The grounding of the cruise ship Costa Concordia off the coast of Tuscany with the loss of at least six passengers is a tragedy that simply should not have happened. Equipped with the state-of-the-art navigation devices and global positioning satellites, there is no excuse why the vessel ran aground.
Indeed, no doubt there will be a full criminal investigation and a thorough inquiry by coast guard and maritime officials. The behaviour of the ship's crew, officers and senior personnel needs to be fully investigated to ensure their actions in abandoning the vessel were consistent with the highest standards of maritime tradition, and that they met all of their legal requirements before leaving the stricken vessel. It's hard to comprehend that the vessel simply was the victim of a single technical error. If human error is to blame, those responsible need to be held fully accountable before the law for their actions — or inaction.
