After the horrible ordeal with the Costa Concordia and its sinking near the island Giglio, the captain – Francesco Schettino – decided to give his very first public interview with his side of the story about the incident. His pick feel on the “Fifth Column,” a program which is hosted by Salvo Sottile on Channel 5.
The controversy which surrounded this interview was based on the compensation which captain Schettino received from the Italian and foreign media, as well as for any future interviews he would give to the media. The sums for such interviews are presumed to be 50-57 thousands of Euros, but the officials deny this, thus presenting them as nothing more than rumors from the social networks.
President Carlo Rienzi in a statement for the media presented that any given compensatory funds given by the media for interviews would be removed as a precaution. In the same statement for the media, Rienzi stated that “we submitted a request to that effect to the Prosecutor...We believe that the money from the media in exchange for granting exclusive by the master should go in full to the relatives of the victims of the shipwreck that have taken action in civil and criminal law suit.”
The whole marine world, as well as the families of the victims are awaiting for the words which captain Schettino used to explain what happened that horrible day when the Costa Concordia sanked. Here we have the interview which captain Schettino gave to Channel 5. According to him, the night of the sinking near the island of Giglio, he had dinner with the Moldavian Domnica Cemortan with whom he shared just a friendly conversations. On the same interview for an episode of the show “Fifth Column” which broadcasted the first interview with captain Schettino at 21:20 on Channel 5 he stated that “it is normal that there was gossip about this situation and that they are described as more than just friends.”
He went on to explain how he should apologize for all involved in the incident by saying that “the accident is identified not only with the ship, the company commander is also identified and therefore it is only normal that I should apologize, just as a representative of the system.” He continued the apology with expressing that “surely I cannot be happy for what has happened, my condolences, my most sincere affection goes out to the people who unfortunately lost someone...The economic damage is definitely there also.” In the interview he expressed that even though the economic damages were extensive that the greatest damage in his eyes are the people who were lost in this terrible ordeal.
As far as the night when the ship capsized, the captain who got arrested for the incident expressed that this whole thing has finally sank in. He shared with the interviewer that he looked beneath the surface and heard a great Eco. He got off the bridge and saw that it was clear that the ship was titling. “I practically saw the spear that in the boarding gate where I made a choice that I could not stay on the ship because the wood was now slippery and creating an inclined 50-55 degrees. According to the captain who gave the interview for Channel 5, he is not sure if he slipped or fell, if the ship was moving, but that all of a sudden found himself on a lifeboat. He continues to say that “I wanted to hold hands with the ship, but it was not possible. The only thing I did is I took the phone and immediately called for help.” He goes on to share that he saw people coming on to the rock where he was holding on to in order to save themselves, but that he did not see people who were drowning.
The proud captain goes on to defend his job as a captain during the horrific ordeal by saying that “I, as a commander, never gave an order that cannot be executed, that the crew on duty could not do.” Tracing the call of the night of the tragedy exchanged between the captain of the Costa Concordia and the Coast Guard officer Gregory De Falco it is noted that he ordered him repeatedly to “come on board.” Accusations of cowardice have been presented to the former captain of Costa Concordia, to which he reply that if he was such a coward then why would he continue to keep a contact with Coast Guard in order to help his passengers and crew from becoming fatalities.
It seems that the former captain presents his side of the story, but in very unclear sequences. The interview, which could give a little more closure for friends and family of loved ones who were lost and died at sea that horrible night when the Costa Concordia tilted and capsized, seemed to have people even more confused. Was the captain trying to explain the night or confuse people? Was he trying to defend himself or apologize to those who truly lost so much that night? This interview could have answered so many questions of what really happened that night, but for now we are left with what we could find from the interview from Channel 5. All we have left to do is piece the pieces of this puzzle and wait for the full interview which may explain a lot more, or maybe even raise more questions!
