Posted on 02/11/2015 11:30:41 AM PST by the scotsman
'The captain of the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia has been found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
Captain Francesco Schettino was at the helm when the ship hit rocks and sank in 2012, killing 32 people.
He was accused of taking the liner too close to the shore and then abandoning ship with passengers and crew still on board.
Schettino denied the charges and said he was being made a scapegoat.'
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
Yes.
The Titanic was 882 feet long and had a tonnage of 46,000.
The Costa Concordia was 951 feet long and a tonnage of 114,500.
The Titanic was 92.5 feet wide
The Costa Concordia was 118 feet wide.
What I think you might be missing is that if he hadn’t fled his ship, but had instead stayed aboard and directed a proper abandoning of the ship, some of the people who died might well have lived.
There is no good reason for people not being able to abandon that ship in good order. Nobody should have died. You should be able to completely abandon a cruise ship in 30 minutes. It took over six hours with the Costa Concordia. And that was primarily because the right orders were not being given.
Two weeks ago I was on the Regal Princess (1080 ft/ 142,000t/760m USD).
The Italians (Fincaniteri) build some beautiful ships.
Probably right. I remember vaguely that the passengers were not readied to abandon ship until it was too late or something.
A ship that heels over as badly as the CC did is difficult to abandon. Lifeboats aren’t made to deploy down the davits when the ship is past a certain list.
Not that that excuses the cowardly behavior or antics of this idiot captain.
Here is (the aptly named) Commander Schettino, and his little conversation with shore commander Gregorio DeFalco:
De Falco: "This is De Falco speaking from Livorno. Am I speaking with the commander?"Schettino: "Yes. Good evening, Cmdr De Falco."
De Falco: "Please tell me your name."
Schettino: "I'm Cmdr Schettino, commander."
De Falco: "Schettino? Listen Schettino. There are people trapped on board. Now you go with your boat under the prow on the starboard side. There is a pilot ladder. You will climb that ladder and go on board. You go on board and then you will tell me how many people there are. Is that clear? I'm recording this conversation, Cmdr Schettino …"
Schettino: "Commander, let me tell you one thing …"
De Falco: "Speak up! Put your hand in front of the microphone and speak more loudly, is that clear?"
Schettino: "In this moment, the boat is tipping …"
De Falco: "I understand that, listen, there are people that are coming down the pilot ladder of the prow. You go up that pilot ladder, get on that ship and tell me how many people are still on board. And what they need. Is that clear? You need to tell me if there are children, women or people in need of assistance. And tell me the exact number of each of these categories. Is that clear? Listen Schettino, that you saved yourself from the sea, but I am going to … really do something bad to you … I am going to make you pay for this. Go on board, (expletive)!"
Schettino: "Commander, please …"
De Falco: "No, please. You now get up and go on board. They are telling me that on board there are still …"
Schettino: "I am here with the rescue boats, I am here, I am not going anywhere, I am here …"
De Falco: "What are you doing, commander?"
Schettino: "I am here to co-ordinate the rescue …"
De Falco: "What are you co-ordinating there? Go on board! Co-ordinate the rescue from aboard the ship. Are you refusing?"
Schettino: "No, I am not refusing."
De Falco: "Are you refusing to go aboard, commander? Can you tell me the reason why you are not going?"
Schettino: "I am not going because the other lifeboat is stopped."
De Falco: "You go aboard. It is an order. Don't make any more excuses. You have declared 'abandon ship'. Now I am in charge. You go on board! Is that clear? Do you hear me? Go, and call me when you are aboard. My air rescue crew is there."
Schettino: "Where are your rescuers?"
De Falco: "My air rescue is on the prow. Go. There are already bodies, Schettino."
Schettino: "How many bodies are there?"
De Falco: "I don't know. I have heard of one. You are the one who has to tell me how many there are. Christ!"
Schettino: "But do you realise it is dark and here we can't see anything …"
De Falco: "And so what? You want to go home, Schettino? It is dark and you want to go home? Get on that prow of the boat using the pilot ladder and tell me what can be done, how many people there are and what their needs are. Now!"
Schettino: "… I am with my second in command."
De Falco: "So both of you go up then … You and your second go on board now. Is that clear?"
Schettino: "Commander, I want to go on board, but it is simply that the other boat here … there are other rescuers. It has stopped and is waiting …"
De Falco: "It has been an hour that you have been telling me the same thing. Now, go on board. Go on board! And then tell me immediately how many people there are there."
Schettino: "OK, commander."
De Falco: "Go, immediately!"
16 years for 32 deaths being a fool. Not that harsh.
Imagine some train operator show-boating and not paying attention and plowing into a bus crossing the tracks. . .killing over 30 people. . .not just a foolish act, a foolishly criminal act with criminal penalties.
Foolishness does not excuse criminal behavior.
On the other hand, the ship captain, Schettino, what a piece of garbage.
Schettino was a coward. They should have hanged him.
Cmdr. De Falco sounds like a man who knows what he's doing, who takes his job seriously, and who actually understands what responsibility is.
It's also interesting to me how understandable the conversation is even when translated from Italian to English. That's because the issues and concepts are simple and stark.
This should be repeated, over and over!
But for the captain of ship that is sinking for any reason - let alone because he ran it into the rocks trying to impress some woman - while passengers are dying and his crew needs orders to save them, and he's hiding in a freaking lifeboat with his Exec?! WTF!
Hang them BOTH!
“Seems a pretty harsh to me.”
By Europe standards, VERY HARSH. They have trouble putting ANYONE in jail these days. If it had been a Muslim pilot, they would have told him to “steer more carefully”.
From what I hear, other Italians are the ones expressing the harshest opinions of him. (I guess that makes sense; they're surely embarrassed to have this cowardly buffoon as a countryman.)
Now that you mention it, I remember hearing an audio recording online (in Italian, obviously, but the anger and contempt in De Falco’s voice and the sniveling whine in Schettino’s requires no translation).
Also, the phrase De Falso uses when he says "I am going to make you pay for this. Go on board, (expletive)!" the phrase he actually uses is "Vada a bordo, cazzo!" which apparently is translatable roughly as "get your ass on board, you f***!"
According to the Wikipedia article, that phrase became a national sensation in Italy, with t-shirts bearing those words going on sale all over the country.
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