Francesco Schettino
[5] He attended the nautical institute Nino Bixio in Piano di Sorrento,[3] then worked for the ferry company Tirrenia.
[citation needed] On 16 April 2002, aged 41, Schettino was hired by Costa Crociere, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation.
[7][8][9] According to Schettino's employer, in 2010, as master of Costa Atlantica, he damaged another Carnival Corporation ship, AIDAblu, while entering the port of Warnemünde, Germany, at too high a speed.
[11] In 2014, two years after the Costa Concordia disaster, upon invitation by a university in Rome, he held a panic management seminar with subsequent strong controversies.
[14] Schettino was the captain in charge of Costa Concordia on 13 January 2012, when the ship attempted a sail-by salute past Giglio, a manoeuvre he had performed before.
The ship struck an underwater rock off the island, partially capsized and listed on its starboard side, resulting in the deaths of 32 people.
[16] However, Schettino himself claimed that he sailed so close to the rocks to perform a sail-by salute, and was navigating by sight since he knew the route so well.
[3] In 2012, Schettino's lawyer, Bruno Leporatti, defended his client's actions and indicated that his manoeuvre after the collision was "brilliant" and saved lives.
[21] A transcript of a recorded conversation between Schettino and Gregorio de Falco, the on-duty Italian Coast Guard commander, was broadcast around the world.
It details a furious De Falco repeatedly ordering Schettino to leave the lifeboat and return to the stricken Costa Concordia.
"[30] Costa had communication with Schettino during the interval between the collision with the rock and the evacuation order; some claim this may have led to a delay in the rescue effort.
[33] Schettino was initially believed to have been under the influence at the time of the event, but tested negative for drugs or alcohol the night of the disaster.
[36] Prior to Schettino's trial, Pier Luigi Foschi, at that time chairman of Costa, put blame on the captain as being responsible for deviating from the course and sailing close to Giglio.
He was accused of multiple counts of manslaughter, causing a maritime accident, abandoning ship with passengers still on board, and lack of cooperation with rescue operations.
[40] The trial took place at Grosseto's "Teatro Moderno", which was adapted into a courtroom to handle lawyers of about 250 co-plaintiffs and about 400 scheduled witnesses.
[42] In his defense, Schettino explained that the sail-by salute was intended to pay homage to other mariners and, for business reasons, to present passengers a nice view.
[43] Schettino maintained that his actions had saved the lives of many after the ship hit the rock, and claimed some of his crew misunderstood and botched his orders.
[41] At the end of the proceeding, the public prosecutor Magistrate Maria Navarro asked for a jail sentence of 26 years and three months.
