Tuesday, September 17, 2013

September 17, 2013 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday, September 16, 2013

Salvaging the Costa RobFordia

Mayor Rob Ford didn’t make it to any screenings at the Toronto Film Festival this week, but he is starring in a new release.

The 2:41 minute short was released online by Mr. Ford’s office Friday morning, about the same it began playing on a continuous loop from his staff’s office on the second floor of city hall.

Mr. Ford’s critics were quick to point out that the video only tells half of the story of a summer filled with controversy for Toronto’s civic leader, including allegations that the mayor was caught on video smoking crack cocaine. Videos of the mayor wandering up Greenwood Avenue late on Friday evening during the Taste of the Danforth festival asking “where’s the party?” also went viral in August.

“He’s plugging a certain narrative,” said Councillor Joe Mihevc. “There are clearly some people buying into that narrative and then there is another narrative that’s out there and certainly when I’m talking to folks they’re wondering what’s going on in the city and who is in charge of the ship.” (Source: The Globe & Mail)

Meanwhile, Salvage officials have begun the mammoth task of righting the crippled Costa Concordia as jacks hoist it off rocks near the Tuscany coast.

The operation was delayed by about three hours due to bad weather, and began at 9am.

“At 9 o’clock all the checks were completed and the operation began,” Sergio Girotto, a senior engineer.

“Everything is going smoothly, the operators are now working from the control room.

“There are a team of engineers who will follow the operation until the end.”

The rescue effort will see the giant ship gradually rotated and rolled upright. It is expected to last up to 12 hours, taking it into Monday evening. Engineers say the lifting can continue after darkness falls. (Source: Sky News)

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Thursday January 19, 2012

January 6, 2012 by Graeme MacKay

By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator, Thursday January 19, 2012

Italian cruise disaster

A stricken Italian cruise liner shifted on its rocky resting place Monday as worsening weather disrupted an increasingly despairing hunt for survivors and authorities raised their estimate of the number missing to 29 people.

As the Costa Concordia’s owners blamed their captain for veering shorewards on Friday in a bravura “salute” to residents of a Tuscan island, the giant ship slid a little, threatening to plunge its whole carcass and 2,300 tonnes of fuel below the Mediterranean waters of the surrounding nature reserve.

The slippage forced rescuers to suspend for a few hours their efforts to find anyone still alive after three days in the capsized hull, resting on a jagged slope near the island of Giglio. Firefighters said the search would resume at daybreak.

Six bodies have been found since the ship foundered after striking a rock Friday night. Italian coast guard officials on Monday revised the number of people missing up to 29 — 25 passengers and four staff members — from 16.

Environment Minister Corrado Clini said he would declare a state of emergency because of the risk that the ship’s fuel would leak into the Tuscan Archipelago National Park. No fuel spillage has been detected so far, he told an Italian TV show.

The father of the ship’s head waiter said his son telephoned him before the accident to say the crew would salute him by blowing the ship’s whistle as they passed close by Giglio, where both the waiter, Antonello Tievoli, and his father Giuseppe live. “The ship obviously came too close,” the elder Tievoli said. “I don’t know if Antonello asked the captain to come near, but the responsibility is always the captain’s.” (Source: Toronto Star)