Raising the Dead - The Costa Concordia Uprighted
The Costa Concordia’s broken frame has finally been raised off the seabed in the Mediterranean. On January 13, 2012, Francesco Schettino, the ship’s captain, shut down the navigational system and instructed the bridge to perform a drive-by of the Isle of Giglio.
Schettino was one of the first in a lifeboat. He said listing ship threw him into the boat. But, who will forget Italian coastguard officer Gregorio De Falco screaming at Schettino “Get back onboard, damn it!”
De Falco: "Please, now you go aboard."
Schettino: "I am on the life boat under the ship. I haven't gone anywhere.”
De Falco: "What are you doing, commander?"
Schettino: "I'm here to coordinate rescues."
De Falco: "What are you coordinating there? Go on board and coordinate rescues from on board. Do you refuse?"
Schettino: "No, no I'm not refusing."
De Falco: "You're refusing to go aboard, commander, tell me why you're not going."
Schettino: "I'm not going because there is another lifeboat stopped there."
De Falco: "Go aboard: that’s an order. You have no evaluation to make. You declared ‘abandon ship.’ I am giving you the orders to go onboard. Is it clear?"
Schettino: "Commander I'm going aboard."
De Falco: "Call me from aboard. My rescuer is there at the prow of the ship. There are already dead bodies, Schettino."
Schettino: "How many dead bodies?"
De Falco: "I do not know. One for sure. You have to tell me how many."
Schettino: "Do you realize that it's dark here and we can't see a thing?"
De Falco: "And what, do you want to go home, Schettino? It's dark, so you want to go home...? Go on the prow of the ship, using the rope ladder and tell me what can be done, how many people there are and what their needs are. Do it now."
Schettino: "Here there is also the vice commander. I'm together with him."
De Falco: "Then go aboard together. Together. What's his name?"
Schettino: "Dimitri."
De Falco: "Dimitri what? You and your vice go aboard. Now, is it clear?"
Schettino: "Commander, I want to go aboard, but here there is the other lifeboat, there are other rescuers who stopped. Now I called other rescuers."
De Falco: "You've been telling me this for one hour. Go aboard. Go aboard. And you tell me right away how many people there are."
Schettino: "Ok commander."
De Falco: "Go, quickly."
An Italian court has convicted five people on charges of manslaughter and negligence for the shipwreck of the Costa Concordia. The accident left 32 passengers and crew dead.
The court at Grosseto, the city nearest the spot where the Costa Concordia ran aground in January 2012, accepted plea bargains for the cruise ship's helmsman, cabin service director, two bridge officers and the head of the company's crisis team.
The sentences handed down by the court:
— Director of the crisis unit, Roberto Ferrarini: 2 years, 10 months
— Cabin Service Director Manrico Giampedroni: 2 1/2 years
— First Officer Ciro Ambrosio: 1 year, 11 months
— Helmsman Jacob Rusli Bin: 1 year, 8 months
— Third Officer Silvia Coronica: 1 1/2 years
Schettino is expected back in court on 23 September.
A full list of the fatalities in this tragedy can be viewed here.