Stricken cruise liner captain DID abandon ship before passengers AND refused to go back when ordered

The Costa Concordia's captain did abandon ship before hundreds of his passengers, it has emerged via a transcript of a conversation between him and the local coastguard.

Francesco Schettino, who will be questioned today by investigating magistrate Valeria Montesarchio, also lied to the Captain of the Port of Livorno's Coastguard when asked how many people were on board the sinking liner, Italian media reported today.

He initially replied '40', when there were actually hundreds still at risk, and when further questioned admitted he was not even there.

He then ignored an order to go back onto the sinking ship - with some reports suggesting he volunteered to return, but only to pick up the black box.

The publication of the transcripts by Il Fatto Quotidiano newspaper comes as it was revealed junior officers onboard led a 'mutiny' after the ship struck a reef and captain Francesco Schettino dithered in giving the order to abandon the stricken vessel.

According to coastguards Schettino did not give the crucial instructions until 10.58pm on Friday night, more than one hour after the initial impact with the rocks, and so wasting valuable time that contributed to the loss of six lives.

Officials say that during those chaotic minutes, the bungling skipper had tried to palm them off and minimise the dangerous situation it was facing - and that it was his juniors who realised the impending disaster and ordered passengers and crew to the lifeboats.

Proof of the 'mutiny' came from coastguard vessels at the scene, who reported seeing several lifeboats in the water before Schettino had officially given the order at just before 11pm.

Italian authorities believe the fact that so many lifeboats were seen in the water in the water just ten minutes after Schettino had ordered them to be launched is proof that they had already been lowered before his command.

A Coastguard source said: 'Ten minutes is just not enough time to have launched the number of boats that were seen in the water. That's why we believe that once the ship had started to list, crew members realised the seriousness of the situation and ordered passengers to the lifeboats ahead of the captain giving the order.'

The latest claims follow the publication of transcripts of several heated conversations between coastguards and Schettino, which purportedly took place on Friday night. The first call to the boat took place at 9.49pm, where the coastguard asked what the situation was. The boat had run aground some 30 minutes before.

They did not speak again until 0.42am, when Schettino was asked how many people were on board. He replied '40'. The coastguard, surprised, asked how there were so few people left on board, and Schettino replied: 'I'm not on board because we have abandoned the ship.'

Read More...

Hope fades for 16 still missing with search suspended as stricken cruise ship slips into the sea(photo)

Rescue divers have suspended the search for missing people 'indefinitely' after the Costa Concordia slipped 9cm from its rocky resting place - prompting fears it will soon plummet 100 metres down to the bottom of the Mediterranean.

Stormy weather has hampered search efforts this morning, with Giglio's Mayor Sergio Ortelli saying: 'The hopes of finding any more survivors are fading.' There are also worries oil could start to spill from the ship - sparking an environmental disaster.

A five-year-old Italian girl and her father are believed to be among the passengers still missing after the grounding of the Costa Concordia.

William Arlotti, 34, and his daughter Dyana, from Rimini, are among 16 still unaccounted for after the luxury cruise ship ran aground off the island of Giglio and then partially sank on Friday night, Italian media reports.

The naming of the remaining missing people comes as investigators revealed another body had been found - taking the official death toll to six.

Five-year-old Dyana's mother, Susy Albertini told Italian newspaper Voce di Romagna: 'I have made hundreds of phone calls to my ex-husband, but he does not respond.

'I called all the authorities, the Police Prefecture to the Marina di Grosseto, the fire department, but nobody can tell me anything about my daughter.The last time I saw Dyana was Thursday morning. I took her to kindergarten.

'In the evening her father picked her up. It is not the first time she has gone with her father on a cruise. I heard there were problems on the ship on Saturday morning from his parents. Meanwhile, I continue to call everyone and no one can tell me anything about my daughter.'

Miss Albertini's mother, Alberta Sartini, added: 'We are waiting for news, we are on tenterhooks.My daughter had trusted to give the child to her former husband and the child was happy to go on a cruise with him. I hope with all my heart they come back.'

The sixth victim was a man, found in a corridor in the part of the ship that was still above water, who was still wearing his orange lifejacket. Others confirmed dead include two men, 86-year-old Italian Giovanni Masia and Spaniard Guillermo Gual, 68, discovered at an emergency gathering point near the restaurant.

Two French passengers and Peruvian crew member Tomas Costilla Mendoza have also been confirmed dead. The number unaccounted for increased because two Sicilian women, originally listed among the evacuated, have not contacted relatives. Of the sixteen missing, ten are passengers and six crew members.

Six of the tourists are Italian, including Arlotti and his daughter, a couple from Biella and two women from Enna in Sicily. Two Americans on their 'holiday of a lifetime' are also still unaccounted for. Gerald and Barbara Heil, of White Bear Lake, Minnesota, were confirmed as missing by their daughter.

Read More...

Cruise liner survivors describe nightmare scenes as people fought to escape sinking ship

Survivors of the Costa Concordia have told of the panic and chaos as thousands of people desperately attempted to flee the stricken vessel.

Incredible stories of survival have emerged today from some of the 4,200 people on board the cruise liner which hit the rocks off the coast of the tiny Italian island of Giglio.

Fathers desperate to be with their families ignored the order that women and children should go first. There was even fighting between some passengers who tried to get on lifeboats.

Some people described it as being an 'every man for himself' situation.

The Foreign Secretary William Hague said today that all British passengers and crew on board have been accounted for and are safe.

It is thought most of the 23 British passengers and 12 crew members made their way to Rome after being rescued.

Eight British dancers were on-board the boat and were among the last to leave the sinking vessel, with many staying behind to help others to safety.

Among them was Rose Metcalf, who let her family know about the dramatic events in a message she left on her father's mobile phone at 3am. She said: 'Hi, Dad. Just ringing to let you know that I am alive and safe and got airlifted out of the cruise ship.

Frightening: Rosalyn Rincon, from Blackpool, was trapped in a magic box as the Costa Concordia began to sink

'I don't know what will happen – I don't know how many are dead. I am alive... just. I think I was the last one off.'

Her story is one of dozens of incredible tales which have emerged from people desperate to flee the stricken ship.

Ms Metcalf, who joined the dance group in October, was performing in the ship's restaurant when the disaster struck at just after 9.30pm Italian time.

Dressed still in her dance clothes, water started entering the boat and the lights went out.

She said: 'I dashed off to my cabin where I had dry clothes and put them on with a life-jacket.

'I went off to help calm the passengers and do a roll-call. People then started going into the boats.'

As the ship eventually began to list uncontrollably, she and four colleagues who stayed on board used a water hose to tie themselves to a handrail before being rescued by an Italian air force helicopter.

She said: 'By the end, there were about five of us and we were the last to get off. We were getting ready to jump off and swim for it.

'The boat was at 90 degrees. Then the helicopter turned up. Guys came down in harnesses and took us off.'

Ms Metcalf, 22, was then taken to an air force base in Tuscany. She telephoned her father Phil early yesterday morning to let him know she was safe, although after leaving the message it was more than six hours before they spoke to each other.

Mr Metcalf today revealed that at the time of the incident, his daughter was told by superiors to put on her cocktail dress and tell passengers the problem was only an electrical fault.

He told BBC Breakfast: 'Luckily she ignored them, because being one of the last five people off the boat she would have been stranded there with a dress on and without a life-saving vest.'

Mr Metcalf also said the dancer revealed that the captain had abandoned the ship in the early stages of the evacuation, leaving his staff onboard.

Read More...