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Author Topic: Cruise Liner Costa Concordia Aground in Italy - 30 Dead & 2 Unaccounted For  (Read 210050 times)
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« Reply #640 on: August 07, 2014, 04:41:05 PM »

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2014/08/06/dean-rips-university-professor-for-inviting-costa-concordia-captain-to-host/
Dean rips university professor for inviting Costa Concordia captain to host safety seminar
August 6, 2014

ROME –  A Rome university professor is facing a disciplinary hearing after inviting the captain of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner to lecture students on emergency procedures.

The dean of Rome's Sapienza University, Luigi Frati, voiced anger Wednesday at the professor's decision to invite Capt. Francesco Schettino to give a seminar, calling it an "inappropriate and unworthy choice." Frati said he was turning the matter over to an ethics committee.

The university dismissed the "pathetic excuses" offered by the professor, Vincenzo Mastronardi, when confronted by the dean.

Schettino is being tried for manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning ship over the January 2012 capsize of the Concordia, in which 32 people died.

Italy's education minister called the news "disconcerting," while the prosecutor in Tuscany who is arguing for Schettino's guilt expressed indignation also at reports that Schettino had been awarded a diploma.

The Florence daily La Nazione reported that Schettino gave a nearly two-hour lecture to criminal science masters candidates last month, including reference to panic management. Passengers have described a chaotic evacuation of the Concordia.

Schettino, through his lawyer, defended the seminar, saying it was "a technical intervention on the basis of my knowledge and professionalism acquired over many years of service."

His lawyer, Cataldo Calabretta, criticized "an unacceptable attempt to discredit Schettino, who has been subjected for a long time already to unmerited media attacks."
 
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« Reply #641 on: August 16, 2014, 04:41:32 PM »

http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/880582-search-for-concordias-last-victim-as-scrap-yard-approaches/
Search for Concordia’s Last Victim, as Scrap-Yard Approaches
August 15, 2014, Updated August 16, 2014

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« Reply #642 on: August 18, 2014, 05:13:58 PM »

I really wish there was affirmation the last remains have been recovered before airing this film.  The skull fragments found may or may not be those of Russell Rebello, because the previously found remains of an Italian passenger were missing her skull.  Very sad.

http://www.tvwise.co.uk/2014/08/national-geographic-greenlights-raising-costa-concordia-documentary/
National Geographic Greenlights ‘The Raising Of The Costa Concordia’ Documentary
August 18, 2014
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« Reply #643 on: September 01, 2014, 12:36:56 PM »

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11048976/Giglio-residents-vote-to-keep-Concordia-platforms.html
Giglio residents vote to keep Concordia platforms
Residents of the Italian island, where the Concordia smashed into rocks, want to keep six massive undersea platforms used to support the cruise ship to create an artificial reef
August 21, 2014

Residents of the Italian island of Giglio, where the Costa Concordia smashed into rocks two years ago, want to keep six massive undersea platforms used to support the cruise ship to create an artificial reef.
Defying a decision by Italy's environmental ministry, which wants to remove the platforms now the ship has been towed away for scrap, Giglio's town council has voted to keep the huge structures, which sit 90 feet below the surface close to the island's main port.
"The people here want them to stay, and I am backing popular will," said Gigilo mayor Sergio Ortelli. "We have voted to ask the ministry to keep it, if it is environmentally sound."
Locals expect the platforms to attract fish, which could in turn bring divers to the island.
 
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« Reply #644 on: September 24, 2014, 10:07:44 PM »

http://www.thelocal.it/20140922/schettino-back-in-court-over-concordia-crash
Schettino back in court over Concordia crash
September 22, 2014

Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino returns to court on Monday, where he faces manslaughter charges over the cruise ship sinking that killed 32 people, weeks after teaching students in Rome about emergency procedures.

Schettino will appear in the courtroom in Grosseto, Tuscany, where he has been charged over the deaths of 32 people on board the ship when it sank in January 2012.

Passengers, other civilians and technical consultants will also testify in court today and tomorrow, Ansa reported.

The Costa Concordia captain has long-since denied the charges, claiming he is a scapegoat and has been unfairly targeted by prosecutors.

Despite facing up to 20 years in prison for manslaughter, Schettino earlier this summer lectured students about best emergency procedures. His appearance at Rome’s La Sapienza university was described as “disconcerting” by Education Minister Stefania Giannini.
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« Reply #645 on: September 24, 2014, 10:09:38 PM »

http://www.maritimejournal.com/news101/tugs,-towing-and-salvage/prestigious-award-for-titan-salvage
'Costa Concordia' salvors awarded
September 24, 2014

Houston Based Titan Salvage has been awarded the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) 2014 Corporate Marine Environment Protection Award.
The prestigious award recognises Titan’s proactive approach towards protecting and preserving the oceans and is due to be accepted by the company’s vice president Chris Peterson at NAMEPA’s New York City annual conference at the end of October.
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« Reply #646 on: September 24, 2014, 10:12:29 PM »

http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2014/09/articles/passenger-rights/california-court-dismisses-costa-concordia-lawsuit/
California Court Dismisses Costa Concordia Lawsuit
September 18, 2014

Earlier this week, a federal district judge in California dismissed a lawsuit filed on behalf of two cruise passengers against Carnival arising out of the January 2012 Costa Concordia disaster, ruling that the case must be pursued in Italy where Costa Crociere is located.
The name of the lawsuit is Patricia Sandoval et al. v. Carnival Corporation et al., Case No. 2:12 CV 05517, filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Judge Fernando M. Olguin applied the doctrine of forum non conveniens, where the courts determine Costa Concordia the appropriate location of lawsuits.
The Court concluded that the majority of the physical evidence and witnesses are located in Italy and the passengers can obtain an appropriate remedy in Italy. The decision is not surprising at all. 
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« Reply #647 on: September 27, 2014, 08:22:58 PM »

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/25/costa-concordia-hero-coastguard-gregorio-de-falco-italy
Anger as Costa Concordia ‘hero’ transferred to coastguard admin duties
Gregorio de Falco was praised for ordering stricken ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, to get back on board
September 25, 2014


Gregorio De Falco is being transferred from operational service at Livorno coastguard to an administrative post. Photograph: Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images

He was the Italian hero to Francesco Schettino’s villain: a coastguard official who, in the days after the Costa Concordia disaster, became a symbol of responsibility in nation that was horrified by the allegedly reckless behaviour of the cruise ship’s captain. On Thursday Italians were yet again engaged in a collective frenzy over straight-talking Gregorio de Falco.

The 50-year-old has said he is being transferred out of operational service at the Livorno coastguard and into administrative duties, prompting anger among those who remember his bracing words to Schettino on the night of the tragedy and despair over a country that they say does not know how to treat its heroes.


After recordings of the heated dialogue between De Falco and Costa Concordia’s skipper were released the coastguard official was hailed as “the voice of duty” by newspaper La Repubblica, in which 32 people died. His command “Vada a bordo, cazzo!” (“Get on board, for f***’s sake!” was even emblazoned on T-shirts.

Federico Gelli, an MP in Italy’s centre-left Democratic party called for the reasons for De Falco’s transfer to be investigated.

“In the news media of the world he became the symbol of the Italy that tries to portray a
different image from a disaster of this kind. This removal … deserves public clarification, even if to dispel potential suspicions that it is connected with the trial going on in Grosseto.”

In that trial, Schettino faces charges including multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship, which he denies.

A row erupted in August at Rome’s Sapienza University after it emerged Schettino had been invited to address a seminar organised by one of its professors. As the Costa Concordia was towed away from Giglio this summer, photographs emerged of the former captain partying on the island of Ischia.

“We are a country that rewards the Schettinos and punishes the De Falcos. That prefers buffoons to those who quietly get on with the job,” wrote one Twitter user, @mariogiordano5, as the hashtag #DeFalco trended.

“Italy punishes its best men,” commented another, @francofontana43.

In an interview with La Repubblica, De Falco said he was saddened by the transfer, which he had not requested.

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« Reply #648 on: November 03, 2014, 12:22:53 PM »

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/workers-find-body-dismantling-concordia-26651915
Workers Find Body While Dismantling Concordia
November 3, 2014

The body of an Indian waiter who was the last missing victim of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner has been found by crews dismantling the vessel, authorities said Monday.

The body was discovered by workers clearing debris from the ship in a passenger's cabin on the eighth deck, said Carabinieri commander Capt. Massimo Pittaluga. He said the victim was wearing a shirt that contained an identification card for missing crew member Russel Rebello.

In a Facebook message, Rebello's brother, Kevin Rebello, confirmed the discovery of his brother's remains, thanking "all those who prayed and believed that one day he would be found."

He said a DNA test would be performed before putting his brother to rest "with honor," adding simply: "India, we are coming."
 
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« Reply #649 on: November 03, 2014, 12:25:34 PM »

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/11205374/Costa-Concordia-body-of-final-victim-found-on-board.html
Costa Concordia: Last victim found in wreckage
Russel Rebello, the final victim to be recovered from the Costa Concordia disaster, will receive a "hero’s welcome" when his body is returned home to India, his brother says

November 3, 2014


Russel Rebello is understood to have died after giving his life jacket to another passenger Photo: Laura Lezza

Russel Rebello, the final victim to be recovered from the Costa Concordia disaster, will receive a “hero’s welcome” when his body is returned home to India, his brother said Monday.
Salvage workers from Ship Recycling, the consortium dismantling the Concordia, said they found the remains believed to be of Mr Rebello, a 32-year-old waiter from Mumbai, inside a cabin on the ship’s eighth deck in Genoa.
Workers found his badly decomposed body crushed beneath overturned furniture with an identity card including his name and photograph in his trousers. They notified Genoa prosecutors who ordered DNA tests to be conducted.
The surprise discovery ends a heart-wrenching search by Mr Rebello’s brother Kevin, who spent four months on Giglio after the Concordia struck rocks near the island off the coast of Tuscany in January 13 2012.
“My younger brother has finally been found on deck 8 in a cabin of the wrecked Concordia," Mr Rebello said on his Facebook page. “I don’t have words to express. Just my pain, my tears and my heart pounding harder and my body trembling when I broke the news to my parents.“

Mr Rebello was among the 32 passengers and crew who lost their lives after the Concordia’s captain, Francesco Schettino, attempted to perform a “salute” in front of the island. The 114,000-ton liner struck a reef in shallow waters and capsized just off shore from the island’s tiny port.
Kevin Rebello, who runs a natural therapy business in Milan, said after 1,025 days of waiting his parents would breathe a “sigh of relief” hearing the news.
“Their constant prayers have been heard,” said Mr Rebello, whose family is Catholic with a Goan background.
“Now we wait for the DNA test and procedures to give Russel his final resting place with honour, respect and a hero’s welcome. India we are coming.”
Russel Rebello is understood to have died after giving his life jacket to another passenger and helping terrified passengers into life boats.
He was the last victim to be found. The remains of Italian passenger Maria Grazia Trecarichi, were found in October 2013 just three weeks after the massive liner was pulled upright in an unprecedented salvage operation.
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« Reply #650 on: December 02, 2014, 03:53:35 PM »

http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/02/world/europe/italy-costa-concordia-trial/
Costa Concordia captain combative, defiant as he testifies at trial
December 2, 2014

Grosseto, Italy (CNN) -- Francesco Schettino, captain of the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship, took the stand for the first time Tuesday, combative and contradicting the testimony of not just his first captain but also what he has said in the past about the deadly shipwreck.
Schettino -- who is charged with manslaughter, causing a maritime disaster and abandoning ship with passengers still on board -- denies wrongdoing. He faces up to 23 years in prison if convicted.
He remained defiant even while painting a picture of confusion on board the ship as the disaster unfolded, pointing the finger at others for the chaotic evacuation of the ship's passengers.
Five of the captain's co-workers have already entered guilty pleas in the case, including officers who were on the ship.
These pleas may work against Schettino as he answers questions with regard to the co-workers' testimony before the court in Grosseto.
When shown the deposition given by his first captain, Ciro Ambrosio, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in exchange for a lighter sentence, Schettino was argumentative and gesticulated wildly.
What Ambrosio told the court in his testimony is similar to the version of events Schettino has given in past TV interviews, but the captain contradicted that version in his testimony Tuesday.
Schettino's attorneys argued that what the captain has previously said on Italian TV cannot be used as evidence in court. The disputed testimony deals with such details as radar readings, who was on the bridge at the time of the accident and where those people were positioned.
Speaking to CNN during a court break, Schettino said he was confident about how his trial was progressing.
"It is exhausting, but I think it is going well," Schettino said of Tuesday's hearing. "It is important because this is the only chance I have to tell my version of events."
Asked if he thought the court was sympathetic to him, he said, "This is the first time I have had a chance to officially address the court personally so this should be the first time they should be judging me. I am confident."
His testimony is expected to continue Wednesday and probably one day next week.
The cruise liner capsized after it struck rocks off Italy's Giglio Island in the Tyrrhenian Sea on January 12, 2012. No one died on impact, but 32 lives were lost during the subsequent chaotic evacuation of some 4,200 people on board the ship.
Chaos on the bridge
Schettino was sworn in under a giant sign reading, "The law is equal for everyone," in a makeshift courtroom in Grosetto's red velvet Teatro Moderno.
As assistant prosecutor Alessandro Leopizzi questioned Schettino, the captain described a scene of utter chaos on the bridge both before and after the accident.
At one point he explained how it was common to invite passengers and guests on the bridge, and said they often tipped him. "I said there couldn't be more than 12 people at a time," he said. "And they would bring 20, 30, 70 euro a tour."
He acknowledged frequently conducting flyby activities -- deviating from the planned route to go closer to certain places -- with his cruise ship. "It was favorable from a commercial aspect," he said.
When the prosecutor asked if he had ever done a flyby past Giglio before, he said he couldn't remember but might have passed close by.
'Not trying to blame anyone'
Schettino also explained why he chose Giglio on this occasion, telling the court that he thought retired Costa Capt. Mario Palombo was on the island.
When the prosecutor asked Schettino why he called Palombo and then why he asked Palombo how deep the coastal waters were, he said he was just making conversation.
Schettino recounted how he gave the orders to the helmsman, Jacob Rusli Bin of Indonesia, to go off course after using his binoculars to look ahead.
When asked if his helmsman caused the accident, he said: "I'm not trying to blame anyone. I'm just trying to explain the circumstances."
The captain has suggested Rusli Bin did not speak English or Italian well enough to understand his orders -- although audiotape played in court Tuesday appeared to contradict that.
Pushed as to why he used his binoculars instead of relying on the radar, Schettino said, "It was my habit to take my binoculars and look first. Not that I didn't trust the radar, but it was how I did it."
He was confident that the ship had enough room for the maneuver, he said.
In an audiotape played over the radar from the bridge extracted from the ship's data recorder, Schettino told his helmsman to turn, "otherwise we go on the rocks."
Asked why he made that comment, he said he was being ironic. "A few minutes later, I was told the danger we were in."
Alarm bells
Schettino appeared visibly shaken, putting his head in his hands, shortly after radar and audio recordings of the moment of impact were played in court.
Bells and alarms rang, and then the recording went offline.
The prosecutor asked Schettino about his last words captured on tape. "But where did we touch?" the captain asked, to which someone said, "Oh my dear God."
Schettino also will be cross-examined by a number of civil parties at the court.
They include the attorney for a Moldovan dancer who dined with the captain and was with him on the command bridge at the time of the shipwreck.
'Ready to defend his honor'
Before the hearing began, Schettino's attorney, Domenico Pepe, told CNN his client was ready to tell the truth.
"We have waited a long time to set the record straight," he said. "He is ready to defend his honor."
Schettino has repeatedly presented a defiant face over the shipwreck.
He has pointed the finger at the Costa cruise company for not providing maps with the rocks he hit appropriately marked.
Schettino has also blamed the ship, saying generators did not work so the elevators did not function, which hindered some people's escape.
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« Reply #651 on: February 11, 2015, 07:59:38 PM »

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31430998
Costa Concordia captain Schettino guilty of manslaughter
February 11, 2015

The captain of the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia has been found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Captain Francesco Schettino was at the helm when the ship hit rocks and sank in 2012, killing 32 people.

He was accused of taking the liner too close to the shore and then abandoning ship with passengers and crew still on board.

Schettino denied the charges and said he was being made a scapegoat.

His lawyers had argued that it was a collective failure of the ship's crew and others should share the blame for the disaster.

Schettino was not present when Judge Giovanni Puliatti read out the verdict at the court in the city of Grosseto.

The 54-year-old is expected to appeal against the verdict.

Earlier, the captain had made an emotional final appeal to the judge on the last day of the 19-month trial.

Schettino sobbed as he told the court he had spent the last three years "in a media meat grinder".

"All the responsibility has been loaded on to me with no respect for the truth or for the memory of the victims," he said.

Prosecutors had sought a 26-year jail term but the court sentenced Schettino to 10 years for multiple manslaughter, five years for causing the shipwreck and one year for abandoning his passengers.

Investigators had severely criticised his handling of the disaster, accusing him of bringing the 290m-long vessel too close to shore when it struck rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio.

Schettino said he had taken the ship so close to land for "commercial reasons" in a bid to please his passengers and those ashore.

He had also rejected rumours that he had wanted to impress his lover, Domnica Cemortan, who was with him at the helm.

Costa Crociere, the company that owned the ship, sidestepped potential criminal charges in 2013 by agreeing to pay a $1.3m (€1.1m; £860,000) fine.

It is being sued by survivors, the Tuscany region and Giglio island for further damages.

Five other employees, including the helmsman, were handed prison sentences ranging from 18 months to two years and 10 months in plea bargains concluded early in the investigation.

Schettino's request for a plea bargain was turned down.

(Time line and video at article link)
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« Reply #652 on: February 11, 2015, 08:08:01 PM »

Video explains this well, imo.  He was held responsible for degrees of acts, not guilty or guilty. 

http://abcnews.go.com/International/costa-concordia-captain-francesco-schettino-found-guilty-fatal/story?id=28894507
Costa Concordia Captain Found Guilty in Fatal Shipwreck, Sentenced to 16 Years
February 11, 2015


Terry Moran/ABC News
PHOTO: The Costa Concordia sits out by the breakwater in the Port of Genoa, Feb. 11, 2015.



Italian Captain Francesco Schettino was found guilty today for causing the fatal shipwreck of the Costa Concordia and sentenced to 16 years in prison, according to a three-judge panel.

The verdict came after a 19-month-long trial in which Schettino, who had been accused of causing the Jan. 13, 2012 shipwreck near the Italian island of Giglio, was charged with multiple counts of manslaughter and abandoning ship before all 4,200 passengers could be safely evacuated.

As part of the sentence, Schettino will not be allowed to command a ship for five years.
 

Prosecutors had requested for the maximum sentence of 26 years, but instead got 16 years and one month by the three-judge panel in the city of Grosetto, where the trial took place.

Schettino, 54, did not appear in court as a judge read the verdict.

Lawyers for many of the survivors and victims' families have attached civil suits to the criminal trial as a way to press the court to order Costa Crociere, the Italian cruise company that operated the ship, to pay hefty damages.

The judge did say Schettino and the cruise company had to pay damages and legal fees as part of the guilty, but did not go into specifics.

While insisting Schettino deserves to be convicted, the plaintiffs' lawyers have lamented to the court that no one from the cruise company's upper echelons was put on trial.

 

Four Concordia crew members and the boat's land-based crisis coordinator were allowed to plea bargain. None is serving prison time.
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