Concordia Catastrophe

This is a nightmare situation anywhere. Although why it was so might still be debatable, there's no debating that the Costa Concordia was too close too shore before it ruptured its hull and then tilted over.
Based on news media reports, the captain claims he prematurely left the ship because he tripped and fell (wow) into a lifeboat being deployed off the ship. Surviving passengers have said they first were given inaccurate information and then, in some cases, were better prepared than nearby crew members to get themselves safely to shore. Not all did, however. According to the latest reports, 11 are dead and 21 still missing.
Cruise ships glide in and out of Frenchman Bay, off Mount Desert Island, by the dozens each summer, and local officials seem to be aware of the need to be ready in the event of an emergency. In the spring of 2011, state, federal and local officials held an emergency drill in Bar Harbor to rehearse what might happen if two tenders collided in the harbor while ferrying passengers between shore and one or more cruise ships anchored in the bay.  That is a much different scenario than what the photo above depicts, though two tenders could easily carry 30 or more people, which is roughly the same number of those believed to be dead and missing from the Costa Concordia.
But the chance of something similar to the scale of the Concordia incident happening in Frenchman Bay would seem relatively low. According to Bar Harbor Harbormaster Charlie Phippen, all cruise ships coming in and out Frenchman Bay have to have a certified pilot familiar with Frenchman Bay at the helm. When they come in, the ships stop at a buoy at the mouth of the bay and pick up the pilot to ease the ships around the Porcupine Islands to the anchorages.
Still, I wonder if a future training exercise might imagine a more disastrous scenario off MDI.