On January 7, 2012 the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia left for another routine passage between Civitavecchia and Savona. But on Friday the 13th the ship was cruising too close to shore and hit a reef that cut a 160 ft gash in the starboard hull, which took on water and caused the ship to list badly. Due to incompetence of the crew and a Captain under suspicion, the 4000+ passengers were lied to for 45 precious minutes about the dangers involved and this also hampered the lowering of the lifeboats. Many passengers jumped overboard in terror or became trapped inside the ship. Some made it to upper decks to be rescued by helicopter. But tragically, three people died with 40 still missing and dozens injured. Most went to the Tuscan island of Giglio and the people there took them in to aid them. The Captain, Francesco Schettino, was under investigation for manslaughter. Investigators believe that he may have knowingly or unknowingly steered the cruise ship too close to land and caused the damage. He also abandoned ship before all others...

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