The captain of the Costa Concordia faced accusations of intentionally crashing the ship to impress his lover.
Many guys have gone to tremendous lengths to attract a lady, but most men would never endanger the lives of almost 4,000 people merely to show off.
However, Francesco Schettino appears to have missed the notice, since 33 passengers and crew members tragically died as a result of his choice.
Following his manslaughter conviction for causing the Costa Concordia to collapse and abandoning his passengers, the former Italian shipmaster remains incarcerated.
He began serving his 16-year sentence in 2017 after exhausting all appeals; therefore, he is nearly halfway through his sentence.
Schettino, branded ‘Captain Coward’ after abandoning the sinking ship, claimed he had only wished to impress vacationers on that tragic day in January 2012.
The 64-year-old was the skipper of the seven-day Mediterranean trip, which began at Civitavecchia, near Lazio on Italy’s coastline.
A few hours after leaving the dock on January 13, 2012, the luxury liner approached the tourist island of Giglio, and Schettino decided to show his passengers around.
However, this “sail by,” which was also followed by a nautical salute in which the ship’s horn was blasted to residents, caused the Costa Concordia to veer from its intended path.
As a result, many on board were unaware that an outcrop of rocks was in the ship’s course, and when Schettino ultimately screamed at the crew to redirect the vessel, it was too late to rescue it.
When the Costa Concordia collided, a massive 35-meter gash broke up on its side, allowing gallons of water to enter the engine room and cause the ship to tilt.
It partially sank after landing unevenly on an underwater ledge, but Schettino didn’t stay to inspect the damage, instead hightailing it out of there on a lifeboat that he subsequently claimed he ‘fell’ into.
It’s fair to say that he made a number of disastrous blunders while captaining the Costa Concordia.
But, according to Schettino, getting distracted by a young Moldovan dancer was not one of them, despite reports that this was the cause of the accident.
Domnica Cemortan, his claimed girlfriend, who was 24 at the time, admitted to having an affair with the captain in court.
According to the BBC, authorities claim he drove too near to the island to show off to Cemortan.
However, the dancer said she couldn’t have distracted Schettino during the collision since she was standing very far’ away from him, according to the Daily Mail.
However, throughout his court evidence, Schettino stated that he intended to delight his passengers and that the sail-by was for ‘business motives.'”.
The captain stated that he had three objectives: to entertain his guests, to salute a retired captain who resided on Giglio, and to gratify the ship’s head waiter, who was from the island.
“I aimed to achieve multiple objectives simultaneously,” Schettino asserted, clarifying that he did not consider it necessary to inform the ship’s owners, Costa Crociere, about the detour, as it was considered ‘an approach’ instead of a ‘touristic route’.
Italy’s Ministry of Infrastructures and Transports conducted an investigation into the incident and found that the vessel was sailing too close to the coastline.
The ‘poorly illuminated beach area’ and the Costa Concordia’s ‘unsafe distance at night and fast speed (15.5 kts)’ also contributed to the deadly disaster, according to the investigation.
The disaster ultimately claimed the lives of 33 people, and it took two years, in November 2014, to recover the corpse of the last victim.
Schettino and members of his staff faced a variety of charges, including homicide, following the Costa Concordia accident.
It is believed that the overall cost of the ship sinking is about $2 billion (£1.56 billion).