29 People Still Missing Following Italian Cruise Ship Costa Concordia Running Aground

The search goes on by rescuers for missing survivors following the cruise ship Costa Concordia running aground off the Italian coast. Italian coastguard official stated that the number of people missing had been revised up to 29 – 25 passengers.  Amazing pics can be seen of the rescue attempts at the UK Daily Mail.  It looks like a cross between Titanic and the Poseiden Adventure. Say a prayer.

A stricken Italian cruise liner shifted on its rocky resting place on 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 gigantic 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 outside the picturesque harbor on the island of Giglio. Six bodies have been found. Most of the 4,200 passengers and crew survived, despite hours of chaos.

Fears grow as time goes by in the search for those still missing. The ship’s owners have blamed the captain for Friday’s crash, saying he changed course towards an island. According to accounts, the ship’s captain, Capt Schettino, has been accused of abandoning his vessel before all the passengers had been evacuated. So much for the captain going down with the ship. Capt Schettino was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.

Dateline NBC Profiles the Case of the Disappearance of Honeymooner George Smith Aboard a Royal Caribbean Cruiseship Brilliance of the Seas in 2005 (VIDEO) … JUSTICE FOR GEORGE

George Smith, missing since 2005 …

“We have truth on our side. “My son’s life is not going to be in vain.” -  (Maureen Smith, George’s mother – Jan. 2006)

The disappearance of George Smith aboard who went missing in 2005. Scared Monkeys has followed the case ever since. The family of George Smith are tremendous people who deserve answers.  Dateline NBC reviews the Royal Caribbean 6000 page file and provides a profile on the case and new details never before released. Even though George disappeared in 2005, the case is still being investigated and the Smith family never rests in getting JUSTICE FOR GEORGE.

What is most amazing in this case and may provide answers as to what happened to George Smith, the controversial and confrontational settlement between Royal Caribbean, Jennifer Hagel Smith and the Smith family may have been the smoking gun. Part of the settlement was the handing over of their files, a treasure trove of data and information.

PART 1

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This segment shows the last day of George Smith’s life and what took place the night prior to his disappearance and presumed death. The newlyweds George and Jennifer Hagel Smith went to dinner and then headed off to the on board ship casino. Also at the Casino Royal were the passengers Josh Askin and the individuals who would become known as the “Russians” (Rostislav “Rusty” Kofman and cousins Greg and Zachary Rozenberg ). It was reported that some passengers had heard that George Smith had said that he had large sums of money back at his cabin. Whether George did or not is irrelevant, what those that over heard him say; however, is relevant. Did the money play a role in what happened to George Smith, was it a robbery gone horribly wrong?

PART 2

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The party moved from the from the casino to the disco. Josh Askin through his attorney states that when things got a little weird and sleazy. He references that the group was met up with the an off-duty casino floor manager who had his arm around Jennifer and was coming on to her completely forgetting and ship employee – passenger boundaries.  Jennifer leaves the disco with Lloyd, the casino floor manager after many witnesses noticed an argument between Jennifer and George.  The disco closes and the four Russians help an drink George Smith back to his room. Thanks to the electronic key cards (locklink), there was a trail of who went where and when. It is reported that after George, Josh and the Russians got back to George’s room, they left again with George to go find Jennifer. When she left the disco, she never went back to the room. After looking for Jennifer, they return to George’s room at 4:01 am. Later that morning a passenger in the room next to George’s hears words, things being moved and then a loud thud. Then there is silence.

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Cruise Ship Costa Concordia Runs Aground off Italy, Three Killed & Dozens Missing … Modern Day Titanic

Tragedy off the coast of Italy …

Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground off the coast of Italy causing the ship to roll over onto its side killing at least three people and leaving dozens missing. At the time of the accident the ship was carrying about 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members when it ran aground at about dinner time. The Coast Guard has stated that 50 to 70 people could be missing.

Italian authorities were questioning Saturday the captain of a cruise ship that ran aground, knocking the vessel on its side and killing at least three people, with dozens more missing, officials said.

The Italian captain, Francesco Schettino, was being interviewed by investigators Porto Santo Stefano on what happened when the 4,200-passenger Costa Concordia, owned by Genoa-based Costa Cruises, slammed into shallow water off Italy’s western coast, said officer Emilio Del Santo of the Coastal Authorities of Livorno.

Authorities are looking at why the ship didn’t hail a mayday during the accident near the Italian island of Giglio on Friday night, officials said.

UPDATE I: Based on information provided by local authorities, the U.S. Embassy in Rome estimates that 130 Americans may have been on board.

UPDATE II: Search continues for missing.

Some passengers were rescued by lifeboat, helicopters plucked to safety some who were trapped on the ship, and others jumped from the ship into the cold sea.

Some of the survivors are suffering from shock. About 40 people are being treated in hospital.

Coast guard captain Cosimo Nicastro told Italian TV that divers had carried out an extensive search of the waters near the vessel and found no bodies.

But he added that there still might be some “in the belly of the ship”.

UPDATE II: Italian prosecutors have detained the captain of the cruise ship

29 Year Old American Tourist Nina Nilssen Murdered during a cruise Stopover on Caribbean Island of Antigua

There is another murder mystery from the Caribbean.

29 year old Nina Nilssen, an American tourist was stabbed to death during a cruise stopover on the island of Antigua. Nina Nilssen, an aspiring composer-musician was found dead last Tuesday near Pidgeons Point Beach on Antigua. Strangely, Nilssen’s body was found less than a mile from where an Australian yacht captain, Drew Gollan, was slain nearly a year ago.

Nilssen was part of a wedding party on the cruise. Some member of the party had gotten off their cruise ship, the Royal Clipper, for a barbecue. Nilssen disappeared, but was later discovered on a trail not far from the celebration. She’d been stabbed once in the neck.

Etai Freedman, one of Nilssen’s friends, told CBS News, “Nina had no ego. She was in touch with people on all levels of life. She gave everybody her time.”

Nilssen is the fourth tourist murdered on the tiny island since 2008. In July 2008, British honeymooners Ben and Catherine Mullany were shot in their hotel room. And last January, Drew Gollan, a 38-year old Australian yachtsman, was shot in the chest. Police believe robbery was the motive in all three homicides.

This senseless murder follows other crimes against tourists have made news recently in other Caribbean nations such as  Alabama high school senior Natalee Holloway vanished on spring break in Aruba in 2005. Also in 2006, CBS News employee Ryan Smith was viciously attacked in St. Maarten.

Authorities are looking for what is most likely a local man in connection with the killing.

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23 Year Old Neha Chhikara, Wife of Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship Crewmember Jumps Overboard in Bahama (Update: Search Called Off)

The wife of a Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship crew member aboard the Monarch of the Seas is reported missing. It was initially thought that she fell off the cruise ship; however, it is now being reported that she jumped overboard in the Bahamas. 23 year old Neha Chhikara was reported missing at approximately 12:15 p.m. on Thursday; however, ship surveillance video later showed the passenger jumping overboard at 4:11 a.m.

Royal Caribbean spokeswoman Cynthia Martinez says the guest was reported missing by her husband. Security camera footage showed the 23-year-old woman going overboard from the 11th deck early that morning.

Martinez said Friday that Bahamian government officials reviewed the footage and determined that the woman jumped overboard.

The ship left Port Canaveral, Fla., on Monday for a five-day cruise through the Bahamas. It’s due to return Saturday.

UPDATE I: Royal Caribbean’s Monarch of the Seas Back in Port, Still no sign of  Neha Chhikara

A C-130 aircraft was dispatched Friday afternoon to aid in the search for Neha Chhikara, said Petty Officer 3rd Class Nick Ameen of the Seventh Coast Guard District in Miami. The 23-year-old was reported missing from Royal Caribbean’s Monarch of the Seas at about 2 p.m. Thursday. A helicopter, a jet and a cutter were sent out to look for the woman.

“The search is continuing today, although so far we’ve had no leads,” Ameen said Saturday.

UPDATE II: Family of  Neha Chhikara Crying Foul

Well this is rather bizarre, the family claims dowry harassment led to incident on New Year’s Eve; couple worked on luxury liner going from Miami to Bahamas.

The family of former air hostess Neha Chhikara, who allegedly committed suicide on January 1, has submitted a written complaint to the Gurgaon police alleging that she had been physically and mentally tortured for dowry by her husband and in-laws. The police are yet to register an FIR. Neha’s father-in-law is the Gurgaon civil surgeon, S S Dalal.

‘She sent SOS before her death’

Neha, 23, daughter-in-law of Gurgaon Civil Surgeon Dr SS Dalal, got killed under suspicious circumstances on a luxury ship on way from Miami in the USA to Bahamas.

Nearly an hour before her death, Neha had reportedly sent an e-mail to her brother, Anuj Chhikara, a local advocate, complaining about torture by her husband.

In the e-mail, reportedly sent on the afternoon of December 31, 2009, Neha had written that her husband Ankit Dalal, a manager with the Royal Caribbean Cruise “Monarch of Seas”, often used to get impulsive and beat her up without any reason.

UPDATE III: Search Called Off for Cruise Ship Passenger Neha Chhikara in Bahamas

The Coast Guard stopped searching Saturday afternoon for 23-year-old Neha Chhikara. She was reported missing Thursday afternoon from Royal Caribbean’s Monarch of the Seas as the ship headed from Nassau to CocoCay.