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Abstract: The M.V. Costa Concordia sank in the early morning of January 14, 2012 near the island of Giglio in the Mediterranean Sea. The night before she had hit an underwater rock when performing a tight high-speed turn very close to the shore. As a result of this collision she drifted powerless near to the harbour of Giglio. Here she grounded a second time and evacuation procedures were started. The list gradually increased until she finally capsized and came to rest on the rocks in shallow waters. Thirty-two the 4229 persons on board lost their lives during the flooding and capsizing of the ship. Because twelve of the victims were Germans, the Federal Bureau of Maritime Casualty Investigation (BSU) is obligated to conduct an investigation in addition to the official one performed by the Italian Marine Casualties Investigative Body (MCIB). In the scope of this investigation the BSU cooperates with the Institute of Ship Design and Ship Safety at the Hamburg University of Technology. The accident will be simulated by means of a progressive flooding simulation. Using this simulation the sequence of events is to be reproduced in order to gain insight into the possible failure modes. The influence of opening and closing watertight doors is of particular interest and will be determined in detail. In addition, the role of the second ground contact near the harbour as well as the influence of wind and other possible external moments shall be investigated.