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The Costa Concordia Disaster: How Human Error Made It Worse

By: Becky Little

Updated: August 10, 2023 | Original: June 23, 2021

Many famous naval disasters happen far out at sea, but on January 13, 2012, the Costa Concordia wrecked just off the coast of an Italian island in relatively shallow water. The avoidable disaster killed 32 people and seriously injured many others, and left investigators wondering: Why was the luxury cruise ship sailing so close to the shore in the first place?

During the ensuing trial, prosecutors came up with a tabloid-ready explanation : The married ship captain had sailed it so close to the island to impress a much younger Moldovan dancer with whom he was having an affair.

Whether or not Captain Francesco Schettino was trying to impress his girlfriend is debatable. (Schettino insisted the ship sailed close to shore to salute other mariners and give passengers a good view.) But whatever the reason for getting too close, the Italian courts found the captain, four crew members and one official from the ship’s company, Costa Crociere (part of Carnival Corporation), to be at fault for causing the disaster and preventing a safe evacuation. The wreck was not the fault of unexpected weather or ship malfunction—it was a disaster caused entirely by a series of human errors.

“At any time when you have an incident similar to Concordia, there is never…a single causal factor,” says Brad Schoenwald, a senior marine inspector at the United States Coast Guard. “It is generally a sequence of events, things that line up in a bad way that ultimately create that incident.”

Wrecking Near the Shore

The Concordia was supposed to take passengers on a seven-day Italian cruise from Civitavecchia to Savona. But when it deviated from its planned path to sail closer to the island of Giglio, the ship struck a reef known as the Scole Rocks. The impact damaged the ship, allowing water to seep in and putting the 4,229 people on board in danger.

Sailing close to shore to give passengers a nice view or salute other sailors is known as a “sail-by,” and it’s unclear how often cruise ships perform these maneuvers. Some consider them to be dangerous deviations from planned routes. In its investigative report on the 2012 disaster, Italy’s Ministry of Infrastructures and Transports found that the Concordia “was sailing too close to the coastline, in a poorly lit shore area…at an unsafe distance at night time and at high speed (15.5 kts).”

In his trial, Captain Schettino blamed the shipwreck on Helmsman Jacob Rusli Bin, who he claimed reacted incorrectly to his order; and argued that if the helmsman had reacted correctly and quickly, the ship wouldn’t have wrecked. However, an Italian naval admiral testified in court that even though the helmsman was late in executing the captain’s orders, “the crash would’ve happened anyway.” (The helmsman was one of the four crew members convicted in court for contributing to the disaster.)

A Questionable Evacuation

Evidence introduced in Schettino’s trial suggests that the safety of his passengers and crew wasn’t his number one priority as he assessed the damage to the Concordia. The impact and water leakage caused an electrical blackout on the ship, and a recorded phone call with Costa Crociere’s crisis coordinator, Roberto Ferrarini, shows he tried to downplay and cover up his actions by saying the blackout was what actually caused the accident.

“I have made a mess and practically the whole ship is flooding,” Schettino told Ferrarini while the ship was sinking. “What should I say to the media?… To the port authorities I have said that we had…a blackout.” (Ferrarini was later convicted for contributing to the disaster by delaying rescue operations.)

Schettino also didn’t immediately alert the Italian Search and Rescue Authority about the accident. The impact on the Scole Rocks occurred at about 9:45 p.m. local time, and the first person to contact rescue officials about the ship was someone on the shore, according to the investigative report. Search and Rescue contacted the ship a few minutes after 10:00 p.m., but Schettino didn’t tell them what had happened for about 20 more minutes.

A little more than an hour after impact, the crew began to evacuate the ship. But the report noted that some passengers testified that they didn’t hear the alarm to proceed to the lifeboats. Evacuation was made even more chaotic by the ship listing so far to starboard, making walking inside very difficult and lowering the lifeboats on one side, near to impossible. Making things worse, the crew had dropped the anchor incorrectly, causing the ship to flop over even more dramatically.

Through the confusion, the captain somehow made it into a lifeboat before everyone else had made it off. A coast guard member angrily told him on the phone to “Get back on board, damn it!” —a recorded sound bite that turned into a T-shirt slogan in Italy.

Schettino argued that he fell into a lifeboat because of how the ship was listing to one side, but this argument proved unconvincing. In 2015, a court found Schettino guilty of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, abandoning ship before passengers and crew were evacuated and lying to authorities about the disaster. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison. In addition to Schettino, Ferrarini and Rusli Bin, the other people who received convictions for their role in the disaster were Cabin Service Director Manrico Giampedroni, First Officer Ciro Ambrosio and Third Officer Silvia Coronica.

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'We all suffer from PTSD': 10 years after the Costa Concordia cruise disaster, memories remain

GIGLIO, Italy — Ten years have passed since the Costa Concordia cruise ship slammed into a reef and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio. But for the passengers on board and the residents who welcomed them ashore, the memories of that harrowing, freezing night remain vividly etched into their minds.

The dinner plates that flew off the tables when the rocks first gashed the hull. The blackout after the ship's engine room flooded and its generators failed. The final mad scramble to evacuate the listing liner and then the extraordinary generosity of Giglio islanders who offered shoes, sweatshirts and shelter until the sun rose and passengers were ferried to the mainland.

Italy on Thursday is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration that will end with a candlelit vigil near the moment the ship hit the reef: 9:45 p.m. on Jan. 13, 2012. The events will honor the 32 people who died that night, the 4,200 survivors, but also the residents of Giglio, who took in passengers and crew and then lived with the Concordia's wrecked carcass off their shore for another two years until it was righted and hauled away for scrap.

► CDC travel guidance: CDC warns 'avoid cruise travel' after more than 5,000 COVID cases in two weeks amid omicron

“For us islanders, when we remember some event, we always refer to whether it was before or after the Concordia,” said Matteo Coppa, who was 23 and fishing on the jetty when the darkened Concordia listed toward shore and then collapsed onto its side in the water.

“I imagine it like a nail stuck to the wall that marks that date, as a before and after,” he said, recounting how he joined the rescue effort that night, helping pull ashore the dazed, injured and freezing passengers from lifeboats.

The sad anniversary comes as the cruise industry, shut down in much of the world for months because of the coronavirus pandemic, is once again in the spotlight because of COVID-19 outbreaks that threaten passenger safety. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control last month  warned people across-the-board not to go on cruises, regardless of their vaccination status, because of the risks of infection.

► 'We found out while we were flying': Last-minute cruise cancellations leave travelers scrambling

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'We all suffer from PTSD'

For Concordia survivor Georgia Ananias, the COVID-19 infections are just the latest evidence that passenger safety still isn’t a top priority for the cruise ship industry. Passengers aboard the Concordia were largely left on their own to find life jackets and a functioning lifeboat after the captain steered the ship close too shore in a stunt. He then delayed an evacuation order until it was too late, with lifeboats unable to lower because the ship was listing too heavily.

“I always said this will not define me, but you have no choice," Ananias said in an interview from her home in Los Angeles, Calif. “We all suffer from PTSD. We had a lot of guilt that we survived and 32 other people died.”

Prosecutors blamed the delayed evacuation order and conflicting instructions given by crew for the chaos that ensued as passengers scrambled to get off the ship. The captain, Francesco Schettino, is serving a 16-year prison sentence for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning a ship before all the passengers and crew had evacuated.

Ananias and her family declined Costa’s initial $14,500 compensation offered to each passenger and sued Costa, a unit of U.S.-based Carnival Corp., to try to cover the cost of their medical bills and therapy for the post-traumatic stress they have suffered. But after eight years in the U.S. and then Italian court system, they lost their case.

“I think people need to be aware that when you go on a cruise, that if there is a problem, you will not have the justice that you may be used to in the country in which you are living,” said Ananias, who went onto become a top official in the International Cruise Victims association, an advocacy group that lobbies to improve safety aboard ships and increase transparency and accountability in the industry.

Costa didn’t respond to emails seeking comment on the anniversary.

► Royal Caribbean cancels sailings: Pushes back restart on several ships over COVID

'We did something incredible'

Cruise Lines International Association, the world’s largest cruise industry trade association, stressed in a statement to The Associated Press that passenger and crew safety was the industry's top priority, and that cruising remains one of the safest vacation experiences available.

“Our thoughts continue to be with the victims of the Concordia tragedy and their families on this sad anniversary," CLIA said. It said it has worked over the past 10 years with the International Maritime Organization and the maritime industry to “drive a safety culture that is based on continuous improvement."

For Giglio Mayor Sergio Ortelli, the memories of that night run the gamut: the horror of seeing the capsized ship, the scramble to coordinate rescue services on shore, the recovery of the first bodies and then the pride that islanders rose to the occasion to tend to the survivors.

► Cruising during COVID-19: Cancellation, refund policies vary by cruise line

Ortelli was later on hand when, in September 2013, the 115,000-ton, 1,000-foot long cruise ship was righted vertical off its seabed graveyard in an extraordinary feat of engineering. But the night of the disaster, a Friday the 13th, remains seared in his memory.

“It was a night that, in addition to being a tragedy, had a beautiful side because the response of the people was a spontaneous gesture that was appreciated around the world,” Ortelli said.

It seemed the natural thing to do at the time. “But then we realized that on that night, in just a few hours, we did something incredible.”

Ten years on, Costa Concordia shipwreck still haunts survivors, islanders

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Philip Pullella reported from Rome; Additional reporting by Yara Nardi, writing by Philip Pullella; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise

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Key dates in Costa Concordia shipwreck, trial and cleanup

FILE— Seagulls fly in front of the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, Italy, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

FILE— The grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia is seen through a window on the Isola del Giglio island, Italy, Friday, Feb. 3, 2012. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

FILE— Oil removal ships near the cruise ship Costa Concordia leaning on its side Monday, Jan. 16, 2012, after running aground near the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, last Friday night. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

FILE— The Costa Concordia ship lies on its side on the Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, Italy, Monday, Sept. 16, 2013. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

FILE— A sunbather gets her tan on a rock during the operations to refloat the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia on the tiny Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, Italy, Saturday, July 19, 2014. Once the ship has refloated it will be towed to Genoa’s port, about 200 nautical miles (320 kilometers), where it will be dismantled. 30 months ago it struck a reef and capsized, killing 32 people. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

FILE— The wrecked hulk of the Costa Concordia cruise ship is towed along the Tyrrhenian Sea, 30 miles off the coast of Viareggio, Italy, Friday, July 25, 2014. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Fabio Muzzi)

FILE— A view of the previously submerged side of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, off the coast of the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Italy, Monday, Jan. 13, 2014. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

FILE— A woman hangs her laundry as the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia is seen in the background, off the Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, Italy, Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap.(AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

FILE— In this photo taken on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012, Francesco Schettino, right, the captain of the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia, which ran aground off the tiny Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, is taken into custody by Carabinieri in Porto Santo Stefano, Italy. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Giacomo Aprili)

Experts aboard a sea platform carry oil recovery equipment, Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012, as they return to the port of the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, where the cruise ship Costa Concordia, visible in background, ran aground on Ja. 13, 2012. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

FILE — The luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia lays on its starboard side after it ran aground off the coast of the Isola del Giglio island, Italy on Jan. 13, 2012. Italy is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Giuseppe Modesti)

FILE— Italian firefighters conduct search operations on the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia that ran aground the tiny Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2012. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

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By Associated Press (AP) — Italy on Thursday marks the 10th anniversary of the Costa Concordia cruise ship wreck off the Tuscan island of Giglio. Here are some key dates in the saga, including the trial of the captain and the remarkable engineering feat to right the liner from its side so it could be towed away for scrap.

Jan. 13, 2012: The Costa Concordia slams into a reef off Italy’s Giglio island after the captain, Francesco Schettino, ordered it taken off course and brought it close to shore in a stunt. It drifts without power until it comes to rest on its side offshore. After weeks of searches, rescue crews confirm 32 people died.

Jan. 15, 2012: Prosecutor Francesco Verusio confirms passenger allegations that Schettino abandoned the Concordia before all the passengers and crew had been evacuated.

Jan. 17, 2012: Schettino is placed under house arrest.

Jan. 17, 2012: Dramatic audio of the shipwreck is broadcast in which Coast Guard Cmdr. Gregorio De Falco uses colorful expletives to order Schettino to get back on board to coordinate the evacuation. “You’ve abandoned ship! I’m in charge now,” De Falco yells. “Go back and report to me how many passengers there are and what they need. ... Perhaps you saved yourself from the sea, but I’ll make you pay for this, damn it!”

Jan. 20, 2012: Costa’s CEO tells Italian state TV that Schettino relayed inaccurate information to the company and crew and downplayed the seriousness of the situation after the ship hit the rocks, delaying the mobilization of proper assistance.

July 9, 2013: Schettino goes on trial for manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing the shipwreck. The trial is held in a 1,000-seat theater on the mainland in Grosseto, a spacious venue so survivors and relatives of victims could attend.

July 20, 2013: Five Costa employees are convicted of manslaughter in a separate trial, receiving sentences of less than three years after entering plea bargains.

Sept. 17, 2013: Fog horns wail shortly after 4 a.m. to announce the Concordia had been wrenched from its side and reached vertical after 19-hour operation using chains and weighted tanks to right it from the seabed.

Oct. 8, 2013: The remains of one of the two people still missing is located by divers working on the wreck, later identified as Italian Maria Grazia Trecarichi.

Feb. 1, 2014: A Spanish diver working on the Concordia wreckage dies after apparently gashing his leg on an underwater metal sheet, news reports say.

July 23, 2014: As boat sirens wail and bells toll, the Concordia begins its final voyage as it is towed from Giglio to be turned into scrap. It arrives in Genoa’s shipyard on July 27.

Nov. 3, 2014: The body of Indian waiter Russel Rebello, the last missing victim, is found by crews dismantling the vessel for scrap in Genoa.

Feb. 11, 2015: The court in Grosseto convicts Schettino and sentences him to 16 years in prison for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the vessel before passengers and crew had been evacuated, as well as for giving false information about the gravity of the collision.

May 31, 2016: An appeals court in Florence upholds the conviction and sentence for Schettino after both the prosecution and defense appealed. The prosecution sought to toughen the sentence to 27 years while the defense argued that blame didn’t fall solely on Schettino.

May 12, 2017: Schettino loses his final appeal and heads to prison after Italy’s highest Court of Cassation upholds his previous conviction and 16-year sentence.

January 2018: Coast Guard Cmdr. De Falco, who won international fame for his rant against Schettino, nominates himself as a lawmaker for Italy’s 5-Star Movement political party. He is expelled from the party later that year.

December, 2021: A Genoa court orders Costa Crociere to pay 92,700 euros ($105,000) to Concordia passenger Ernesto Carusotti in one of the few civil lawsuits to reach a verdict against the company.

This version corrects the spelling of Grosseto.

10 years later, Costa Concordia disaster is still vivid for survivors

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Ten years have passed since the Costa Concordia cruise ship slammed into a reef and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio . But for the passengers on board and the residents who welcomed them ashore, the memories of that harrowing, freezing night remain vividly etched into their minds.

The dinner plates that flew off the tables when the rocks first gashed the hull. The blackout after the ship’s engine room flooded and its generators failed. The final mad scramble to evacuate the listing liner and then the extraordinary generosity of Giglio islanders who offered shoes, sweatshirts and shelter until the sun rose and passengers were ferried to the mainland.

Italy on Thursday is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration that will end with a candlelit vigil near the moment the ship hit the reef: 9:45 p.m. on Jan. 13, 2012. The events will honor the 32 people who died that night, the 4,200 survivors, but also the residents of Giglio, who took in passengers and crew and then lived with the Concordia’s wrecked carcass off their shore for another two years until it was righted and hauled away for scrap.

“For us islanders, when we remember some event, we always refer to whether it was before or after the Concordia,” said Matteo Coppa, who was 23 and fishing on the jetty when the darkened Concordia listed toward shore and then collapsed onto its side in the water.

“I imagine it like a nail stuck to the wall that marks that date, as a before and after,” he said, recounting how he joined the rescue effort that night, helping pull ashore the dazed, injured and freezing passengers from lifeboats.

The sad anniversary comes as the cruise industry, shut down in much of the world for months because of the coronavirus pandemic, is once again in the spotlight because of COVID-19 outbreaks that threaten passenger safety. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control last month warned people across-the-board not to go on cruises , regardless of their vaccination status, because of the risks of infection.

A dozen passengers on cruise ship test positive for coronavirus

The passengers, whose infections were found through random testing, were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, according to the Port of San Francisco.

Jan. 7, 2022

For Concordia survivor Georgia Ananias, the COVID-19 infections are just the latest evidence that passenger safety still isn’t a top priority for the cruise ship industry. Passengers aboard the Concordia were largely left on their own to find life jackets and a functioning lifeboat after the captain steered the ship close too shore in a stunt. He then delayed an evacuation order until it was too late, with lifeboats unable to lower because the ship was listing too heavily.

“I always said this will not define me, but you have no choice,” Ananias said in an interview from her home in Los Angeles. “We all suffer from PTSD. We had a lot of guilt that we survived and 32 other people died.”

Prosecutors blamed the delayed evacuation order and conflicting instructions given by crew for the chaos that ensued as passengers scrambled to get off the ship. The captain, Francesco Schettino, is serving a 16-year prison sentence for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning a ship before all the passengers and crew had evacuated.

Ananias and her family declined Costa’s initial $14,500 compensation offered to each passenger and sued Costa, a unit of U.S.-based Carnival Corp., to try to cover the cost of their medical bills and therapy for the post-traumatic stress they have suffered. But after eight years in the U.S. and then Italian court system, they lost their case.

“I think people need to be aware that when you go on a cruise, that if there is a problem, you will not have the justice that you may be used to in the country in which you are living,” said Ananias, who went onto become a top official in the International Cruise Victims association, an advocacy group that lobbies to improve safety aboard ships and increase transparency and accountability in the industry.

Costa didn’t respond to emails seeking comment on the anniversary.

Cruise Lines International Assn., the world’s largest cruise industry trade association, stressed in a statement to the Associated Press that passenger and crew safety were the industry’s top priority, and that cruising remains one of the safest vacation experiences available.

“Our thoughts continue to be with the victims of the Concordia tragedy and their families on this sad anniversary,” CLIA said. It said it has worked over the past 10 years with the International Maritime Organization and the maritime industry to “drive a safety culture that is based on continuous improvement.”

For Giglio Mayor Sergio Ortelli, the memories of that night run the gamut: the horror of seeing the capsized ship, the scramble to coordinate rescue services on shore, the recovery of the first bodies and then the pride that islanders rose to the occasion to tend to the survivors.

Ortelli was later on hand when, in September 2013, the 115,000-ton, 1,000-foot long cruise ship was righted vertical off its seabed graveyard in an extraordinary feat of engineering. But the night of the disaster, a Friday the 13th, remains seared in his memory.

“It was a night that, in addition to being a tragedy, had a beautiful side because the response of the people was a spontaneous gesture that was appreciated around the world,” Ortelli said.

It seemed the natural thing to do at the time. “But then we realized that on that night, in just a few hours, we did something incredible.”

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10 years later, Costa Concordia survivors share their stories from doomed cruise ship

Ten years after the deadly Costa Concordia cruise line disaster in Italy, survivors still vividly remember scenes of chaos they say were like something straight out of the movie "Titanic."

NBC News correspondent Kelly Cobiella caught up with a group of survivors on TODAY Wednesday, a decade after they escaped a maritime disaster that claimed the lives of 32 people. The Italian cruise ship ran aground off the tiny Italian island of Giglio after striking an underground rock and capsizing.

"I think it’s the panic, the feeling of panic, is what’s carried through over 10 years," Ian Donoff, who was on the cruise with his wife Janice for their honeymoon, told Cobiella. "And it’s just as strong now."

More than 4,000 passengers and crew were on board when the ship crashed into rocks in the dark in the Mediterranean Sea, sending seawater rushing into the vessel as people scrambled for their lives.

The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, had been performing a sail-past salute of Giglio when he steered the ship too close to the island and hit the jagged reef, opening a 230-foot gash in the side of the cruise liner.

Passengers struggled to escape in the darkness, clambering to get to the life boats. Alaska resident Nate Lukes was with his wife, Cary, and their four daughters aboard the ship and remembers the chaos that ensued as the ship started to sink.

"There was really a melee there is the best way to describe it," he told Cobiella. "It's very similar to the movie 'Titanic.' People were jumping onto the top of the lifeboats and pushing down women and children to try to get to them."

The lifeboats wouldn't drop down because the ship was tilted on its side, leaving hundreds of passengers stranded on the side of the ship for hours in the cold. People were left to clamber down a rope ladder over a distance equivalent to 11 stories.

"Everybody was rushing for the lifeboats," Nate Lukes said. "I felt like (my daughters) were going to get trampled, and putting my arms around them and just holding them together and letting the sea of people go by us."

Schettino was convicted of multiple manslaughter as well as abandoning ship after leaving before all the passengers had reached safety. He is now serving a 16-year prison sentence .

It took nearly two years for the damaged ship to be raised from its side before it was towed away to be scrapped.

The calamity caused changes in the cruise industry like carrying more lifejackets and holding emergency drills before leaving port.

A decade after that harrowing night, the survivors are grateful to have made it out alive. None of the survivors who spoke with Cobiella have been on a cruise since that day.

"I said that if we survive this, then our marriage will have to survive forever," Ian Donoff said.

Scott Stump is a trending reporter and the writer of the daily newsletter This is TODAY (which you should subscribe to here! ) that brings the day's news, health tips, parenting stories, recipes and a daily delight right to your inbox. He has been a regular contributor for TODAY.com since 2011, producing features and news for pop culture, parents, politics, health, style, food and pretty much everything else. 

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The Wrecked Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Is Finally Being Towed Away

The ship’s remains will be broken down for scrap metal

Rachel Nuwer

The MS Costa Concordia , the Italian cruise ship that killed 32 people when it sank off the coast off Isola del Giglio in 2012, has just been sitting off the Tuscan coast ever since. This morning, though, the ship was successfully refloated, the Guardian reports . Environmentalists are relieved since the ship has been marring a marine sanctuary for more than two years, while local residents say they are looking forward to no longer having to see a giant wreck each time they look out to sea. 

Removing the ship entirely, however, will be no easy task. For starters, it's twice as big as the RMS Titanic , the Guardian  points out. So far, however, the plan seems to be working: 

Air was pumped slowly into 30 tanks or "sponsons" attached to both sides of the 290-metre, 114,500-tonne Concordia to expel the water inside, raising it two metres (6.5 feet) off the artificial platform it has rested on since it was righted in September. It will now be towed away from the shore and moored using anchors and cables. Thirty-six steel cables and 56 chains will hold the sponsons in place.

There are going to be substantial risks before the Costa Concordia is gone for good ,  however. As CNN writes , the ship's rotting hull could break off as it is jostled about, which would cause lengthy delays. Or, it could just fall apart entirely. "The worst case scenario is that the ship falls apart during the first six hours as it's raised off the platform -- or that it breaks up somewhere off the coast of Corsica, which is where the Mediterranean's currents are the strongest," CNN continues. Some environmental groups, like Greenpeace, are also concerned that the Costa Concordia will leave a trail of leaky toxic waste in its wake, CNN adds. 

The Costa Concordia 's planned final destination is Genoa, Italy, where it will be broken down into scrap metal. Experts estimate that that process could take as long as two-and-a-half years, CNN writes. 

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Rachel Nuwer is a freelance science writer based in Brooklyn.

The Wreck of the Costa Concordia

• Alan Taylor
• January 16, 2012

On the night of Friday, January 13, the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia, with more than 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members on board, struck a reef, keeled over, and partially sank off Isola del Giglio, Italy. Six people are now confirmed dead, including two French passengers and one Peruvian crew member, apparently after jumping into the chilly Mediterranean waters after the wreck. Fourteen more people still remain missing, as search and rescue teams continue their efforts to find survivors. The incident occurred only hours into the cruise, and passengers had not yet undergone any lifeboat drills -- that plus the severe list of the ship made evacuation chaotic and frightening. Captain Francesco Schettino has been arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship. Gathered here are images of the Costa Concordia, as efforts are still underway to find the fourteen passengers that remain missing.

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View of the Costa Concordia taken on January 14, 2012, after the cruise ship ran aground and keeled over off the Isola del Giglio. Five passengers drowned and about 15 still remain missing after the Italian ship with some 4,200 people on board ran aground. The Costa Concordia was on a trip around the Mediterranean when it apparently hit a reef near the island of Giglio on Friday, only a few hours into its voyage, as passengers were sitting down for dinner. #

This photo acquired by the Associated Press from a passenger of the luxury ship that ran aground off the coast of Tuscany shows fellow passengers wearing life-vests on board the Costa Concordia as they wait to be evacuated, on Saturday, January 14, 2012. #

The luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia leans after it ran aground off the coast of the Isola del Giglio island, Italy, early Saturday, January 14, 2012. #

Passengers of the Costa Concordia arrive at Porto Santo Stefano on January 14, 2012, after the cruise ship ran aground and keeled over the night before. Some of the passengers jumped into the icy waters. The ship was on a cruise in the Mediterranean, leaving from Savona with planned stops in Civitavecchia, Palermo, Cagliari, Palma, Barcelona and Marseille," the company said. #

A survivor of the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia, arrives at the harbor, in Marseille, southern France, on January 14, 2012. #

The Costa Concordia, off the west coast of Italy at Giglio island, on January 14, 2012. #

The Costa Concordia leans on its side after running aground, on January 14, 2012. #

Gashes in the hull of the Costa Concordia, off the west coast of Italy, on January 14, 2012. #

Firefighters on a dinghy examine a large rock emerging from the side of the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia, the day after it ran aground on Sunday, January 15, 2012. #

The Costa Concordia, surrounded by smaller boats, on Saturday, January 14, 2012, after running aground. #

An evening view of the Costa Concordia, on January 15, 2012 in the harbor of the Tuscan island of Giglio. #

A rescue boat points a light at the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia leaning on its side on January 14, 2012. #

Italian firefighters climb on the Costa Concordia on January 14, 2012. #

Firemen inspect the Costa Concordia on January 15, 2012. #

Rescuers check the sea near the Costa Concordia on January 15, 2012, after the cruise ship ran aground the night before. #

People look at the deck chairs piled on the deck of the leaning Costa Concordia, on January 15, 2012, after the cruise ship ran aground on January 13. #

Partially submerged cabins of the cruise ship Costa Concordia, photographed on January 14, 2012. #

An Italian firefighter helicopter lifts a passenger from the cruise ship Costa Concordia on January 15, 2012. Firefighters worked Sunday to rescue the crew member with a suspected broken leg from the overturned hulk of the luxury cruise liner, 36 hours after it ran aground. #

Divers inspect the Costa Concordia on January 15, 2012. #

Italian Coast guard personnel pass on the black box of the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia, on January 14, 2012. #

Costa Concordia cruise liner captain Francesco Schettino (right) is escorted by a Carabinieri in Grosseto, Italy, on January 14, 2012. Schettino, the captain of the Italian cruise liner that ran aground off Italy's west coast, was arrested on the charges of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship, police said. #

In this underwater photo taken on January 13 and released by the Italian Coast Guard on January 16, 2012, a view of the cruise ship Costa Concordia, after it ran aground near the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. #

A breach is seen on the body of the cruise ship Costa Concordia in this underwater photo released by the Italian Coast Guard on January 16, 2012. #

An Italian Coast guard diver inspects the wreckage of the Costa Concordia on January 16, 2012. Over-reliance on electronic navigation systems and a failure of judgement by the captain are seen as possible reasons for one of the worst cruise liner disasters of all time, maritime specialists say. #

An Italian Coast guard diver inspects inside the Costa Concordia cruise ship on January 16, 2012. #

An Italian Coast guard diver swims through debris inside the partially-submerged Costa Concordia, on January 16, 2012. Rescuers resumed a search of the hulk of a giant cruise liner off the west coast of Italy on Monday after bad weather forced them to halt operations, but hopes were fading of finding more survivors. #

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Cruise Ship's Salvage A Wreck For Italian Island

Sylvia Poggioli

Work has begun to remove the tons of rocky reef embedded into the Concordia cruise ship's hull, off Giglio Island in Italy. The plan is to eventually tow the wreck away from the island in one piece. Gregorio Borgia/AP hide caption

Work has begun to remove the tons of rocky reef embedded into the Concordia cruise ship's hull, off Giglio Island in Italy. The plan is to eventually tow the wreck away from the island in one piece.

Last January, the captain of the Italian mega-cruise ship Costa Concordia committed an apparent act of maritime bravado a few yards from the shore of a Tuscan island. Thirty people were killed, and two are still missing.

Six months after one of the biggest passenger shipwrecks in recent history, relatives of the dead attended a memorial service Friday near the site of the disaster.

The solemn notes of Mozart's Requiem echoed through the small church of Saints Lorenzo and Mamiliano on the island of Giglio.

It was the same church that sheltered many of the 4,200 passengers and crew members of the Costa Concordia on a cold night in January.

Related NPR Stories

NPR's Sylvia Poggioli spends summers in the Tuscan archipelago where the Costa Concordia grounded.

For Reporter, Cruise Ship Disaster Is A Local Story

The two-way, americans' bodies identified from costa concordia shipwreck, rock and a hard place: what to do with concordia, photos: images from the disaster.

Captain Blames His Crew

On that night, in an effort to entertain the passengers with a close-up view of the island, Capt. Francesco Schettino accidentally rammed the vessel into a rocky reef just a few dozen yards from shore.

Schettino faces multiple manslaughter charges as well as charges of causing the accident and abandoning ship. He was released this week from house arrest, and in his first TV interview, he blamed his junior officers.

"This was a banal accident in which, fate would have it, there was a breakdown in communication between people. And this created misunderstandings and anger," Schettino said. "It was as if there had been a breakdown in people's heads as well as in the instruments."

Schettino's remarks infuriated relatives of the dead as well as Giglio's mayor, Sergio Ortelli.

"A captain cannot shift blame onto his officers," he said. "And a ship with more than 4,000 people on board cannot be put under the command of such an amateur."

Elio Vincenzi was even more dismissive of the captain. His wife, Maria Grazia, is still listed among the missing. "It was not the sea that took my wife away," he said. "It was human stupidity."

An Economic Salvage Operation

The Costa Concordia still lies on its side 100 yards from the harbor. A huge hunk of granite weighing some 80 tons is embedded in the hull of the marooned ship. Once removed, it will be used as a memorial for the dead.

The mammoth vessel is an eyesore and oppressive reminder of tragedy for local residents.

Giglio Island's nature-loving tourists have been replaced by day-trippers who want a look at the massive wreck of the Costa Concordia. Gregorio Borgia/AP hide caption

Giglio Island's nature-loving tourists have been replaced by day-trippers who want a look at the massive wreck of the Costa Concordia.

"To wake up every morning and to see this thing, from my point of view, it is terrible," says Matteo Bellomo, who has had a second home on Giglio for 50 years. "Every time you look at it, you think to the people there, and people that died, and to the two people they have not found."

Giglio Island has long been cherished as a hidden paradise in the Tuscan archipelago.

It's in Europe's biggest marine sanctuary, with crystal-clear waters rich in flora and fauna. Now, the marooned hulk dominates the Giglio skyline and has become a sinister attraction of what some call disaster tourism — drawing hundreds of gawking tourists who snap away at the photo opportunity.

The shipwreck has altered the local economy; Mayor Ortelli says tourism income has dropped by 50 percent. Traditional nature lovers who came for a week or more have been replaced by day-trippers.

Islanders can't wait to see the ship's removal, but it's an enormous salvage operation. The Costa Concordia is two-and-a-half football fields long, says Nick Sloane, the senior salvage master for the project. "And we're dealing with 60,000 tons of weight, on rocks right on an exposed parts of island."

Sloane says the priority is to remove the ship in one piece in order to minimize impact on the environment. Weather permitting, the Costa Concordia should be refloated and towed to a mainland port by early next year.

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Key dates in costa concordia shipwreck, trial and cleanup.

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Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

FILE Seagulls fly in front of the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, Italy, Monday, Jan. 30, 2012. Italy on Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, is marking the 10th anniversary of the Concordia disaster with a daylong commemoration, honoring the 32 people who died but also the extraordinary response by the residents of Giglio who took in the 4,200 passengers and crew from the ship on that rainy Friday night and then lived with the Concordia carcass for another two years before it was hauled away for scrap. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Italy on Thursday marks the 10th anniversary of the Costa Concordia cruise ship wreck off the Tuscan island of Giglio. Here are some key dates in the saga, including the trial of the captain and the remarkable engineering feat to right the liner from its side so it could be towed away for scrap.

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Jan. 13, 2012: The Costa Concordia slams into a reef off Italy's Giglio island after the captain, Francesco Schettino, ordered it taken off course and brought it close to shore in a stunt. It drifts without power until it comes to rest on its side offshore. After weeks of searches, rescue crews confirm 32 people died.

Jan. 15, 2012: Prosecutor Francesco Verusio confirms passenger allegations that Schettino abandoned the Concordia before all the passengers and crew had been evacuated.

Jan. 17, 2012: Schettino is placed under house arrest.

Jan. 17, 2012: Dramatic audio of the shipwreck is broadcast in which Coast Guard Cmdr. Gregorio De Falco uses colorful expletives to order Schettino to get back on board to coordinate the evacuation. “You’ve abandoned ship! I’m in charge now,” De Falco yells. “Go back and report to me how many passengers there are and what they need. ... Perhaps you saved yourself from the sea, but I’ll make you pay for this, damn it!”

Jan. 20, 2012: Costa's CEO tells Italian state TV that Schettino relayed inaccurate information to the company and crew and downplayed the seriousness of the situation after the ship hit the rocks, delaying the mobilization of proper assistance.

July 9, 2013: Schettino goes on trial for manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing the shipwreck. The trial is held in a 1,000-seat theater on the mainland in Grosseto, a spacious venue so survivors and relatives of victims can attend.

July 20, 2013: Five Costa employees are convicted of manslaughter in a separate trial, receiving sentences of less than three years after entering plea bargains.

Sept. 17, 2013: Fog horns wail shortly after 4 a.m. to announce the Concordia had been wrenched from its side and reached vertical after 19-hour operation using chains and weighted tanks to right it from the seabed.

Oct. 8, 2013: The remains of one of the two people still missing is located by divers working on the wreck, later identified as Italian Maria Grazia Trecarichi.

Feb. 1, 2014: A Spanish diver working on the Concordia wreckage dies after apparently gashing his leg on an underwater metal sheet, news reports say.

July 23, 2014: As boat sirens wail and bells toll, the Concordia begins its final voyage as it is towed from Giglio to be turned into scrap. It arrives in Genoa’s shipyard on July 27.

Nov. 3, 2014: The body of Indian waiter Russel Rebello, the last missing victim, is found by crews dismantling the vessel for scrap in Genoa.

Feb. 11, 2015: The court in Grosseto convicts Schettino and sentences him to 16 years in prison for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the vessel before passengers and crew had been evacuated, as well as for giving false information about the gravity of the collision.

May 31, 2016: An appeals court in Florence upholds the conviction and sentence for Schettino after both the prosecution and defense appealed. The prosecution sought to toughen the sentence to 27 years while the defense argued that blame didn’t fall solely on Schettino.

May 12, 2017: Schettino loses his final appeal and heads to prison after Italy’s highest Court of Cassation upholds his previous conviction and 16-year sentence.

January 2018: Coast Guard Cmdr. De Falco, who won international fame for his rant against Schettino, nominates himself as a lawmaker for Italy's 5-Star Movement political party. He is expelled from the party later that year.

December, 2021: A Genoa court orders Costa Crociere to pay 92,700 euros ($105,000) to Concordia passenger Ernesto Carusotti in one of the few civil lawsuits to reach a verdict against the company.

This version corrects the spelling of Grosseto.

Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Italy's giant cruise wreck begins final voyage as survivors look on

GIGLIO ISLAND, Italy (AFP) - Italy's Costa Concordia will set sail on its final voyage on Wednesday as survivors look on, two and a half years after the luxury cruise ship crashed and sank in a nighttime disaster that left 32 people dead.

The rusting liner, which has been floated from its watery grave in the biggest salvage operation of a passenger ship ever performed, will be towed away to the port of Genoa in northwest Italy to be dismantled and scrapped.

Surviving passengers who have returned to Tuscany's Giglio island will gather with locals and holidaymakers to bid a final farewell to the once-magnificent cruise ship.

"We hope that many of our feelings (from the night of the disaster) will leave when the boat leaves. And that as it goes on its way, we can finally go on ours," said Anne Decre from the French Survivors' Collective, as she clutched the hand of friend Nicole Servel, whose husband died in the disaster.

The ship - roughly twice the size of the Titanic - will be dragged up the Corsica channel by two tug boats at a speed of just two knots (3.7 kilometres, 2.3 miles) per hour, and is expected to reach Genoa in four days, weather permitting.

- Emergency evacuation plan -

The length of three football fields, the crippled vessel will first be manoeuvred into position by British and Spanish tug boats in a complex operation beginning at 0630 GMT (2.30pm Singapore time).

A Dutch tug boat and a Vanuatu-flagged one will then tow the 290-metre (951-foot) vessel away around 1000 GMT, while 12 other boats will sail in a convoy alongside, carrying divers, engineers, a medical team and environmental experts.

South African salvage master Nick Sloane - who has described removing the ship as the "biggest challenge" of a career that has taken him to six continents and two warzones - said he was ready to "wave goodbye to Giglio".

A 17-person team of salvage workers will be on the Concordia itself during the journey.

Precision sensors attached to the sides of the ship will monitor for possible cracks in the crippled hull, while underwater cameras will watch for debris washing out of the vessel amid fears toxic waste could spill into the sea.

Objects floating free such as suitcases, clothes and furniture will be caught in a huge net while infrared sensors will be used to detect possible oil leaks at night.

Engineers last week used vast air tanks attached to the ship's sides to float the liner, which rose above the waves deck by deck to reveal gaping windows, a rust-tainted bow and the faded Costa Concordia emblem on its flanks.

The doomed ship struck rocks just off the Mediterranean island on the night of January 13 with 4,229 people from 70 countries on board, just as many passengers were sitting down for supper on the first night of their cruise.

The crash tore a massive gash in its hull and the ship veered sharply as the water poured in, eventually keeling over and sparking a panicky evacuation.

- 'My last day alive' -

Pablo Lazaro, a 66-year-old Spanish survivor who had been on the cruise with his wife and stepson, said the terror of that night - with people throwing themselves into the icy sea in a bid to survive - would never leave him.

"When I was getting into the lifeboat amid all the chaos I thought this might be my last day alive," he said as he gazed out at the wreck from the port.

Lazaro joined fellow survivors in throwing flowers into the sea at the shipwreck site in a solemn ceremony on Tuesday.

The body of Indian waiter Russel Rebello is still missing and there will be a search for his remains when the ship is dismantled.

The ship's captain Francesco Schettino is on trial for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship before all the passengers had been evacuated - even though he has claimed that he fell into a lifeboat.

Dubbed Italy's "most hated man" by the Italian media after the disaster, he found himself in hot water again on Tuesday after photographs emerged of him partying on the island of Ischia while the final preparations were being made to tow away the wreck.

Four other crew members and an executive from the ship's owner Costa Crociere, the biggest cruise operator in Europe and part of the US giant Carnival, have already plea-bargained and been convicted on lesser charges.

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Packed Italian court as captain in Concordia disaster hears evidence

GROSSETO, Italy -- The captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that crashed into an Italian reef appeared in court Monday to hear the evidence against him, while hundreds of passengers who survived the deadly shipwreck and the families of those who died in it showed up just "to look him in the eye."

The case of Francesco Schettino, 51, was of such enormous interest that a theater had to be turned into a courtroom in the Tuscan city of Grosseto to accommodate all those who had a legitimate claim to be at the closed-door hearing over the disaster.

As dozens of experts, lawyers and prosecutors packed the building, all eyes were on Schettino, who returned to Tuscany for the first time since his arrest to, in his own words, “Face my accusers.”

In the next few days, Schettino, the eight other people accused, and the many survivors and families of victims, will learn if he will face charges over the deaths of 32 people after his ship run aground off Giglio island on Jan. 13.

Schettino is accused of manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning ship while passengers and crew were still aboard. He denies the accusations and has not been charged. Any trial is unlikely to begin before next year. 

“The sooner we can resolve it, the sooner the victims can get on with their lives, they can put this behind them. ... We are anxious to do that, but not so anxious to compromise on our will to change the industry for better standards,” John Arthur Eaves, Jr., an Alabama-based lawyer representing several American survivors of the disaster, told NBC News.

Monday’s hearing was the first and most important in a preliminary trial, aimed at establishing who should be indicted over the disaster.

Over the next few days experts, who were appointed at an earlier hearing in March, will present their analysis of the data retrieved from the black box, audio recordings and other on-board equipment.

The hearing is off limits to the media, and the only way to learn what is happening inside is through lawyers and witnesses who emerge from the theater during breaks.

Dramatic opening Schettino himself has become a lightning rod for international disdain for having left the ship before everyone was evacuated.

As befitting a star attraction, the captain arrived Monday at the makeshift courthouse through the back door in a car with darkened windows.

Costa Concordia captain admits he was 'distracted' by phone call

"Schettino looked like he just walked out of a fashion magazine. He was dressed in a black suit, black tie, and was very tanned. He didn't betray any emotion, and took many notes,” Eaves told NBC.

Even the weather added to the sense of drama.

A massive storm, nicknamed Cleopatra by Italian meteorologists, hit Grosseto a couple of hours after the hearing began, dumping rain on members of the media waiting outside.

A group of German survivors said Schettino was seen biting his nails, and another witness claimed to have seen him shaking hands with another survivor.

"We want to look him in the eye to see how he will react to the accusations," said survivor Michael Liessen, 50, who was attending with his wife. 

Schettino is one of nine people facing charges, although eyewitnesses, leaked audio and video recordings, a pre-trial report and even the liner’s owners, Costa Crociere (a subsidiary of Miami-based Carnival), appeared to put the blame squarely on him.

Wider fault? However, Eaves, the American lawyer, suggested the fault may lie wider.

"It was just said in court that musicians on board had more safety training than other crew members," Eaves told NBC.

Costa Concordia cruise ship captain says sacking unfair

“We are not going to save lives if we don’t change the standards in the whole industry, not only of this particular captain,” he added.

It is alleged Schettino was in command when he steered the gigantic ship too close to Giglio coastline, allegedly to perform a maritime salute to grant a favor to the ship’s head master, who was originally from the island.

The Concordia hit a reef, tearing a 160-ft. gash in her hull, taking in water and eventually running aground yards from the island’s port.

Video taken by passengers at the time showed scenes of chaos and confusion as the Costa Concordia started to list heavily.

In the intervening months, Schettino has sought to restore his reputation and set the record straight by giving his version of events.

His strategy has not met with widespread approval.

An angry member of an Italian consumer association told NBC News it would be raising a formal objection to Schettino’s presence in court.

“We are losing sight of the victims of this tragedy, but they could line the pockets of the shamed captain,” the member said.

Complete Europe coverage on NBCNews.com

Many questions Expert evidence will have to address many questions, among them:

Did Schettino make a personal and fatal mistake in taking the ship too close to the island, or should, as he claims, the blame be shared with other crew members?

Did Schettino voluntarily abandon the ship hours before all passengers were evacuated?

Did he delay the call to abandon the ship, further endangering passengers?

Did he really save hundreds of lives by steering the ship as close as possible to the coast, as he claims, guided by a “divine hand”?

A pre-trial report, leaked to Italian media weeks before the trial, places much of the blame on Schettino.

Costa Concordia disaster spawns shipwreck tourism for Italian island

The 270-page report, compiled by maritime experts appointed by the court, reveals that the captain abandoned the Costa Concordia hours before the last of the passengers had reached safety and was slow in issuing the order to abandon ship and alerting port authorities.

But the experts -- two admirals and two engineers -- also note that evacuation drills had not been undertaken by all passengers on the ship and not all crew members understood Italian, the operating language of the liner.

“You find a consistent pattern of a lack of discipline on crew training, on the design of the vessel, on the communication problems. They go back to standards that were set up by Carnival in the United States. This captain made a horrible mistake, but we are not going to save lives if we don’t change the standards in the whole industry, not only of this particular captain,” Eaves said.

Complete World coverage on NBCNews.com

An Indonesian helmsman, for instance, failed twice to understand orders, veering to the right instead of the left as he was told by Schettino, who joked he should pay closer attention or “we will go on the rocks,” only minutes before they dram aground.

A local newspaper said Monday the captain’s lawyers told the judge and prosecutors to “consider the position of the helmsman.”

Schettino, they seem to suggest, was not the only one to blame.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Pictures: 5 Cruise Ship Disasters That Changed Travel

Some good may yet come of Italy's Costa Concordia wreck. At least since Titanic, cruise accidents have sparked new safety standards.

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The night of this tragic event happened in real time for me as the news broke here in the United States. How could something like this happen? It didn’t make any sense. I was working and publishing news items to our forums and the home page of Cruise Addicts . It still is hard to believe that such an event could unfold as it did. Sadly, this incredibly poor narrative is not fiction but a real-life catastrophe constructed by a myriad of poor choices.

The events unfolded on the night of January 2012, leaving an indelible mark on history as the cruise ship Costa Concordia sank in Italy.

Costa Concordia Sinking

This ship sank in 2012, but the echoes of the Costa Concordia tragedy still resonate powerfully. The global attention it seized was not just due to the grandeur it once boasted but also to the gripping fear and loss that ensued—the Costa Concordia sinking bearing witness to a maritime misadventure oscillating between human error and valiant rescue endeavors.

Key Takeaways

• The Costa Concordia disaster riveted the world when a maritime marvel succumbed to a tragic end.
• Focusing on first-hand reports, I narrate the hardships faced by over 4,200 individuals aboard as the cruise ship disaster unfolded.
• I reflect on the legal aftermath and environmental burden that the Italian cruise ship wreck incurred, denoting a cautionary chapter in sea travel .
• By dissecting the catalysts and consequences, the essence of the costa concordia tragedy is scrutinized through a lens of gravity and compassion.
• The enduring legacy of the Costa Concordia sinking is an indispensable lesson for maritime safety and emergency management.

The Catastrophic Voyage of Costa Concordia

Today, the Costa Concordia cruise ship bears a tale of caution, a lesson submerged in the depths of nautical annals. Before the concordia shipwreck turned the vessel into a byword for disaster, let me guide you through its glory days—the triumph of engineering and luxury it once represented.

Launching of Italy’s Largest Cruise Liner

The Costa Concordia was a testament to the prowess of its owner, Costa Crociere, a subsidiary of the world-renowned Carnival Corporation & PLC. Officially launched in 2005, this floating behemoth overtook the historic Titanic in size, spanning an impressive 951 feet. With an opulent passenger capacity of 3,780, it heralded a new era of maritime luxury.

From Maiden Voyage to a Mediterranean Staple

Her maiden voyage in July 2006 foreshadowed what was meant to be a long-standing Mediterranean staple. The Costa Concordia, a haven of lavishness with sumptuous offerings, including four swimming pools, a casino, and a colossal spa, set the gold standard for luxury cruising . The seven-day Mediterranean sojourns quickly became iconic , treating guests to the enchanting shores of Italy, France, and Spain. This level of grandeur was unparalleled until the night it all ended in calamity.

Stay with me as I continue to reveal the latest updates on the Costa Concordia update and explore how this once majestic vessel, now synonymous with one of the most harrowing concordia shipwreck incidents in recent history, serves as an indelible mark on the chronicles of the Concordia cruise line .

Costa Concordia’s Ill-fated Evening: A Timeline of Events

The tragic story that unfolded during the sinking of the Costa Concordia has etched itself into maritime history as a series of grave errors and unfortunate events. I remember the images of the luxury liner, a symbol of elegance and joy, which turned into a harrowing spectacle of fear and panic as it capsized off the Italian coast. To understand the gravity of that fateful night’s situation, let’s walk through the timeline that led to the Costa Concordia incident .

It all started as a routine voyage. On January 13, 2012, passengers boarded the Concordia, anticipating the exciting journey ahead. Unbeknownst to them, this trip would end drastically different than they had imagined. The first sign of trouble came when the cruise ship initiated a “salute” maneuver near Giglio Island, deviating from its original course. The salute—a maritime tradition where ships pass close to shore in a display of honor or greeting—proved fateful for the Concordia, as it encountered unforeseen rocks.

The language barrier between the Italian captain and the Indonesian helmsman contributed to a critical steering error. In an attempt to redirect the vessel, things took a turn for the worse. By approximately 9:45 pm, a 174-foot gash was torn into the ship’s port side , causing seawater to rush into several compartments. Among these was the engine room , the beating heart of the ship’s operations. As the engines faltered and power was lost, the cruise ship concordia update turned dire—the vessel started to list severely, escalating to an emergency.

With the sinking Concordia losing its battle against the relentless water, an evacuation was not just necessary but imperative. The crew and passengers faced a night of uncertainty, forced to abandon the comforts of their cabins for lifeboats and, in some instances, into the open sea . As the evacuation unfolded, the stark contrast between the sinking of the Costa Concordia and the luxury it stood for before the accident couldn’t have been more pronounced.

Thanks to the valiant efforts of the crew and rescuers, the evacuation saw many saved, but the ship would rest, tilted and defeated by the rocks that claimed it, by 12:00 am on January 14th. Before the accident, the Costa Concordia represented the pinnacle of cruise luxury. After the tragedy, it became an emblem of the potential peril sea voyages could encounter and a catalyst for change in maritime safety regulations.

In my carnal pursuit of sharing this catastrophe’s account, I am reminded of how closely we skirt the edges between safety and danger and the immeasurable responsibility of those commanding such grand vessels. The sinking of the Costa Concordia , a spectacle of disbelief and sorrow, is a stark reminder of the fleeting nature of security in the face of human error and natural forces.

Diving Into the Depths: The Sinking of Costa Concordia

Following the collision, the vessel was left without power, its rudder lifeless, and its fate sealed as it drifted helplessly back toward Giglio Island. What was initially passed off as a simple electrical issue quickly spiraled into desperate evacuation attempts. By 11:20 pm, the ship’s command had been vacated , with Captain Schettino later alleging an accidental fall into a lifeboat—an incident that has since fueled worldwide critique and disbelief.

The severity of the ship’s tilt demanded adaptability and courage, cornerstones of the human spirit in the face of calamity. Approximately 300 souls remained onboard as the last crew detached, spurring a flurry of survival strategies, including climbing down ladders in a landscape where decks had transformed into walls.

• Initial internal assessment recognizes critical damage.
• The grounded rudder and winds maneuver Costa Concordia toward the island
• An unplanned, perilous starboard keelover begins.
• Evacuation attempts exacerbated by misinformation and a severe list
• Capitulation of command by Captain Schettino and subsequent crew departure
• Rescue efforts transition to atypical escape methodologies

Costa Concordia today update : As we revisit the site of mourning and memory, it is paramount to reflect on the future of oceanic travel and how each vessel that bravely glides across the sea’s skin carries with it the legacy of those 32 lives, a legacy that the industry must honor through uncompromising standards of safety, vigilance, and humanity.

The Aftermath: Rescue Efforts and Survival Stories

Following the unprecedented Italian cruise ship crash , the small community on Giglio Island swiftly became a rescue operation hub. Concordia ship now lay crippled, its metallic carcass a stark contrast to the tranquil waters that it had disturbed. As a journalist, I stand amidst the remnants of what was once a testament to luxury, now a subject to one of Italy’s most impactful maritime rescues.

Heroic Acts Amidst Chaos

The unfolding hours saw a flurry of life-saving efforts as cruise ship Concordia’s latest news reported how crew members and locals exemplified extraordinary courage. Accounts of a musician forfeiting his chance of escape for others and local fishermen navigating treacherous waters to rescue passengers have been etched into the annals of heroic acts the world should never forget.

Survivors’ Harrowing Escape

The echoes of the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster are still heard in the survivors’ stories. Harrowing tales of passengers leaping into the frigid sea or being guided down darkened chord ladders resonate with a chilling reminder of the night’s terror. These vivid recollections paint a portrait of survival against staggering odds, framed by a backdrop of an Italian cruise ship accident that will forever be remembered.

As I stand here today, the once majestic beacon of the cruise industry lies dormant. The Italian cruise ship crash changed the physical landscape and the lives of all involved. Yet, from the depths of despair, the strength of the human spirit has shone brightly, reminding us of the power of unity in the face of disaster.

Navigating Through Tragedy: Captain Francesco Schettino’s Role

Captain Schettino , often referred to as Captain Costa Concordia , has been pivotal in the narrative, facing widespread vilification for decisions that led to the shipwreck. The gravity of the captain’s choices that fateful night is anchored deeply in the consciousness of the maritime industry and those affected by the disaster.

Accused of causing the wreck by maneuvering the colossal vessel too close to Giglio Island for a display of acknowledgment known widely among mariners as a maritime salute, Costa Concordia Schettino was also censured for abandoning the afflicted ship. His actions—or lack thereof—brought about life-altering consequences for many aboard. Delving into the details of Schettino’s conduct before and after the collision reveals multi-faceted insights into the harrowing event.

During his trial, which I followed closely, the Concordia shipwreck captain faced severe backlash for mishandling the situation, culminating in a conviction for manslaughter and causing a maritime disaster. The court of public opinion was no kinder than the Italian legal system; Schettino infamously became emblematic of imprudent leadership at sea. His duties to the passengers and crew bound by trust and safety were, by adjudged accounts, all but neglected.

In the wake of the trial, reflections on Captain Schettino ‘s pivotal role entailed recognizing the stark contrast between his actions and the exemplary behavior expected of individuals in his command. It points to an overarching and pressing need for stringent adherence to the tenets of maritime conduct and the weighty responsibility resting on ship commanders. The ramifications of Captain Schettino’s decisions on that doomed voyage endure, as poignant lessons in accountability ripple through communities and industries worldwide.

Understanding the Magnitude: Costa Concordia Today Update

Reflecting on the Costa Concordia as it stands now, the remnants of the once majestic cruise liner continue to captivate and serve as a poignant emblem of a maritime catastrophe. The Costa Concordia wreck site evokes powerful emotions and is steeped in environmental concerns. After the Concordia ship sank , intensive efforts were necessary to secure the area and prevent further harm to the fragile marine ecosystem.

As an observer and reporter, I’ve seen firsthand how a once vibrant vacation remnant is now a silent watchdog, ensuring the sanctuary’s safety. The sunken cruise ship , a convergence of human tragedy and ecological peril, has become an inadvertent monument to both.

The Environmental Repercussions

The Costa Concordia shipwreck , challenging as it was, brought together numerous stakeholders, from environmentalists to engineers, all dedicated to mitigating its impact. Introducing oil booms and proactive fuel extraction efforts displayed an unwavering commitment to environmental stewardship.

Costa Concordia Wreck Site Now

The Costa Concordia wreck site resonates with a quiet that belies the intense dramas once played out on its decks. What remains is a powerful testament to humanity’s respect for nature in the face of disruptive events. Submerged in the Mediterranean’s depths, the vessel no longer traverses the world’s waters but has embarked on an eternal, anchored existence.

Sunken but Not Forgotten: Commemorating the 32 Lives Lost

We solemnly remember the concordia deaths that irreversibly marked the Costa Concordia’s profound tragedy. My thoughts persistently drift to the 32 individuals whose lives were unjustly claimed by the cruise wreck, a cruise ship disaster Italy will never forget. The impact of the fatalities, including those termed as Costa Concordia fatalities , resonates beyond mere statistics; it is a narrative of lives cut short and dreams left unfulfilled.

The echoes of the catastrophe stretch into the present, as each anniversary passes with the gravity of loss undiminished. Mindful of the human cost, it’s not just about recounting the Costa Concordia deaths but also about preserving the memory of each person who perished in the dark waters of that fateful night.

Their stories endure not as an impersonal tally but as intimate portraits of lives intertwined with mine. They are reminders that there is a beloved child, a cherished spouse, a valued colleague behind every number—the absence of whom leaves an irreplaceable void. Thus, I commit to ensuring that while the Costa Concordia may have sunk, the souls aboard will never fade into the forgotten depths.

Legal Tides: The Trials and Sentencing Post-Disaster

As the wake of the Costa Concordia tragedy continued to spread, the legal repercussions for those involved were swift and significant, signaling a new chapter of accountability following the maritime disaster. The latest news on Costa Concordia reverberated through the corridors of justice as several crew members faced the consequences of that fateful night.

Crew Members Held Accountable

Addressing the negligence that led to the catastrophic event, the Italian courts held crew members and the crisis coordinator accountable. Four crew members and the ship’s crisis coordinator pled guilty to various offenses in a critical Concordia cruise ship salvage update. Their sentences, marked by the gravity of the incident, were relatively short but underscored collective culpability.

The Fate of Captain Schettino

Regarding the Costa Concordia captain’s latest news, the harrowing saga of Captain Francesco Schettino reached its legal conclusion. Denying a plea bargain, the courts charged Schettino with manslaughter, causing a maritime disaster, and abandoning a ship, among other offenses, yielding a severe sentence that resonated within the maritime community. My following table lays out the critical details of the sentences served in the aftermath of the Italian cruise ship wreck :

Reviving the Reef: Environmental Concerns and Salvage Operations

When the Costa Concordia succumbed to the sea, it represented a Concordia cruise disaster and raised immediate environmental concerns the Costa Concordia area had to contend with. The marine sanctuary, which could have suffered irreversible damage due to the cruise liner sinking in 2012 , desperately needed protective measures. The salvage operations Concordia undertook were a race against time to minimize the ecological footprint of the wreckage.

My involvement in the Costa Concordia scrapping process allowed me to witness first-hand the sophistication and the scale of operations required to counteract the damage. Approximately 500 international salvage experts collaborated on what would become a historic mission, utilizing advanced underwater platforms and cranes to parry further environmental injury.

The 19-hour undertaking to upright the enormous vessel was just the beginning. It was a ballet of engineering prowess and environmental precaution. Salvage crews worked meticulously, mindful of the surrounding marine life. The culmination of this effort was a day I still clearly recall: the day the remains were towed to Genoa in July 2014. It was a bittersweet chapter, where success in our salvage task also marked the end of what was once a grand vessel.

As a journalist covering this unprecedented event, I saw the Costa Concordia transform from a luxury symbol to a stark reminder of nature’s fragility. Below, I’ve detailed some of the techniques used in the salvage operations that highlight both the complexity and the necessity of this environmental feat:

• Use of sponsons to refloat the Concordia for her final journey to the scrapyard
• Installation of subsea platforms to ensure stability during the operation
• Water treatment systems to prevent the spread of contaminants during the scrapping process

It’s easy to remember the salacious details of the disaster – the Concordia cruise disaster , if you will – but as a witness and chronicler of these events, my focus has always returned to the environmental impact. The work done by salvage teams was not just a technical achievement but a concerted effort to preserve a vulnerable ecosystem that had the misfortune of being the stage for this tragedy.

Ripples Across the Sea: Costa Concordia’s Impact on Cruise Safety

The Costa Concordia calamity, one of Italy’s most devastating cruise ship crash events, sparked an urgent overhaul in what we now call cruise safety . I observed this transformation first-hand, noting the industry’s swift move to implement rigorous changes, all with the aim of averting a similar Costa disaster from happening again. These reforms ranged from revisiting antiquated practices to introducing cutting-edge innovations that elevated the safety standards on cruise ships. Consequently, the tragic Italian cruise accident became a pivotal point in maritime history, revolutionizing how safety was prioritized aboard these seafaring giants.

To understand the tangible changes post-Costa disaster, I delved into the modifications in training and regulations. The Carnival sinking cruise ship 2012 incident underscored the need for more intensive crew training, emergency preparedness, and passenger safety briefings. These revisions were not mere suggestions but mandatory steps to solidify trust in cruise vacations for passengers and crew members alike.

Let’s delve into the specifics — the cruise industry witnessed the birth of new lifesaving protocols and evacuation drills that were now to be completed before a ship could even leave the harbor. Crew members underwent extensive training, focusing on their assigned roles and emergency response techniques. It was evident that the prior status quo could no longer stand, with the cruise ship crash Italy event catalyzing change.

Here’s a compiled list of safety advancements post- Costa Concordia disaster :

• Introduction of mandatory muster drill before departure
• Improved ship tracking and real-time data analysis
• Enhanced hull integrity and multiple watertight compartments
• In-depth damage control training for crew
• Higher standards for bridge team management

To illustrate the difference these initiatives made, I present a comparative analysis of safety measures before and after the Italian cruise accident that marked 2012:

As the maritime community continues to remember the lives lost during the 2012 carnival sinking cruise ship tragedy, the commitment to perpetuating these enhanced cruise safety practices remains unwavering. To this day, the impact of the Costa Concordia disaster reverberates through every drill performed, every check made, and every safety briefing held on cruise ships roaming the seas . Such a colossal event reshaped an industry, and as we move forward, it steadfastly informs a global mission to secure the safety and enjoyment of passengers and crew for generations to come.

Costa Concordia Disaster – FAQ

What happened to the costa concordia cruise ship.

The Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground off the Tuscan island of Giglio, causing a shipwreck and a tragic maritime disaster.

How many people died in the Costa Concordia tragedy?

Thirty-two people lost their lives when the Costa Concordia cruise ship struck a reef and subsequently began to sink in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

What were the circumstances leading to the evacuation of the Costa Concordia?

The Costa Concordia began taking on water after it struck a reef, leading to a chaotic evacuation process to save the lives of passengers and crew members.

Who owned the Costa Concordia cruise ship?

The luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia was owned by Costa Cruises, an Italian cruise line company.

What were the repercussions for the captain and crew of the Costa Concordia?

The captain and some crew members faced legal proceedings, including charges of manslaughter and abandoning ship, with potential sentences of years in prison for their roles in the tragedy.

What was the outcome of the salvage operation for the Costa Concordia?

The salvage workers successfully executed the most significant maritime salvage operation in history to refloat and remove the Costa Concordia from its resting place off the coast of Giglio Island.

When did the Costa Concordia disaster take place?

The Costa Concordia tragedy occurred on January 13, 2012, when the cruise liner struck a reef and began to sink.

What led to the Costa Concordia running aground?

The Costa Concordia sailed too close to the island of Giglio, ultimately striking a reef and causing the ship to start taking on water.

How did the evacuation of the Costa Concordia unfold?

After the Costa Concordia lost power and started listing, the Coast Guard and rescue teams were mobilized to order the evacuation of the ship, leading to a challenging and chaotic evacuation process in the aftermath of the shipwreck.

What role did the Costa Crociere’s crisis coordinator play in the Costa Concordia tragedy?

The crisis coordinator for Costa Crociere was involved in the aftermath of the shipwreck, coordinating response efforts and communication in the midst of the tragic events surrounding the Costa Concordia.

Final Thoughts

Looking back at the events, the Italian cruise ship that sank displayed a spectrum of human experiences—from oversight, haste, and fear to valor, altruism, and fortitude. The aftermath did not just account for the salvage and inquiry but also witnessed sweeping reforms aimed at fortifying maritime protocols. As a result, the cruise ship that sank in Italy in 2012 has been a catalyst for revised safety standards that Carnival and other cruise lines have diligently implemented, often surpassing the basics to ensure such catastrophes are not repeated.

The groundwork laid by this unfortunate event serves as a fulcrum for improved oversight within the maritime domain, reassuring those who venture across the seas. Indeed, the legacy of the Costa Concordia continues to resonate, a steadfast reminder of the cruise industry has responsibility to uphold the highest regard for passenger safety, environmental stewardship, and preparedness.

• #CostaConcordia
• #cruisenews
• #cruiseship
• #cruiseshipdisaster

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Captain of Ship That Capsized Off Italy in ’12 Is Convicted

By Gaia Pianigiani

• Feb. 11, 2015

ROME — An Italian court on Wednesday convicted the captain of a cruise liner that capsized in 2012 , killing 32 people, of manslaughter and sentenced him to just over 16 years in prison for his role in one of the worst maritime disasters in modern Italian history.

The captain, Francesco Schettino, 54, was convicted of multiple counts of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the vessel, the Costa Concordia, before all of its 4,229 passengers and crew members had been evacuated. The court also barred him from commanding a ship for five years and from ever holding public office.

The captain’s lawyers said they would appeal the verdict. Captain Schettino will remain free in the meantime; under Italian law, the appeals process can take years to resolve. The captain was not in the courtroom when the verdict was read.

Prosecutors in the Tuscan town of Grosseto, where the trial was held, had sought a sentence of more than 26 years for Captain Schettino , whom they held responsible for sailing too close to shore and hitting a submerged rock off the island of Giglio, and for not promptly ordering the ship’s evacuation.

Francesco Pope, one of Captain Schettino’s lawyers, called the prosecutors’ sentencing request “enormous” in a telephone interview after the verdict was announced. “I’d only like to point out that the judges reduced that by almost half,” he said.

In closing arguments that went on for days, prosecutors attacked Captain Schettino’s conduct on the night of the shipwreck, calling him a “reckless idiot” and accusing him of making deadly mistakes and lying to passengers, maritime authorities and rescue officials.

One of the prosecutors, Alessandro Leopizzi, noted how the captain had managed to reach Giglio safely, “without even getting his feet wet,” while passengers remained on the tilting ship. In taped conversations from that night , the captain told a coast guard official that he had tripped onto a lifeboat before the evacuation was completed.

Although Captain Schettino acknowledged some responsibility for the disaster during the trial, he defended the decisions he made, such as not dropping the anchor soon after the ship struck the rock. He also said he delayed sounding an alarm to prevent greater panic among the passengers.

“I was put in a media meat grinder,” Captain Schettino said in his final remarks to the court before the verdict was read Wednesday. “That has put the entire responsibility for this incident on to me, with no respect for the truth.”

He maintained in court that he had saved lives by steering the cruise liner toward the coast. In defending his actions, the captain said his orders were not executed correctly by his crew, including an Indonesian helmsman who veered the ship in the opposite direction. Captain Schettino also cited technical malfunctions.

Several passengers told the court about various equipment failures in the chaotic hours after the impact, including a faulty emergency generator, as well as mistakes made by other crew members, some of whom spoke neither Italian nor English.

The court also ordered Captain Schettino and the company that operated the ship, Costa Cruises, to pay damages of 30,000 euros, or about $34,000, in compensation to each passenger, and several million euros to local and national government bodies for the environmental harm caused by the accident.

Captain Schettino was the only defendant in the trial. Five other employees of Costa Cruises who were indicted in the case were allowed to make plea deals in the early stages of the proceedings; none are serving prison time.

The company has already paid €1 million in administrative sanctions in connection with the disaster, and it offered in January to settle with each uninjured passenger for about $14,400.

Under Italian law, companies can be held responsible for their employees’ conduct, but the ship’s operator was not indicted in the case. Costa Cruises is controlled by the Carnival Corporation.

The 19-month trial was held in a theater because of the large number of people involved, including hundreds of witnesses who discussed complicated technical details.

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