Speaking of cretin captains who thought they could get away with a stunt

but refused to accept responsibility for their actions when the whole thing turned into an unparalleled disaster costing over 30 innocent persons to DIE!

[B]Schettino could face 22 year prison term[/B]

DECEMBER 2, 2014 —A prosecutor in Groseto, Italy, plans to request over 20 years in prison for ex Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino for causing the January 2012 wreck that claimed 32 lives. Italian news agency ANSA quotes judicial sources as saying that Schettino could be sentenced to as many as 22 years in prison if convicted on multiple counts of manslaughter and dereliction of duty.

Italian news media report Schettino claimed in his first court testimony Tuesday that he steered cruise ship close to Giglio Island for “business reasons” and that “The approach to the island favored a commercial promotion.”

Schettino, giving evidence for the first time in his trial, confirmed that he had been entertaining Moldovan dancer Domnica Cemortan to dinner and had invited her up onto the bridge where he took command just 15 minutes before the ship collided with the half-submerged rocks.

“I didn’t do (the sail-past) as a favor for her,” he told the court in Grosseto, Tuscany, but performed the maneuver in order to please the ship’s head waiter, whose family came from Giglio, to impress a retired naval commander, who was staying on the island, and to provide a spectacle for his passengers, while fulfilling what he called commercial demands.

Costa Crociere has said that Schettino made an “unapproved and unauthorized” deviation from the ship’s set route.

Schettino also denied having abandoned the ship, saying that he was thrown into the water.

Schettino’s team claims that no one died because of the actual collision, but that a backup generator failed and water-tight compartments got flooded, creating problems for people wanting to escape.

a life sentence without parole is too good for this MISERABLE FUCKING STAIN on our profession!

not gonna let up on this CRETIN

[B]Costa Concordia Captain Francesco Schettino Testifies[/B]

By Mike Schuler On December 2, 2014

Costa Concordia Captain Francesco Schettino took the stand Tuesday to offer his first testimony in his own trial on charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship.

Schettino was captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia when it wrecked on Isola del Giglio on the night of January 12, 2012 during a high seas ‘salute’. The disaster resulted in the deaths of 32 people and kicked off the largest maritime salvage operation in history.

In his testimony, Schettino was described as combative, defiant, and contradictory of testimony offered by other of the ship’s officers and even his own previous statements.

The ongoing manslaughter trial kicked off in July 2013 but was immediately postponed due to a lawyer strike in Italy. If found guilty, Schettino could face up to 20 years in prison. A verdict could come early next year.

An in-depth report on Schettino’s testimony can be found at CNN and Italy’s The Local. Also NPR has a good round-up of links.

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it gets even better here…UNBELIEVABLE HUBRIS!

[B]Costa Concordia captain combative, defiant as he testifies at trial[/B]

By Barbie Latza Nadeau and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN

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.

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.

The good captain doesn’t strike me as a cretin and prick ( not saying he isn’t) so much as a shameless liar who will say anything to extricate himself from fault and blame anyone and everyone else. He sounds pathological, truly convinced he did nothing wrong. Hope they take care of business in that court.

[QUOTE=Slick Cam;149054]The good captain doesn’t strike me as a cretin and prick ( not saying he isn’t) so much as a shameless liar who will say anything to extricate himself from fault and blame anyone and everyone else. He sounds pathological, truly convinced he did nothing wrong. Hope they take care of business in that court.[/QUOTE]

everything you list about Shittino describes CRETIN to me!

SHAMELESS UNREPENTANT CRETIN to be precise…

Entertaining the Moldovan dancer. . . . I bet going on the rocks was a real woody killer. . . . .

I was just considering underlying neuroses that would lead to someone acting like schittino does. Upon further consideration, being a shameless liar does pretty much make one a cretin and prick, by default.

Here’s a new video that was shown in court today [I]allegedly[/I] showing Schettino abandoning ship. Who knows if its him or not.

http://gcaptain.com/new-video-allegedly-shows-costa-concordia-captain-abandoning-ship/

I’m getting a lot of shit on facebook for posting this for some reason. Since when did we stop hating on Schettino? That used to be the one thing we could all agree on.

[QUOTE=Mikey;149079]Here’s a new video that was shown in court today [I]allegedly[/I] showing Schettino abandoning ship. Who knows if its him or not.

I’m getting a lot of shit on facebook for posting this for some reason. Since when did we stop hating on Schettino? That used to be the one thing we could all agree on.[/QUOTE]

all the resident pinheads is one reason I never visit the gCaptain Facebook page

FUCK ALL OF EM Mike…you are amongst friends here!

I will reserve judgement until I see naked pictures of the Moldovan dancer!

our young lady is apparently a very rare “good girl” without even a topless photo of herself on the internet…very odd for a dancer I would certainly say

our researchers did uncover with this lone bikini shot of her and our analysts came back with the conclusion “nothing special” Small breasts & thick hips…not worth destroying one’s own ship in order to impress.

Schettino absolutely has no shame.

Blaming the helmsman. Unreal.

[QUOTE=capnfab;149092]Schettino absolutely has no shame.

Blaming the helmsman. Unreal.[/QUOTE]

he needs to be endlessly sodomized by a thousand Indonesian seaman all with razors strapped to their dicks!

MON DIEU ! I HAVE NEVER HATED A MAN AS MUCH AS I HATE THIS CRETIN!