Passenger Accounting: The Accuracy of the Roll-Call after Costa Concordia
During the Costa Concordia sinking, no one carried out a roll-call or counted the people who had boarded lifeboats and liferafts: a single procedural failure that made it impossible, for days, to know with certainty who was missing.
Operational Explanation
Passenger accounting is the process by which the ship verifies, in an emergency, that all passengers and crew are actually present at their respective assembly stations, comparing the attendance recorded with the passenger manifest and the muster list. The investigation into the Costa Concordia sinking (2012) found that no one carried out a roll-call or counted the people who had boarded lifeboats and liferafts during the evacuation: a failure that made it harder, in the following days, to establish with certainty who was actually missing.
Shipping companies take different approaches to emergency roll-call: some rely on an actual name-by-name roll-call at assembly stations, others arrange a systematic search of every area of the ship by the crew in the absence of an automated counting system. On the regulatory side, in the United States the Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (CVSSA) requires companies to report every disappearance to the competent authorities (including the Coast Guard and the FBI for US citizens), with public quarterly reports still ongoing in 2025.
Regulatory Reference
SOLAS Regulation III/8 (Muster list and emergency instructions) as the procedural basis; Cruise Vessel Security and Safety Act (CVSSA), United States: obligation to report every disappearance to the competent authorities (Coast Guard, FBI for US citizens), regardless of the status of investigations, with public quarterly reports from the Department of Transportation still ongoing in 2025.
Scope of Application
Every passenger ship, with particular relevance for emergency counting procedures at assembly stations and for ships subject to CVSSA (embarkation/disembarkation in the United States).
Procedure / How to Complete It
- Clearly define, in the emergency procedure, the counting method adopted at assembly stations (name-by-name roll-call against the muster list, or systematic search of the ship's areas).
- Ensure that the person in charge of each assembly station has the up-to-date list of people assigned to that station.
- Systematically compare the attendance recorded with the passenger manifest and the muster list, immediately reporting any discrepancy to the bridge.
- For ships subject to CVSSA, keep the procedures for reporting disappearances to the competent authorities up to date, regardless of the status of internal investigations.
- Include the counting discipline in crew training as a mandatory step of evacuation, not as an optional activity if time allows.
Practical Example
Example: during an abandon-ship drill, the person in charge of an assembly station carries out the name-by-name roll-call against the assigned list, immediately reports to the bridge two names found absent, and waits for confirmation before declaring the station complete, following the Company's documented procedure.
Real Cases
Common Mistakes Mistake Library
| Mistake | Consequence | How to avoid it |
|---|---|---|
| Counting of those present at assembly stations left to individual initiative, without a written and assigned procedure | As in the Costa Concordia case, inability to establish with certainty who is actually present or missing | Define and exercise a written, assigned counting procedure for every assembly station |
| Discrepancies between attendance recorded and the muster list not reported immediately to the bridge | Delay in searching for people actually missing during the emergency | Report every discrepancy found immediately, without waiting for the count of the entire ship to be completed |
| Disappearance reporting procedures to the Coast Guard/FBI not kept up to date for ships subject to CVSSA | Regulatory non-compliance and delayed notification to the competent authorities | Always keep the reporting procedures required by CVSSA up to date for ships operating to/from US ports |
PSC Observations
Operational Tips
- Do not leave the counting method implicit: write it explicitly into the emergency procedure and exercise it regularly.
- Report every discrepancy found immediately to the bridge, however minor: the Costa Concordia case teaches that delays accumulate.
- For ships subject to CVSSA, always keep the procedures for reporting disappearances to the competent US authorities up to date.
Checklist
- Counting method (name-by-name roll-call or systematic search) explicitly defined in the emergency procedure
- Person in charge of each assembly station equipped with the up-to-date list of assigned people
- Procedure for immediate reporting of discrepancies to the bridge in place
- For CVSSA ships, disappearance reporting procedures to the competent authorities up to date
- Counting discipline included in crew training and periodic exercises