Costa Crociere suspended Francesco Schettino

Costa Crociere said it had suspended Captain Francesco Schettino and launched civil action for ‘significant misbehaviour’.
Recordings of radio and telephone calls made by Italian coastguards indicate that they were twice assured by the Captain Costa Concordia was suffering from only a “small technical failure”; Schettino also claimed the evacuation was almost complete when it had scarcely begun, and that he abandoned ship long before the last of his passengers.
Italian prosecutors allege Captain Francesco Schettino’s failure to accurately brief coast guard officials delayed the rescue effort.

Captain Schettino has denied consuming alcohol that night.
But a passenger, Angelo Fabbri, has revealed that he watched Schettino enjoying a gourmet meal and drinking red wine at the ship’s most exclusive restaurant, with a “beautiful” woman minutes earlier [Domnica Cermontan, 25, from Moldova]. “Schettino, in a dark uniform, was sat in front of a young woman,” Fabbri told newspaper Il Secolo XIX. “She appeared young, initially we thought she could even be his daughter. A beautiful woman, slim, shoulder-length blonde hair, a black dress with bare arms. They were laughing, they were informal, it was very merry. [...] There is no doubt they drank, at least a whole decanter, the last drops were poured into the commander’s glass.”
Results of a blood test that Italian authorities conducted on Captain Schettino after the shipwreck have not been released.

As a retired British cruise ship Captain I always had a decanter of “drink” at the dinner table whether red or white, but this “drink was always non alcoholic which I always pointed out to dinner guests prior to the commencement of dining, so passengers noting the captain drinking ‘wine” may not necessarily be true. Captain James T Taylor RTD. MMI

- james taylor, folkestone uk, 19/1/2012 20:26

Comment from: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2089052/Costa-Concordia-Domnica-Cemortan-captain-Francesco-Schettino-cruise-ship-hit.html#ixzz1k5Z9kTE0

Schettino, now under house arrest on suspicion of multiple manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing shipwreck, said he was not receiving any support or legal aid from Costa Crociere. If convicted, he faces 15 years in jail.
Costa Crociere declined to provide biographical information about Captain Schettino and has gradually sought to distance itself from him. CEO Pier Luigi Foschi blamed the captain for the accident but said Costa Crociere would continue to provide him with legal assistance, even though the cruise ship operator consider itself as an “offended party.”

According to different accounts, he was born 52 years ago, either at Castellammare di Stabia, a few miles away along the Sorrento peninsula at Meta, which is where his family lives now.
His mother’s family, Cafiero, were shipowners going back generations. His father, Luigi, was born inland near Caserta. But at any early age he moved to the breathtakingly beautiful Amalfi Coast.
Both he and his brother, Salvatore, decided to make their living as seafarers.
His sister Giulia Schettino told Il Mattino (the Naples daily ): “[Francesco] loves the sea. He has always worked as an officer. He has a long career behind him.”
She said he had begun his career with the ferry company Tirrenia, then worked for the petroleum group Agip before joining Carnival.
Schettino joined its Mediterranean cruises arm, Costa, in 2002. After a spell as a second-in-command he was promoted to the rank of captain and in 2006 his career reached a new peak when he was handed command of the newly launched, 114,500-tonne Costa Concordia.