An email to 2UE’s John Kerr
Good morning John,
While I was listening to you talking about the Costa Concordia a little while ago, I was looking at some news articles about it and came across one on Britain's Daily Mail's website which contains an astounding aerial photo of the ship. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2089339/Costa-Concordia-passengers-told-to-cabins-cruise-ship-hit-rocks.html [1]
Like everyone else, I've seen the footage of it on its side, but this aerial shot still amazes me…it just seems to strange to see a boat side-on with the ocean behind it rather than the horizon. I can't begin to imagine how terrifying it would have been for those on board.
That said, it wouldn't stop me from going on a cruise…perhaps not with that captain, but one day I think a cruise would be nice, and this incident doesn't change my mind about this. The way I look at it, any time one uses any form of transport which is not controlled by one's self, there is an extra element of risk, but it is generally so minute as to not warrant concern…I'll be honest and admit that almost every time I get on a bus or a train or a plane or in a taxi, I wonder about the driver/pilot/captain, but it doesn't stop me from making the trip, and hopefully it never will. If that stuff ever bothered me, then I think I'd have to move in to an underground bunker and never come out lest some vehicle goes astray, and that's not a life worth contemplating.
Kind regards,
Samuel Gordon-Stewart
Canberra