stable. ... There is no problem or danger that it is about to drop onto much lower seabed," Gabrielli said.The Concordia rammed a reef Jan. 13 on the tiny Tuscan island and capsized a few hours later just outside Giglio's port as it carried 4,200 passengers and crew on a Mediterranean cruise.Taking advantage of calm seas, divers on Monday found the bodies of two women near the ship's Internet cafe, raising to 15 the number of confirmed dead.There are 17 people still unaccounted for, but Gabrielli has said an unregistered Hungarian woman might have been aboard ship. The woman's relatives have told Italian authorities they haven't heard from her since she ...

2,400 tons of heavy fuel oil is in danger of leaking out Stone fortresses and watchtowers that centuries ago stood guard against marauding pirates loom above pristine waters threatened by a modern peril: fuel trapped within the capsized Costa Concordia luxury liner.A half-million gallons (2,400 tons) of heavy fuel oil is in danger of leaking out and polluting some of the Mediterranean's most unspoiled sea, where dolphins chase playfully after sailboats and fishermen's catches are so prized that wholesalers come from across Italy to scoop up cod, lobster, scampi, swordfish and other delicacies."Even the Caribbean has nothing on us," said Francesco Arpino, a scuba instructor in the chic port of Porto Ercole, noting how the sleek granite sea bottom helps keep visibility crystal clear even 135 feet (40 meters) down.Divers in these transparent waters marvel at an underwater world of sea horses and red coral, while on the surface sperm whales cut through the sea.But worry is clouding this paradise, which includes a stretch of Tuscan coastline that has been the holiday haunt of soccer and screen stars, politicians and European royals.Rough seas hindering divers' search for bodies in the Concordia's submerged section have also delayed the start of a ...

Not passing too close to islands or shorelines, or entering delicate areas such as the Venice lagoon Thinking of taking a cruise to view Italy's islands from close up, or admire the Doge's Palace in Venice while sipping a glass of wine on deck? In the wake of the Costa Concordia disaster, you had better bring your binoculars so you can see from afar.Italian environmentalists and some politicians are demanding that big cruise ships be banned from passing too close to islands or shorelines, or entering delicate areas such as the Venice lagoon.Prosecutors say Francesco Schettino, the captain of the Concordia, steered the ship to within 150 metres of the shore of the island of Giglio on the night of January 13, to make a "salute" to the islanders, who included a retired admiral, and give the passengers a close-up view.The giant ship, a floating pleasure palace of bars, spas, state rooms and tennis courts, capsized after striking a rock as dinner was being served."I hope there will be no more 'salutes', either on the island of Giglio or any other island by any captain," lawmaker Mario Valducci told the lower house of parliament during a special session on the ...

Captain of the Costa Concordia steered the ship too close to the Tuscan island of Giglio The owners of the doomed Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia were not aware of unsafe practices involving ships coming close to shore to give tourists a better view, Costa Cruises chief executive Pier Luigi Foschi told a newspaper on Friday.Investigators say the captain of the Costa Concordia steered the ship too close to the Tuscan island of Giglio, where the 114,500 tonne vessel ran aground and capsized last week, apparently while performing a manoeuvre known as a "salute" which took it within 150 metres of the shore.Foschi told the Corriere della Sera that ships sometimes passed near to shore during what he termed "tourist navigation" but he said this was always performed safely and he denied that the company knew the Concordia would be going so close.He said the Concordia's onboard newspaper had announced that the ship would pass five miles from Giglio."I can't rule out that individual captains, without informing us, may have set a course closer to land. However I can rule out ever having known that they may have done it unsafely," he said.Doubts have already been expressed about whether Costa ...