Costa Concordia captain jailed

  • Breaking
  • 11/02/2015

By 3 News online staff

The former captain of the doomed Costa Concordia cruise liner has been jailed for 16 years.

Thirty-two people died when Francesco Schettino steered the ship too close to rocks on the island of Giglio in Italy on January 13, 2012.

The 54-year-old was charged with multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship.

In court this morning (NZ time) Schettino sobbed and continued to deny all charges against him. He claimed he had been made a scapegoat for the accident, BBC reported.

He said his head had been "offered to sacrifice" in order to safeguard economic interests.

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

The ship, carrying 4229 people from more than 70 countries, listed and turned onto its side, making it impossible to launch many of the lifeboats once the alarm had been sounded.

Schettino says he delayed calling for help because he knew the wind would guide the ship towards land, and was forced to abandon ship after he fell off when it tilted, and was thrown into a lifeboat which carried him ashore.

An appeal is likely.

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source: newshub archive