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Subscribe to RSSThe Costa Concordia remains partially submerged off the Italian coast, serving as a memorial one year after its tragic accident. NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports.
NAPLES, Italy — The former captain of the Costa Concordia cruise liner says he understands why some people "hate" him, but has no regrets about his actions in the aftermath of the shipwreck that left 32 people dead.
Francesco Schettino did not attend the unveiling of memorials in Giglio, Italy, over the weekend as survivors and victims' families marked the one-year anniversary of the accident. Instead, the luxury cruise liner’s former captain was at his home near Naples, where he lives under some court restrictions.
Accused of multiple manslaughter, causing the wreck and abandoning ship, Schettino told NBC News the toughest part of the aftermath of the crash was that people think he did not try to help the situation after he took the ship off course during a sail-by salute of the coast.
"Everybody believes that I was escaping from the sinking ship," he said. However, Schettino contended he "tried to make an effort to make sure that I was the last one to leave the ship — from the sinking side."
Schettino, who described himself as a strict captain, insisted that other people should share the blame for the accident.
He said Costa Cruises told him before the wreck that he needed to share some authority with his well-qualified, lower-ranking officers who felt he was "breathing too much down their necks."
Gregorio Borgia / AP file
Francesco Schettino, former captain of the Costa Concordia, says he appreciated having the opportunity to share his side of the story with a survivor of the crash.
"And unfortunately I was relying, in the last three minutes, on an officer, when all of a sudden he was handing me the control of the ship without giving me distance — nothing," Schettino said.
That, he said, was when he noticed foam on the water — a sign of shallow water or something jutting from the surface.
"I regret that I was trusting (that officer). I was trusting him before the accident, and also after the accident. And I have been living with these things inside me. I will never trust anyone anymore because this was a very deadly mistake," he said.
Schettino claimed he had no way to tell how many people were still on board when he left the vessel.
"People don't understand that the ship is 58 meters (nearly 200 feet) wide, so you don't have a chance to see who else is left on the other side. And in the moment the floor started to become steeper, you have no other option: To die, or to swim," he said. "So, I regret nothing."
Schettino said he understood why people "hate" him — but added he did not think he deserved this.
"If you lose your child — or any member of your family because of an accident — you start to learn to live with this kind of pain that you have inside you. But if you are not able to find a reason because you just believe you lost that person because of the stupidity or arrogance of somebody else, it is more difficult not to start to hate people," he said.
"I will do my best to relay the reasons why this tragedy took place, in a way that is very well represented, very well analyzed, simply because I don't like that people may potentially hate me," he said.
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The Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,200 passengers, ran aground Jan. 13 off the coast of Italy killing 32 people - including two Americans.
He said he appreciated the chance to share his perspective of the crash with a survivor.
"It was a great pleasure speaking with that person — they fully understand me now. ... It would have given me great pleasure to meet the others," he said, adding that he would wait, let the truth to come out and allow time for people to absorb it.
"I am close to anybody in this, and I join my pain to their pain, even if there is a difference," he said. "I have the pain of a person who is responsible for the cruise ship and I have never denied that. Never."
Related stories:
High-seas safety in spotlight after deadly Concordia crash
A year after Costa Concordia disaster, emotions resurface
Engineers still ponder how to salvage Costa Concordia wreck
Leave a Comment:
What a lying, narcissistic blowhard this man is who cannot or will not take ANY responsibility for his mistakes.
No wonder his lower-ranking officers disliked him.
Obama...
What does Obama have to do with any of this, troll?
" I regret nothing."
Lika mama saz, you know, you no can trust nobody, hah, Kapish?
I did my duties lika gooda captain should. I leave ship to go ashore, to give command to crew to help passenger out for the betta or worse for everybody. But some die. I'm very sadden, you know, I cry every day every night. I go to church and pray, on my knees and beg for deliverance so people know I am not bad person. I am a good kind person, a good captain. The cruise liner and my officers toke advantage of my goodness. But I forgive them, cause I love them like my familia. Every ting happens for a reason. So, I regret nothing. Nothing!
just another d-bag on the long list of people who blame someone else for their actions! what has happened to all the people who own up to their mistakes?
poor starbuck...4 more years of what Sara M described leading us...drink your coffee...LOL...who said anything bout over loading a sinking ship...with undocmented and massive debt and off shore'n sinking the ship...i mean who the hell knew...
@PLAIN BOB; love the #2 post!! my thoughts exactly!! some people just don`t get it!! (what dept? where? i want more!!) charge me $6.00 a gallon for gas and milk who cares!47%? 20 trillion soon
Plain Bob - Stuck, huh? TOo bad. No mattter what the toic you revert back to your same old tired hatred of the President. SOOOOOOOO tedious. I enjoy knowing you have to live in the currrent political landscape. It's only just. and.... It's only just begun....
If he can honestly say he has no regrets, he is a fool. Correction ... a bigger fool than we already knew he was! Essentially, his attitude seems to be... well, it happened. Not my fault. Deal with it. Hard to imagine they ever let this man captain a ship. Hard to imagine they could even let him captain a car on a public road! what a hateful, irresponsible, self-absorbed human being. (And he "understands why some people hate him"? I doubt seriously he has any clue as to why the public hates him.
You can tell by looking at him that he's nothing but a big shyster
What a lying sack of @!$%# this guy is. The only way the ship could have diverted from the pre-programmed course that was in the autopilot system was with his direct authorization. He was on the bridge at the time the ship deviated from its pre-programmed course and when it struck the rocks and was in command of the ship. No other officer order this alteration from the course, he did. Once he did that he was taking command of the vessel from the officer on watch at the time. The fact that he was too busy flirting with a woman who was on the bridge with him, against company regulations, instead of paying attention to where the ship was does not mean that he had turned command back over to the officer on watch. On top of that, he is now changing his story about why he left the ship and is now claiming it was a conscious decision to save his own life and that he had no way of knowing if there were still passengers aboard, but this a contradiction of earlier statements he made. He has claimed since the accident that he left the ship when he "accidentally fell into a lifeboat." This was his excuse for leaving before all the passengers were off. Now he is trying to claim that he intentionally left the ship because he did not know that the passengers were not already off. Well which is it a-hole, you thought everyone was off or you left because you accidentally fell into a lifeboat?!?! This guy is a lying piece of garbage who refuses to take responsibility for his mistakes and is now trying to pass the blame on to some junior officer as well as the company. The company did not order him to deviate from the approved course that was pre-programmed into the ship's navigation systems. He did that all on his own and that makes him the only one responsible for the events that occurred as a result. Yet, he has the gall to say that he has no regrets about his actions or what occurred and that he is not the one to blame for the wreck. I hope that this arrogant, lying, self centered piece of crap is convicted of 32 counts of manslaughter and spends the rest of his life in prison. His actions during and since the accident show that he has no remorse for what he did and takes no responsibility. He is such a self centered narcissist that he feels he did nothing wrong and this other officer and the company are the ones to blame for his screw up. He is clearly guilty and should never again be allowed to walk around free, let alone ever be allowed to be on any ship ever again.
i don't hate nobody ...i just don't understand ...his blaming and spending... while doing nothing to stop us from going insolvent...the cause of the problems are not the crew ...but the captain...
Bob
Take your pills, shoot your computer... It's evil Bob, evil.
Then go back to bed.
The Captains job is to oversee his officers. He was relying on an officer to make sure everything goes well but he still has to oversee him constantly.
He should not even be labelled as "Former Captain". He should be labelled as "Former guy who ran the ship aground".
The ship was sinking and he was like one of the first guys off the ship. Pussy....
plain bob,
Get off the political wagon puleeeze. Some of you guys can't look forward. Only backwards. What a shame.
People here are quick with the stones. I am glad you are expert captains here. He didn't say he doesn't regret the accident. He just doesn't regret the actions he took, which may or may not have been adequate enough. This isn't Titanic where the captain should drown with the boat. What good does that do? I hate it people didn't make it and I am sure he does too. Before JUDGING, how about trying to understand first.
"When captain and crew understand each other to the core it takes a gale and more than a gale to blow their ship ashore." Rudyard Kipling. The captain is responsible for the ship, crew, and passengers. Maybe he was absent that day or someone didn't teach him that. Yeah, that's the guy who's responsible, the one who didn't teach him that. Man up Cap.
well i think he needs to talk to captain Sullenberger, so he can truly understand what the responsibility of the captain is all about!
it must be a Italian macho thing; no regrets, what a really dumb, stupid, statement !
The captain is responsible for its safe and efficient operation, including cargo operations, navigation, crew management and ensuring that the vessel complies with local and international laws, as well as company and flag state policies. All persons on board, including officers and crew, other shipboard staff members, passengers, guests and pilots, are under the captain's authority and are his ultimate responsibility.
Key word ultimate Responsibility= He is making excuses for his poor choices, blaming others for mistakes and abandon his ship even before the passengers did.
Sorry to tell you youdon this is now a year old now and most of the information that came out shows this guy is a idot and a coward. He should be stung up by his neck in a court yard for the crows to fest upon his flesh.
youdon'tknowjack
He has been tried and judged and it was determined he was gulity of manslaughter.... what is there to understand? He's the captain of a ship and his negligence caused people to die... the evidence is in and he's been convicted!!!
As captain of the ship it was Mr. Schettino's responsibility to be in charge of every aspect of the ships operation.....every aspect. It was obvious from the disaster and his moronic statements concerning his actions prior to and after the grounding that he didn't know what the hell he was doing let alone why he shirked his responsibilities at the time of the disaster. The fact that he hasn't been sentenced to jail time for being completely incompetent amazes me. Even more annoying is the fact that he does nothing more than make excuses and blames those under his command. This guy is a certified registered card-carrying idiot. As we've seen in the past he's not the only cruiseline captain that's incompetent.
plain bob....I am going to lower myself to your stupid level too point out that CONGRESS...not Obama is what is wrong today...and BUSH got us here NOT Obama....the level of your ignorance is hard to fathom.
Sgt Schultz Schettino's motto......"I see Nottthhhinnnngggg".
On a more serious note, here is the exact opposite of "Captain" Schettino's actions and I'm speaking of Captain Chuck White of Eastern Airlines...a true hero and this is an excerpt of his handling of his stricken "Connie" after part of its rear stabilizer was sheared off by a TWA aircraft. Memories of Captain White still vividly reside in my memory as my brother in law worked for Eastern.
I hope Schettino reads this. He appears to have been a fit man and easily could have helped with the evacuation. I hope he is castigated for his cowardice for the rest of his days. The ship wasn't anywhere near the condition of the stricken Connie. He abandoned ship and in another era would have been either keelhauled or hung.
"I regret nothing."
His granddaddy-Don Schettino-won't let him.....
So am I the only one wondering why he said he regrets listening to the officer on the ship before and after the crash (pretty much blaming it on that person) then goes on to say that he regrets nothing? This guy is pretty much a moron.
2little2late......4 years and counting and Bush is still to blame? Wow, talk about someone else with their head up their a$$ beside this Italiano, it's YOU! I guess if Obama's failed policies don't turn the economy around in the next 4 years you libbies will still be saying that Bush got us here. Talk about hypocritcal morons. And remember, just as you socialists like to say that the ecomony would have been worse if Obama didn't pour trillions into bailouts and handouts, unemployment would have been a LOT WORSE if the rich did not maintain the JOBS for the middle class. So much for not believing in the tricle down theory.
Bob,
I concur. Shoot your computer. Please! Because you sound as ignorant as the cowardly captain!
Plus: You numb nuts who listen to Rush & watch Faux News. This is just another point that proves you idiots are bat sh!t crazy. This story has nothing to do with American politics. But you go on anyway.
Captain- Bush made me do it!
The man is so arrogant and narcisstic that he cannot admit, even to himself, that he regrets the loss of 32 lives while sailing under his command!
Is it just me, or does this guy look like Duke Nukem?
Why does this not surprise me. A typical little narcissistic @!$%# like Mussolini was. They breed them over there as standard issue.
probably the Goodfather put in that position and still protect him for be punishedarrogant brain worm !
"Shipwrecked." How fitting! You raised Mussolini from the dead when you only had to go as far back as Berlusconi! Bunga! Bunga!
He regrets nothing... except the loss of human life as a direct result of his personal failure as captain of a multi-million dollar cruise ship. Oh yeah, and the wreck of the previously mentioned ship!
...and getting fired, and just about every human being who knows who he is hating him, and...
Every time this man speaks, his true character comes out more- a jerk who blames everyone else for his screwup. He abandoned his ship and left people to die.
Prison he deserves.
What the hell do you know? Were you there?
dick!
@jersey jon; sara m brought up a good point jackass, its exactly what the man did! no need to be there !! read a newspaper once in awhile!! and stop watching jersey shore! (by the way 32 dead in case you didn`t know)
Jersey Jon
Sara didn't need to BE THERE. This FORMER captain deviated from the planned safe course to show someone the pretty lights on shore and risked the lives of every person on board his ship. Let an airline pilot deviate from a planned landing course and risk not only the people on HIS aircraft, but the lives of people in other aircraft as well, and see how long he keeps his freedom. The law will be waiting for him at the terminal gate for not following FAA procedures. This FORMER captain should be in jail for one long time.
Former Capt. Hazelwood said it best when he ran the Exon Valdez aground, "This is a hell of a way to END your career"!
If you read the news, you don't need to be an eye witness to the events.
Costa Cruises, the police, the navy, and the court records detail that Schettino bailed long before the passengers were off boat yet he says, he "tried to make an effort to make sure that [he] was the last one to leave the ship..." In fact, he was one of the first. At the time, he explained that he felt he could better oversee the escape of passengers from onshore rather than on the ship. Now, he has flipped his story to say he "tried to make an effort to make sure he was the last one to leave the ship". What, is that supposed to mean? That he tried to make an effort but he failed to make that effort and went ashore on the first boat he coulde get into? Well ... THAT I could believe.
And, on top of everything else, he is a coward. If he took the effort to make an appearance at the memorial service, it might suggest that some part of him did feel some remorse for the lost lives and those lives torn apart by the disaster. But, no, don't go to Giglio. Let's just chill in Napoli so people won't yell at me and call me a bad boy. What a bag!
Sara is right. Every time this man opens his mouth he reveals just what a low life scumbag he really is. His defense will be predicated on throwing somebody else under the bus. Makes one womder how such a complete imbecile ever became certified as a "Captain" in the first place. But Sara is wrong when she says he belongs in prison. The other question one has to wonder about is how is @!$%#tino (sic) still breathing? Seems like somebody would have taken him out any time he raised his arrogant head. Or will.
Exactly Trex! I've been spelling @!$%#tino's name the same as you ever since this happened. He made a series of mistakes that led to people's deaths. The going right up to shore in a huge ship was one. Not calling for help right away is one. Being on the phone to the company and lying to them is one. Not calling for abandon ship but telling people to go to their cabins was a HUGE mistake. Reportedly, he was drinking right before this happened.
It didn't sound like the crew was experienced in any of the abandon ship part, they were not helping with the lifeboats, but the passengers were having to do that part.
Then being a lying coward and leaving the ship and refusing to go back and help people. What a scum bag, this guy should never ever have been the captain of a ship. The problem with being on an airplane or ship is, do you have Capt Sully, or Capt @!$%#tino? Sadly, too many people have someone like Capt @!$%#tino in charge.
Then his attitude, he doesn't care, he did nothing wrong, blame everyone else. I'd be hanging my head in shame if I did something like that. This guy doesn't care, he's already asked for his job back! What an arrogant jerk.
D'oh! Jersey Jon the Jersey Jerkoff
i'm thinking that the act of reading itself is a huge problem for our jersey jerkoff, here.
Let me say this. You are a lowlife of a human being. You being the Captain of that ship are responsible for the lives of the people lost. Your thinking some people dislike or hate you. More like most everyone around the World. Can you say millions of folks that can see right through your BS of a story? No regrets? You should be in prison for the rest of your worthless life, period!
After 5 years living here in Italy, I believe it all comes down to the Italian factor. His mama probably raised him to believe he is God and can do no wrong. It's always someone else's fault. Pretty much the way Italian men are these days, sad to say. Too many are arrogant, lacking in responsibility, discipline and always defending their actions. Now the women on the other hand ...
Kiwi- I'm still here (7 years and counting but I'm trying to move home but I digress)- so I'm sure you've heard some of the transcripts w/o translation...theres only one thing that comes to mind...è un coglione. Typical of their judicial system too- I mean, look at Berlusconi and how he's been able to adjust statues of limitations while he was the PM to avoid prosecution...check youtube for something that Luciana Littizetto said about a pragmatica sensazione di aver rotto il c****...
Kiwi:
What ta you meana, hah? My mama raised me a good boy! Responsible, respectful, and handsome ....... Why you no like Italia man? Whatsa matta with you, hah?
picture says it all. surely, this man is a hero and a legend...in his own mind!
good captains go down with their ships...all i got to say bout that...
And a coward captain abandons ship even before the passengers realize the ship is doomed. .. and he lives to say, ' I regret nothing!"
WallStFatCat, Stop it! You are making me laugh and this is no laughing thing...The guy is just unbelievable.
Hey now, he abandoned...I mean"Got a better vantage point"so he could oversee that rescue operations were going smoothly. As a captain he just needed to see the "big picture". Kind of like a CEO who owns coal mines. He needed time to think w/o getting wet.
“The average Italian man is said to be narcissist, egomaniac, coward, selfish, unable to follow basic procedures and unable to follow the rules. True or not, it’s a stereotype, a stereotype which is strongly proved by the latest, tragic events in Italy.” Italian journalist Rosaria Sgueglia
So true. Nicknamed “Captain Coward,” Schettino has become the focus of national fury for Italians fed up with the all too frequently accurate stereotype of Italian men as vain, feckless, irresponsible, selfish and untrustworthy permanent adolescents.
Let's not turn this into a forum for anti-Italian sentiments. The story is about one Captain, who apparently showed insufficient care in navigating his ship before the accident, and insufficient [no] courage afterwards.
That is all.
He does not stand for all Italian men.
He stands for the majority of Italian men and not recognizing this problem will not resolve it. Live in Italy and you will see it is one of the reasons for the economic failure here and other social problems, no one is responsible!
Perhaps the captain IS like the new Italian man. However, would one say that the school and movie shooters are like the new American man? Unemployed, alone, playing viedo games while being supported by someone else, there are way too many, but not all young men. Even those with a business are grousing about taxes, and uncertainty. Those who take a chance are the only ones who can make a profit and owe any taxes at any rate. It takes guts to be a captain of a ship or in industry.
I think "no one is responsible" is a bit harsh...but the few of us who are pay for it in a way thats grossly disproportionate (the 28th is payday...I feel it every month)
Miki Howcroft.
So through wat you just wrote down,I remember the Italian Army in WWII, they rather would go to POW instead of fighting for their freedom,and country.
If I were in the Italian army in WWII, I would certainly go to a POW camp before I'd stop a bullet for Mussolini and his fascist government. If I were fighting for freedom and my country, that would be different.
what an arrogant POS, they should put this idiot UNDER the jail....
Does he not understand that as Captain, he is the one responsible for the ship? From the meals to the maintenance to the swimming pool to most importanly, the navigation of such a ship. The Captain has the final say, both the good and the bad. He made the decision to deviate from the course. While he showed good thinking running the ship aground and saving a lot of people, he also gave the order that put the ship on the rocks in the first place. He is ultimately responsible for the 32 lost lives and will have to held responsible.
@Emmet-1827621, I believe in giving credit where credit is due, however the wind is why the ship ran
aground. If the wind hadn't blown the ship into shore, it would have sunk in very deep water and the loss
of life would have been tremendous, no credit to the captain for this, just lucky for the survivors. This jerk
of a captain is responsible for 32 lives, but thanks to the wind, it wasn't a thousand. They should put his
arrogant ass in prison for 20 years and let him think about it!
I own a service business, employ many people, have many customers and suppliers. At the end of every day, week, month, quarter, and year, I am only person responsible for every action my company has period.
pickmaster:
For your good deeds and sense of responsibility, you must be punished with higher taxes, tons of regulations, and more criticism.
WallS-- Trolling EH?
I remember listening to released audio recordings of conversations between the Captain, now safely aboard a life boat, and an officer of the responding rescue party. Repeatedly, and harshly he instructs the captain to return to the ship. The captain responds that he is directing the rescue from the life boat.
Useless sack of sh!t! I hope he gets what is coming to him, which would be jail time and the assurance that he will never serve as captain of even a garbage scow.
G damn, I was right. See my above post!
He runs his ship aground and leaves it on a 45 degree angle and he regrets nothing? He must have Schettino's for brains.
This is a typical problem for Italians and for Italian men in particular. They like to act like a big deal flaunt their title or position but when they are asked to resolve something that has gone wrong they all all bluff and bluster. This is what makes Italy the second world country that it is. They worry only about the "bella figura" which is the outside that is shown to the world and nothing for what is inside be it heart, soul, or brain. This guy is an empty suit and should never have been given responsibility because in the end he won't take it.
Sigh....so sad to see nothing has changed in Italy. I left in 1979 after living there several years and the majority of the men I knew were like this. "bella figura" - so true.
This guy is no Captain James T. Kirk
p.s. I find it funny that conservatives can't see how crazy they are, there have only been a few post on this article -about a cruise liner running around- and already they are blaming Obama, I have to think in school books -in the years to come- the Obama Presidency is going to be refereed to as: "The moment decent American's noticed how insane conservatives were in the USA"
This "captain" would have done a good job in WWII as a commander of a rowboat - half sunk and flying the surrender flag.
Am I wrong or is the the first time we've heard of another officer "just handing him the ship, but too late? I don't remember it quite like that from the original stories. I remember it being his decision to deviate from course to impress someone. If a time-line could be established then he should be charged with manslaughter, based on his course change, for everyone that died before he fled, and murder for everyone that died after he abandoned ship.
This guy is unbelieveable. The captain of a vessel at sea is completely responsible for everything that happens on that vessel. The main thing is how he did nothing to prepare people for evacuation, why, I think we can see that from his narcissitic attitude. He should be hung from a yard arm.
This little Italian banty rooster has an ego the size of Texas and is certainly not in touch with reality. Whether he regrets his actions will be a factor in court when the prosecutors get his story. The courts are probably already set to explain their 'sex game gone wrong' version of the ship sinking, and the captain, by all maritime laws, is the responsible party for what happens to the ship and where it goes. The captain has already changed his story three or four times, and he now probably believes his own fabrication of the actual events. He is in deep yoghurt, but will probably only serve 2 to 3 years of a 27 year sentence once the overzealous prosecutors convict him.
Since when does a captian of a ship hand over control of his ship to a junior officer. This POS is trying to blame anyone else or his error. Get some balls act like a man and place the blaime where it belongs. Jackass!!!
Ya, is this guy in big denial or what! The investigation clearly states what his actions were, and maybe his mind has become twisted to deal with what really happened. I guess coping with the truth is not his thing.
Hey Captain, lets just say I believe you in a moment of shear stupidity. Why did you refuse to follow the multiple orders from the coast guard to return to the ship and help people when they kept telling you there were still hundreds of passengers on the ship? When you were fleeing in your pansy boat, did you not see the people still standing ON the ship, or hear their screams? Okay, back to reality - you're just a piece of fecal matter!
How do you say 'lying sack of @!$%#' in Italian?
Francesco Schettino!
What a scumbag. I hope he gets to wear prison stripes for a long time.
This is why Germany bails them out on a monthly basis. The young dumb kid running his mouth.
He is just the type of person that you want to punch in the face
Wow, what an idiot. He sounds like George Bush defending his Iraq debacle.
or Obama saying Benghazi wasn't a terrorist attack...or his debt ceiling comments as a senator- your post is off topic.