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Concordia captain: "I was painted worse than bin Laden"
An October 15, 2012 file photo of the captain of the Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino, as he leaves hearings at a Grosseto court. / FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images
Ahead of the one-year anniversary of the Costa Concordia disaster, in which 32 people were killed when the cruise ship ran aground off the Italian island of Giglio, the captain of the ship told an Italian newspaper that he "was painted worse than bin Laden."
Luxury cruise ship runs aground
Francesco Schettino said in an interview with the Turin newspaper La Stampa that he is tormented by the disaster.
"It is sincere pain from the bottom of my heart," he said.
The 950-foot-long Costa Concordia struck rocks and capsized on January 13 last year. Thirty-two people aboard were killed and hundreds injured in the panicked evacuation.
Prosecutors have accused Shettino of sailing the luxury liner too close to shore. He faces multiple charges of manslaughter and of abandoning ship during the evacuation of the 4,200 passengers and crew on board.
Italian media have referred to Schettino as "Captain Coward,"
He complained to the paper that the press' characterization of him and his actions "ridicules not just 30 years of my work, my experience in the whole world, but also the image of our country, which has been exposed to the criticism, often unjust, of the entire planet."
- "Stupid" tourists rescued after Concordia jaunt
- Packed court hears evidence in capsizing of Costa Concordia
- Costa Concordia black box contents to be revealed in hearing
The Costa Concordia cruise ship is seen on its side near the Italian island of Giglio, January 7, 2013.
/ FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty ImagesSchettino - who told the paper that he did not intentionally abandon ship, but slipped and fell into a lifeboat when the Concordia listed to its side - says he may have made a mistake by sailing too close to land, but he was not given exact information, and should not be the only one to get the blame.
In fact, eight others (including the ship's first officer and four other crew members, and three members of a crisis unit set up by the cruise ship's owner) also face possible criminal charges following the Italian prosecutors' investigation, which concluded last month.
Costa Concordia: Salvaging a shipwreck
Last Thursday at a Naples courtroom, Schettino brought a case against Costa Cruises, the ship's operator, for wrongful dismissal.
Efforts by salvage crews to right the ship are underway.
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I don't have a lot of respect for the Italian judicial system. They are not always reasonable in their thinking.
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If you did a little 'legal' homework and research, I think you'd be quite surprised to find how many commonalities there actually are, between the Italian legal system and our very own. You may not believe it, but it is true.
The big distinction is, in a very general sense, that our criminal courts operate a lot like the way Italy conducts civil matters, and the way Italy conducts criminal cases, is a lot like how we see our courts deal with civil suits. I honestly can think of few if any other European countries, those whose legal systems I have a basic understanding of, that are more akin to our own than Italy's.
Of course, to really experience "how" it all works, one would have to be there and observing something firsthand. I must say, though, from everything I have ever seen of their court system in general, it's really not at all completely different than our own. Especially concerning trial.
Then "accidentally" fell over the side, but luckily right into a lifeboat...(I believe it could have happened that way...but then, I believe everybody)
And the cruise line fired him...but HE is suing THEM?
GO FIGURE!
Did he even get his feet wet during his terrible ordeal?
Did he at least yell, "EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF" before cravenly abandoning his ship, crew, passengers and honor?
In a way, he IS worse than bin Laden...in his own twisted way, Osama believed in what he was doing (before the SEALS explained to him how wrong he was)
But this guy's "code" is, "Hooray for me...and to hell with everyone else"
He should borrow a sword and fall on it...before he's dropped on one!
Bin Laden did not 'supposedly' kill thousands. He admitted he did it.
32 people died on the cruise ship. It's in the very first sentence.
How about reading an article and not just posting based on the head line.
Jeez.
Just go back to your coloring books.
This man is a loser!
Maritime law states the Captain doesn't leave until everyone is off and safe??? Isn't that correct? When he "fell" off the ship, he should have got back on. The recording I heard of the Coast Guard clearly shows this captain didn't care about his passengers!
This man is a loser.
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So said many British and Americans also, of Second Officer Charles Lightholler, the senior-most surviving member of the Titanic's crew, and the only senior officer to have survived.
During an intense 36 day period following the disaster, The Board of Trade and a solicitor general held hearings before Lord Mersey in London's Scottish Drill Hall beginning in early May of 1912. The American inquisition was yet to even be finished.
In perhaps the most intense questioning of a witness, a representative from the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union pounced on Lightholler during the first week of the hearings, trying to get him to admit that the navigation and operation of the vessel was perilous and reckless, given warnings that were sent to the Titanic prior to 10:00pm on the night of April 14, 1912.
In all of it, the senior officer never wavered, at one point saying, "It is ordinary navigation, which embodies careful navigation," and, "naturally, if you stop the ship you will not collide with anything."
With the Costa Concordia, I would be almost certain that there is plenty of blame to go around, in terms of the accident itself as it pertains to the route taken. In terms of the maritime laws themselves, and the captain departing from the deck, I think it is odd that such prohibitions don't apply to ALL other crew members as well, at least those of officer status. In Titanic, witnesses stated that Lightoller literally attempted a 'walk on water' from below the bridge, calmly allowing the water swamping the bow to overcome him as he gently pushed off into frigid waters, then swimming toward an overturned lifeboat with about 30 others as well.
It is conceivable that Schettino did fall off the vessel, unable to get back aboard. Or, he could have done what that senior officer did in Titanic, and simply allowed the water over the bow to ballast himself off. Even accounts of Titanic's Captain, Edward J, Smith, claim he was spotted hovering afloat near "collapsible boat B", in the moments before vanishing.
The question becomes, does a captain necessarily need to die in the disaster, in order to have not broken such laws requiring him not to leave until all others are off? Should he remain on the bridge, until the last possible second?
He needed to be onboard, helping people get to lifeboats, directing crew, and go to the lowest levels he could to see if someone had gotten trapped under a piece of equipment, unable to get free. He can't do any of that of he is standing on dry land watching his passengers and crew struggle to get off the ship.
The only person he saved, was himself.