Amazing coincidence-Luke’s parents survived their own scare on same fateful Italian cruiseliner

It turns out the crash of the Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia wasn’t the only time it’s run into the rocks. And in a strange twist of fate, Luke’s parents were on the same ship when it smashed into rocks off the Italian coast near Palermo in 2008.

“There was a storm during the night and as the ship was pulling into Palermo port in wee hours of morning it was driven into the breakwater by high waves and gale force winds. It was a bumpy ride that night with little sleep,” writes Walter Burbank in an email to Luke.

Here are some pictures of the cruiseliner undergoing repairs afterwards.

“These photos were taken at the end of the cruise back in Civitavecchia when we disembarked. By this time some patching and welding had already been completed in Palermo. It looked even worse in Palermo. If I remember right, the ship would back into the harbor in some ports because of it’s size. It has sophisticated side propulsion systems to move it in unassisted to many of these ports. I think there were 20-30 foot seas the night we tried to slip into Palermo, so it was pretty risky.”