What?

Exactly!

and then...

It's just like that...

But of significant importance was....

I'm no expert but, I would assume that being keeled over on its side would trap air pockets in 100's if not 1000's of 90 degree corners, say above the door of EVERY cabin. If you're in SCUBA gear, why cant you dive cabin by cabin to search for people that could be alive right now as you read this. If the ships slips 2", yes two inches, they call off the search? You're already in scuba gear, so if the ship slips whats going to happen? Is a big flap of metal going to suddenly block off every one of dozens of escape routes?

I know it's dangerous work. I also have seen so many firefighters blocking off streets and setting up barriers, getting all dressed up, and not approaching a fire because it's too dangerous. They get paid as if they are taking risks, but they've been bureaucratically trained to take NO RISKS? Again, I know it's dangerous. If my wife was not accounted for, and I had a full tank and scuba gear, so fu(k1ng what if the ships slips 2". I know I'm going to take a battering from all the folks out here but like i said, I've seen so many examples of our "protectors" who retire after 25 years and receive retirement pay for 40 years because of all the "risks" they are trained not to take. You can bet your ass a private rescue team would be in that ship searching every square inch.

Oh, and again I'm no expert but, if you use explosives to blow a hole in 1.25" thick steel plate, anyone inside, especially if their in any amount of water, would be killed instantly by the shock wave. Cutting torch maybe? Very confusing all around and, I think if one, just one person is stuck in an air pocket and they somehow found out that the "authorities" have taken the time to set up laser sensors to track the ships micro movements, and stopped searching for them because the rescuer may get frightened by the ship shifting, they would very likely be pretty pissed.

Remember, just my opinion.

I agree with Fritter and Wait. Government "protectors" are often anything but. Near where I live a few months ago, the Oakland police and fire dept. was lined up on the Alameda shoreline to San Francisco Bay watching an overweight man who had waded out to chest level in the very cold water to kill himself slowly lose consciousness and eventually drown, because their internal regulations prohibited any one of them from going in after him and pulling him out, since they were not "trained" to do that and it would be too risky. It made a tragic photo of these big, tough copy and firemen standing, hands on hips, looking out at this guy maybe 25 yards offshore, and doing nothing but waiting for him to die. These same cops and firemen can retire at 50 in California and get their full pay for life thereafter.

Although no expert either, I do know the divers don't have an unlimited supply of air and the deeper they go the less time they have to be down there. Did they know it was only going to move 2 inches? Did you? How does anyone know how much it will move in any given moment? It is very dangerous work and not as easy as walking up or down a few flights of stairs. Give the divers credit for what they are doing and be hopeful they can find the other missing people.

So... since the ship is owned by Carnival Cruise Lines... does that mean that the employees are known as ..."Carnies"...?

Are you still investigating, or will a conclusion to your statement happen soon?

As a former sport diver and ship wreck diver I can tell why they are not going inside swimming around looking in every cabin. Floating debris...anything thats not bolted down and will float I.E. luggage,loose clothing dresser drawers ect. are an extreme danger to a diver. If you down there going cabin to cabin and a piece of debris breaks free and floats into you and tears an air line or damages a regulator your down there and your pretty much screwed...now instead of being a rescuer your a victim needing rescued. Also if your in that ship and it decides to shift or slide a couple of inches or a couple of feet it changes the whole dimension of things dramatically. Air bubbles from standard diving gear can also be a hazard. I've been down on WWII vessels that air bubbles have dislodged things in a matter of seconds. So don't criticize the divers too much for not putting their lives in danger for more than likely will be body recoveries rather than rescues. The fault here lies with the ship owners why haven't they brought a salvage company in and started a full scale retrieval of the ship. A half a dozen tugs with light tension on towropes connected on the submerged side and them on the other and 20 or so high volume water pumps she could be pumped out and righted and the holes repaired enough to get her to a dry dock. there is no reason that ship has laid on her side for this long other than the company is waiting on the insurance pay out from the law suits they are getting slapped with. This is inexcusable and should be looked into

To Larry Hobel; Thank you for shedding some light on the dangers of underwater diving and not just calling me an idiot like usually is the case on this vine. I DO have a ton of respect for the divers, especially because I likely wouldn't have the guts to do it, unless my wife or child was in there. Also, I assumed they had "hard shells?" over their SCUBA to prevent lines being cut, maybe I've seen too many movies.

I wanted to start my post about why the ship is still sitting there when you're spot on about righting her with some tugs. My guess is the ship is worth more as a total loss.

Bottom line, the thought of someone being trapped in an air pocket is horrifying, especially given the fact that this "accident" wasn't the result of war, or bad weather, but rather a stunt, by a macho, arrogant, spineless P.O.S. that should be tried and convicted of manslaughter at the very least.

I have a better idea. Don't be an idiot by sailing an ocean liner in shallow water. I'm not a captain, and even I know that!

you have got to kidding me !!!!! there is a whole lot of difference between a sub and a cruise ship. The Capt doesn't get any slack from here.

Stated in one of the articles on the wreck was that the rocks did show on the enlarged chart, but the Captain did not check it. He assumed the less detailed chart was sufficient and he made an ass of himself.

The sub hit a seamount MANY YEARS AGO? Just like my surgery MANY YEARS AGO-- things have improved since those many years ago. Bet maps have improved since those many long years ago! MAPS aren't like the old grey mare. Don't blame it on the maps. And don't even try to compare mapping from MANY YEARS AGO to mapping of today.

this is a state of the art ship. I don't buy this.

Like the Titanic didn't sink! So much hind bias and nonsense like people were there when it happened. Just Shut it! "State of the Art" my .......

Maybe they were resting.

maybe they were next to the cameraman...who can be...a cameraman for someone else or the emergency responders...we don't know they were taking a photo op...besides...do you really believe there are any more survivors? Unless someone is waiting somewhere with an air bubble above them, I think these rescuers are just going through the motions to be able to say they did check everything.

Then again, a miracle would be nice...

Kevin: Depending on the depth, duration, and equipment used by the Carabinieri divers, there is a fairly high risk of decompression sickness. Enclosed-space/Wreck is one of the most dangerous technical aspects of scuba, requiring a considerable investment in equipment and training. Training that prevents divers from becoming the next victims. The images shown appear to come from a depth of 24 ft/8m, which is the finale decompression stop level. Dive management teams will inspect divers returning to the surface using landmarks, and images may be forwarded topside to the divemaster. These pictures are public record.

Thank you for explaining it so clearly, Medic-2429743. It is very dangerous work and I don't think people really realize that until they read your post.

They just blew a whole bunch more holes in the ship during the search.

The thing is like swiss cheese now.

.

Refloating it would be easy if ti was a normal ship. Because it is a top-heavy cruise ship, the job will be tougher for marine salvagers. They will have to unload all fuel, then patch the holes, then pump out what they can. Throughout that operation, they have to hope it doesn't slide off the rocks and in to deeper water. Once they get gunwale above the waterline on the down side, it will probably require some very precise pumping (because if all the compartments/cabins) and a few cranes to roll it to an upright position. It will be a very long and dangerous operation.

It may just be decided that it is cheaper to cut the portions above the water off and crane them on to barges (in essence scrapping her in situ). They can then use bags to float the remainder of the submerged hull and tow it for scrap.

I cant believe people actually use the term Top-Heavy.. If it was top heavy it would have rolled over after the the first wave hit it. I don't believe anyone that uses that term to describe this ship has ever been on any floating device, ever. Standing in a canoe is Top-Heavy, A jacked up ford explorer is Top heavy, but these cruise ships have KEELS!!! These ships will never roll over unless they fill with water. They may have more glitter high above the water but there is more than enough mass to keep these behemoth ships steady in the roughest water. Top Heavy means the center of gravity wants to lay the unit over, this ship even now isn't top heavy, it's ballasts on one side have filled with water, its side heavy. good grief...

b helinski

That bell should be retrieved and placed on the Captain's head and have each surviving passenger clang it with a bell clapper.

Clang it with a bell clapper?? How about a framing hammer? Or a 2x4.

WTF??? Time to take the pill, Teddy

The U.S. government in cooperation with other foreign nation's governments shut down one of the largest file-sharing video players in the world and arrested the owner and several other employees. You could literally watch any movie or TV show you wanted for free any time with no malware, sign-up required, or fees from your laptop instantly. Probably going to get flagged for spam with this, but definitely made Netflix and other services like it competely obsolete. Kinda random and dumb to bring it up here though, there's plenty of threads on the Megavideo subject on this website alone lol.. BTW, you should be pissed your hard earned income tax went to prosecuting these people and shutting the site down because tv-links.eu and others like it only have fifty other file-sharing players to choose from..

Megaupload. And yes the US government is once again overstepping and invading soverign countries. There is an article about this currently running on MSNBC.

Actually the goverment got the ok from the Aussies to go in and get Mr. Dotcom from his home. The two countries were working in tandem. We didn't over-step and invade. We had permission. However, I feel we did over-step by going after this guy like he was Pablo Escobar.