When the , ton Costa Concordia and her sister ships entered service, they were among the largest ships built in Italy until the construction of the , GT Dream -class cruise ships. This tore open a 53 m ft gash on the port side of her hull, which soon flooded parts of the engine room, cutting off power from the engines and ship services.
As water flooded in, the ship listed as she drifted back towards the island and grounded near shore, then rolled onto her starboard side, lying in an unsteady position on a rocky underwater ledge. The evacuation of Costa Concordia took over six hours, and of the 3, passengers and 1, crew known to have been aboard, 32 died. Francesco Schettino , the ship's captain at that time, was tried and found guilty of manslaughter , causing a maritime accident, and abandoning his ship.
He was sentenced to sixteen years in prison in The wreck was salvaged three years after the incident and then towed to the port of Genoa , where she was scrapped. Costa Concordia was ordered in by Carnival Corporation from Fincantieri and built in the Sestri Ponente yard in Genoa , [ 3 ] as yard number This type of occurrence is considered a bad omen among seafarers, and this incident has been partially blamed for the ship's accident and sinking.
The ship was delivered to Costa on 30 June Costa Concordia was The ship was propelled by two megawatt electric motors coupled to fixed-pitch propellers. Costa Concordia had 13 public decks, each named after a European country. Deck 1 was the lowest: [ 12 ]. Costa Concordia was outfitted with approximately 1, cabins; with private balconies, and 55 with direct access to the Samsara Spa, which were considered Spa staterooms; 58 suites had private balconies and 12 had direct access to the spa.
The ship had four swimming pools, two with retractable roofs, five Jacuzzis, five spas, and a poolside movie theatre on the main pool deck. There were thirteen bars, including a cigar and cognac bar and a coffee and chocolate bar. Entertainment options included a three-level theatre, casino , a futuristic disco, a children's area equipped with video games and a basketball court. On 22 November , Costa Concordia suffered damage to her bow when high winds over the Sicilian city of Palermo pushed the ship against its dock.
