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Jakarta Post

RI workers safe in liner accident

All 170 Indonesian crewmembers on board the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia, which ran aground on Saturday afternoon near the Tuscan coast, are safe and have been evacuated, a foreign affairs official says

Elly Burhaini Faizal (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, January 16, 2012 Published on Jan. 16, 2012 Published on 2012-01-16T10:30:00+07:00

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A

ll 170 Indonesian crewmembers on board the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia, which ran aground on Saturday afternoon near the Tuscan coast, are safe and have been evacuated, a foreign affairs official says.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Michael Tene said on Sunday the Indonesian Embassy in Rome had determined that all Indonesians who were on board during the incident got away safely as the ship slowly sank.

“Our consular staff have met with 60 out of the 170 Indonesians who were working on board the Costa Concordia. They were brought to several hotels in Grosseto after being evacuated from the area,” he told The Jakarta Post over the telephone.

Michael said two victims suffered from minor injuries and had received medical treatment at a local hospital. They were not required to stay at the hospital.

“There are so far no other reports of serious injuries or fatalities,” he said, adding that the consular staff were still trying to meet other Indonesians who were rescued from the vessel to make sure that they were also in good condition.

Michael said that the consular staff were still mobilizing assistance for the rescued Indonesian crewmembers.

“We gave the assistance they needed such as clothes, food and medicine. We have communicated with not only the Italian foreign ministry and the Grosseto local administration but also with the ship owner to ensure that all Indonesian workers are looked after,” he said.

The Costa cruise line, he said, had sent a list of Indonesian crew on board, which included names, their cities of origin and their jobs on the ship. “We have a list with that information,” said Michael, without providing details.

“We will keep communicating with the authorities on the assistance needed for their return home to Indonesia,” he said, adding that the government would ensure that the ship’s owners would safeguard the rights of its Indonesian crewmembers.

Reuters reported that Italian rescue workers were searching for nearly 40 people still missing early on Sunday, more than a day after the cruise ship with more than 4,000 on board capsized off Italy’s west coast, killing at least three people and injuring 70.

Just after dawn on Sunday, rescue workers made voice contact with another person trapped in the Costa Concordia. “We are doing everything possible to reach this person,” Coast Guard spokesman Lucinao Nicastro told Italian television.

After midnight, rescue workers found two people, both South Koreans, still alive in a cabin after making voice contact with them from several decks above and brought them ashore.

The captain of the luxury 114,500-ton ship was held in jail accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship, Italian police said.

Passengers, some saying it felt like a rerun of the Titanic disaster, told of people leaping into the sea and fighting over lifejackets in panic when the ship hit a rock and ran aground near the island of Giglio, late on Friday.

Two French tourists and a Peruvian crew member were reported dead with 38 people still unaccounted for.

The vast hulk of the 290-meter long cruise ship, resting half-submerged on its side, loomed over the little port of Giglio, a picturesque island in a maritime nature reserve off the Tuscan coast. A large gash was visible in its hull.

Rescue workers including specialist diving teams were working their way through more than 2,000 cabins on the ship, a floating resort that boasted a huge spa, seven restaurants as well as bars, cinemas and discotheques.

As the search continued, there were growing demands for answers over why the vessel had come so close to the shore and bitter complaints about how long it had taken to evacuate the terrified passengers after the ship ran aground.

Following the arrest of the ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino on Saturday night, the investigation could be extended, state prosecutor Francesco Verusio said.

“We are investigating the possible responsibility of other people for such a dangerous maneuver,” he told SkyTG24 television. “The command systems did not function as they should have.”

After one of Italy’s most spectacular shipping accidents in years, there were fears the death toll could rise after considerable confusion on Saturday over the number of missing passengers.

Magistrates said Schettino, whose ship was carrying 4,229 passengers and crew, abandoned the vessel before all the passengers were taken off.

The vessel’s operator, Costa Crociere, a unit of Carnival Corp. & Plc., the world’s largest cruise company, said the Costa Concordia had been sailing on its regular course when it struck a submerged rock.

In a television interview, Schettino said the rock was not marked on any maritime charts of the area.

Costa Cruises president Gianni Ororato said the captain “performed a maneuver intended to protect both passengers and crew” but it was “complicated by a sudden listing of the ship”.

“We’ll be able to say at the end of the investigation. It would be premature to speculate on this,” said coastguard spokesman Filippo Marini.

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