Last month, just days after the cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground off a Tuscan island, killing 17 people and leaving 15 missing, Discovery Channel announced that it would "dissect the anatomy" of the Friday the 13th disaster and said the documentary would air "this spring."
But on the same day an Italian court refused to lift the house-arrest order for the ship's captain — who is under investigation on suspicion of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the vessel before all passengers were evacuated — National Geographic Channel pounced.
NatGeo announced Tuesday that it had hired the producers of the quick-turnaround British documentary "Terror at Sea: The Sinking of the Concordia" — which already aired on the United Kingdom's Channel 4 — to rework it for the United States under the name "Italian Cruise Ship Disaster: The Untold Stories." It will air at 7 p.m. Sunday.
And that beats to air by one week Discovery's premiere of "Cruise Ship Disaster: Inside the Concordia," which will air at 10 p.m. Feb. 19.
Discovery's Costa Concordia project will be a focused forensic investigation that uses experts and includes survivor stories and eyewitness accounts.
Discovery crews will be covering the teams charged with figuring out how to salvage a shipping vessel larger than the Titanic. The Discovery documentary will address questions such as: What happened at the time of the incident? What role did Capt. Francesco Schettino play? How did the crew evacuate the ship? And what are the mechanics of searching the site while guarding the waters against environmental damage?
"With so many unanswered questions, Discovery will piece together not only the immediate events, but the bigger story of what comes next in recovery and restoration," said Nancy Daniels, executive VP of production and development for Discovery Channel.
NatGeo's Concordia program promises to detail the sinking in a "still raw" account, told primarily through the eyes of Americans who experienced it. "American survivors tell their haunting story in-depth and share exclusive home-video footage," NatGeo promised.
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