De Falco vs. Schettino

[WhisperJet]

My oh my...
Someone's going to need a good lawyer...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM9sam2u_Tk

Cheers,

Nick

[FlyTexas]

They're going to throw the book at Schettino for sure.

Brian

[Chris Trott]

So many shades of the MTS Oceanos off of South Africa... I hope this Captain gets drawn and quartered unlike Captain Avranas, who got another boat instead. Abandoning your passengers like that is one of the most despicable and cowardly acts that can be committed by a Captain at sea.

[TSR2]

To be fair to him, there is nothing in law that states a captain must stay with his ship, but they will nail him anyway

[fran65]

I do not know how to translate properly, however the charges for Cpt Schettino, are multiple murder manslaughter, shipwreck and to abandon the ship, leaving 300 passengers to their fate, deemed unable to care for themselves in the shipwreck. Now Schettino is under house arrest, I hope to translate well ....and he risks 15 years in prison, according to Italian law.
De Falco, in my opinion is not a hero but one who does his job.

[TSR2]

That sounds like a good translation Fran, at least it would seem to match what we are being told in the media in the UK.

An interesting video here showing that when the ship sailed close to the Island in August, it was actually closer. This is from the BBC new website, so I'm not sure if it will be watchable outside the uk?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16607837

[Garry Russell]

I thought under British law at least the Captain has to stay aboard to coordinate the rescue but once the order "Abandon Ship" is given then that no longer applies

The Abandon Ship order was given here although perhaps earlier than it should have been.

It seem the Ship passed the Island on a similar authorised route a few months ago and although it was not authorised the captain would have know it and it challenges the shipping lines statement that they would never have gone that close

[DaveB]

I've tried to keep a finger on the pulse of this story. There are a few things to note thus far..
A) His ship hit the rocks.. however uncharted he says they were (unlikely but not impossible due to seismic activity) and he is ultimately responsible for that as is the Captain of any vessel.
B) His actions after that got the ship into a position where the loss of life will undoubtedly be much less than it might have been.
C) The action of the coast guard releasing that taped conversation at this point, before an official investigation has got underway is in many ways as unprofessional as the Captain for allowing his ship to go into danger.
Ultimately.. the truth will out. I'd believed to this point that the ship had come to rest in comparatively shallow water but the news this evening shows it to be on a steep ledge making salvage a very different proposition. Rough weather is expected so things may change there at short notice.

ATB
DaveB

[airboatr]

They're going to throw the book at Schettino for sure.

Brian

Make that a library of books!


My D.O.D had a word for what the captain did.

Yella

What a sorrowful display ....really.

[nigelb]

An interesting video here showing that when the ship sailed close to the Island in August, it was actually closer. This is from the BBC new website, so I'm not sure if it will be watchable outside the uk?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-16607837

Ben, I was able to watch this video from the Colonies, very interesting - thanks for posting!

Nigel²