Cruise disaster: Captain 'neared Italian rocks to greet friend on shore'

Jan 16, 2012 |

Agencies

Giglio Island (Italy)

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It seems the captain of the ill-fated cruise liner Costa Concordia deliberately steered the the ship 'too close' to a rocky shore in order to send a greeting signal to someone on the Italian island of Giglio.

The Italian prosecutors claim Captain Francesco Schettino, 52, had approached the island's coastline in a 'carelessly clumsy manner' in the moments before a catastrophic collision with an underwater rock formation that caused the ship to list violently and eventually capsize.

Owners of the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship said 'preliminary indications' suggested the captain may have been guilty of 'significant human error'.

The owners added: "We are aware that the lead prosecutor has levelled serious accusations against the ship's Captain, who joined Costa Crociere in 2002 as a Safety Officer and was appointed Captain in 2006, after acting as Staff Captain as well."

The death toll from Friday night's disaster, one of the worst in the cruise industry's recent history, rose to five on Sunday night after rescuers discovered the bodies of two elderly men wearing life vests inside the vessel. A further 15 people remained missing.

On Sunday, the ship's Italian crew services manager, Manrico Giampetroni, was winched from the wreck by a helicopter after being trapped for 36 hours. A honeymoon couple were found alive and well in a cabin late on Saturday.

Prosecutors believe Mr Schettino had been intending to perform the nautical equivalent of a fly-by past the island's main port when the accident happened.

It had apparently become a long-standing practice for the Costa Concordia to sail close to the island in order to greet its inhabitants with a siren from the ship.

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