Costa Concordia's Captain Enters Hearing for House Arrest Sentence

A closed-door hearing is set for today, February 6, 2012, to determine whether Francesco Schettino, captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, should remain under house arrest or not. He faces possible charges of manslaughter, shipwreck, and abandoning ship after his vessel struck rocks and capsized off Italy’s coast. 16 bodies have been found; 16 more remain missing.

Law states that the three-judge panel has 3 days to reach a verdict in the case. In his answers to prosecutors, defense attorneys and a judge, the captain admits to making a mistake. He also fights claims that he was going too fast at 15 knots, stating there is no speed limit. He admits to running the ship aground in order to keep it from sinking and limit the tilting. Maritime lawyers agree that this maneuver is fairly standard is similar incidents.

Other statements and testimonies claim that Schettino admitted to being pressured into steering the ship to the area where the collision occurred. Both Costa Cruises and authorities have criticized Schettino's behavior.

Costa cannot conduct their own investigation due to prosecutors taking the ship’s data recorder, which contains conversation recordings and navigation system data. In his testimony, Schettino defended his decision not to evacuate the ship immediately. In the deposition, he also describes the evacuation chaos as he helped passengers onto lifeboats and how some became stuck because of the listing ship’s angle. He claims that he was trying to launch a lifeboat when he realized he was no longer on board the Concordia.

A captain's leaving the ship with passengers still aboard is difficult to defend. His team remains optimistic that the house arrest punishment will be lifted and that the justifications for his sentence are invalid, reiterating that he will not escape or repeat the crime. Prosecutors want Schettino's house arrest revoked and the captain sent back to jail to await trial.