Captain Liable for Disaster at Sea

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Anyone who has paid attention to the news in 2012 has likely heard of the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster. The Italian vessel struck a reef before partially sinking off the coast of Italy. The $300 million salvage of the ship is touted to become the most expensive in history. The financial losses, however, are not what make this accident a tragedy. Through the negligence of Captain Francesco Schettino, the maritime disaster claimed the lives of thirty-two people, and this has had serious legal implications for Schettino.

The Costa Concordia Disaster

The Costa Concordia first set out to sea in 2006 as the largest Italian ship ever built until that time. At the time of the disaster, there were 4,252 passengers and crew on the vessel, and of these occupants, thirty were found dead and two are still missing and presumed dead. The ship was on a planned cruise of six ports on the west coast of Italy. What is even more disheartening is what led to the disaster and Captain Schettino’s reaction afterwards.
Captain Schettino decided to take the ship off course to allow passengers the chance to get closer to the shore and perform what is known as a near-shore salute. During this deviation off course, the ship hit a reef and began taking on water in the rooms where the ship’s generators and engines were located. The ship subsequently drifted for around an hour and then ran aground at Isola del Giglio, Tuscany. The ship tipped over at this time, and the captain abandoned ship, leaving at least three hundred passengers aboard.

Legal Troubles for Captain Francesco Schettino

Most people have heard of the old adage of how a captain should go down with the ship, or at least be the last one to leave it. Unfortunately for Captain Schettino, this isn’t just a good rule of thumb. The criminal charges that Schettino faces include abandoning ship and its incapacitated passengers. It was Schettino’s duty to ensure the safety of all passengers, and he failed to do this by leaving the ship via lifeboat while passengers were still in harm’s way.

Schettino was also facing multiple manslaughter charges, due to the role he played in causing the wreck by deviating from the ship’s intended course. Even though the captain is facing multiple manslaughter charges, according to our maritime injury lawyer, the charges of abandoning ship carry a heftier penalty. Schettino was placed on house arrest but subsequently released with the condition that he not leave Meta di Sorrento.

Schettino’s first officer is also being charged with crimes, but they hold nowhere close to the gravity of the charges the captain faces. If convicted, Schettino could face a prison sentence of over 2,500 years. The outlook for the captain is not promising considering the human toll of an incident that he created and then ran away from, leaving hundreds of passengers with no way to save themselves.

The Costa Concordia disaster is the largest passenger ship ever to have sunk when considering tonnage. The gravity of the wreck doesn’t meet that of more famous ship wrecks like the Titanic, but with today’s modern technology, no vessel carrying such a large number of private citizens should face this tragedy. Willfully disregarding his passengers’ safety and then abandoning them to fend for themselves means that the legal troubles for Captain Schettino are far from over.

Kelly Kovacic is a paralegal and contributing author for the trial lawyers at Doyle Raizner LLP. Maritime law is a complex area governed by a variety of federal statutes. The maritime injury lawyer team at Doyle Raizner has the knowledge and experience to work through these complicated cases and get you the compensation you deserve.