Costa Concordia aground near Giglio
There were scenes of panic as the Costa Concordia hit a sandbar on the evening of Friday 13th January near the island of Giglio and listed about 20 degrees. People reached land by lifeboats but some swam ashore. Rescue teams went from cabin to cabin, searching for survivors.
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Created on 18 December 2011
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A New Zealand Defence Force plane dropped equipment and fuel to the stricken Russian fishing vessel 'Sparta' as it took on water. Sparta has a 30cm hole in her hull approximately 1.5m below the water line. The vessel is near the Antarctic ice shelf in the Ross Sea about 3704km south east of New Zealand.
Three ships - the Russian-flagged Chiyo Maru No.3, the New Zealand-flagged San Aspiring, and the Norwegian vessel Sel Jevaer - are making their way towards Sparta but are being severely hampered by heavy sea ice.
The Sel Jevaer was 19 nautical miles away but is hemmed in by ice. Sparta's crew have made good progress in stabilising the vessel, the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand said in a statement. "The 48-metre vessel has 32 crew. The vessel is certainly in a safer position than it was yesterday," search and rescue mission coordinator Chris Wilson says.
"The crew pumped water from the hold overnight and moved cargo to stabilise the vessel. They left the vessel as a precautionary measure but returned later."
"The crew are working on patches which they will attach to the hole if they can lighten the vessel enough, to correct its list."
"The Royal New Zealand Defence Force C130 Hercules from Christchurch flew for seven-hours to the scene. After dropping the equipment the Hercules went to McMurdo Station, a US Antarctic research centre on the southern tip of Ross Island, to refuel for the return journey."
"A second pump provided greater capacity to the crew and also served as a back-up, in the event one of Sparta's pumps failing. Pumps aren't designed to work 24/7, so it's important they have that security," Ms Wilson says.
