Abandoning Ship? Video Emerges During Schettino Trial

A Youtube video allegedly showing Captain Francesco Schettino preparing to abandon ship during the Costa Concordia disaster of 2012 has been leaked to Italian media as he stands trial in Italy.

Shettino has now taken the stand in his trial where he is charged with manslaughter, causing a ship wreck and abandoning ship, a move he took despite the fact that there were still hundreds of passengers on board. 32 people died, most of them drowned inside the vessel. 

The video was taken by fire-fighters on the shore and appears to show Schettino dressed in a suit and tie, standing on the ship near a lifeboat which is being boarded by some crew members and passengers.

The captain has rejected allegations that he abandoned ship. He claims to have been thrown into the water as the ship rolled on its side.

Schettino said in court that he steered close to Gilgio to pay tribute to a retired commander living there, to do a favor for the maitre d' who was from Giglio and as a thrill for passengers. He denied doing it to show off to a Moldovan dancer he had escorted on to the bridge.

He has also allegedly accused is crew of behaving like school students on an outing because they did not warn him of the potential dangers of the course he chose.
 
According to The Independent, he has outraged the Italian public by saying that as captain he was “second only to God” on the ship, and explained that the delay in raising the alarm after the liner crashed was so as not to scare the passengers. He feared they might jump overboard in panic.

Schettino’s legal representatives say that the collision itself did not cause the fatalities and blame a failed backup generator and flooded compartments for the failed evacuations.

The trial continues.