How old is the costa concordia captain

By Crispian Balmer. Francesco Schettino was originally found guilty in of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning his passengers.

Free during the prolonged legal battles, Schettino, 56, reported to a Rome prison to start his sentence as soon as he was told of the verdict, his lawyer Saverio Senese said. The Costa Concordia was carrying more than 4, passengers and crew, when it hit rocks off Giglio on a chill January night, tearing a hole in its side and eventually keeling over. Critics accused him of bringing shame to the whole country through his actions. Francesco Schettino, the former cruise ship captain sentenced to 16 years for steering the Costa Concordia into rocks, was finally jailed Friday after his lengthy appeals process ran out.

Schettino, 56, was convicted for shipwreck, manslaughter and abandoning ship after he steered too close to rocks on the Italian island of Giglio on Jan. The collision tore a hole in the hull of the ,ton ship, which limped on without power before going aground in shallow water close to the shore of Giglio. Appearing bewildered and indecisive as the cruise ship slowly toppled onto its side, Schettino delayed lowering lifeboats then jumped into one himself, as 32 of the 4, passengers and crew on board died.

Schettino was turned into both a laughingstock and a national embarrassment in Italy after a recording emerged of a coast guard official, Gregorio De Falco, urging him by radio to get back on board to look for passengers.

I will create a lot of trouble for you. Get on board, damn it! Schettino later claimed he slipped and fell into the lifeboat. His request was denied. Proof of that malfunction was destroyed, he said, when the ship was raised, towed to Genoa in Italy and scrapped. Schettino was absent during the supreme court hearings, following memorable appearances at his initial trial, where he broke down in tears while addressing judges.

The Concordia was supposed to take passengers on a seven-day Italian cruise from Civitavecchia to Savona. But when it deviated from its planned path to sail closer to the island of Giglio, the ship struck a reef known as the Scole Rocks. The impact damaged the ship, allowing water to seep in and putting the 4, people on board in danger. Some consider them to be dangerous deviations from planned routes. Former captain of the Costa Concordia Francesco Schettino speaks with reporters after being aboard the ship with the team of experts inspecting the wreck on February 27, in Isola del Giglio, Italy.

The Italian captain went back onboard the wreck for the first time since the sinking of the cruise ship on January 13, , as part of his trial for manslaughter and abandoning ship. The impact on the Scole Rocks occurred at about p. Search and Rescue contacted the ship a few minutes after p. A little more than an hour after impact, the crew began to evacuate the ship.

Evacuation was made even more chaotic by the ship listing so far to starboard, making walking inside very difficult and lowering the lifeboats on one side, near to impossible.