Last voyage for Costa Concordia cruise ship

Captain Francesco Schettino simply does not fit the bill for a ship captain. He sounds and looks like a free wheeling, easy going person who schmoozed his way into the wrong job. However he got his job should be an investigation in and of itself. The man has NO GUTS.

 

I'd like to know that too! Probably very charming personable man. Company chose him for passenger relations I bet.

 

Such chaps delegate critical responsibilities. He was a 30 second swim from the beach, yet still refused to enter the boat and take charge.

PATHETIC

LOSER

WIMP

Definitely a candidate for the wall of

 

Some info here,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_mariner

 

works the same with the fish and wildlife peeps Yobar. I had a friend who shot a bear that was going after his horses, one of his clients mentioned it when they got back from hunt camp and they put the guy on trial for poaching, apparently the bear would have had to already have killed the horse before he could have legally shot it. Crazy but thems the rules. Guy lost his guiding license, ergo his business, his hunting license for life, and his right to own a gun as well as his right to vote, paid something like a $10,000, got a mountain of community service and was on probation for years . Poaching is a felony, last I heard convicted felons can't vote, but maybe thats changed since then.

Anyway I new that guy and he was about the most anti poaching pro conservation guide I was ever acquainted with. Its an odd combination but most of the hunt camp guides I know are all about conserving the environment. He's have been better off lying through his teeth and fighting the credibility of the witness.

 

Thanks for your many excellent posts. Agree almost 100%.
Where I disagree is "delegate responsibility". Can't do it. You can delegate authority, but not responsibility.

Sorry to conflict with you, but it's an IMPORTANT point.

 

Perhaps he was a " THE LOVE BOAT" captain ? What type of a person is a cruise ship captain ? What type of person is in command of a salvage tug ? What type of person operates supply vessels in the North Sea ? What type of captain commands a Volvo Round the world racer ?

 

"THE LOVE BOAT" captain. I like it. Someone else reported he was seen eating dinner with a woman 20 minutes prior to the incident.

Sounds like love to me. His brains were south of his belt.

 

"Horses for courses?" Maybe you need a different type of person to suit different work/skill sets, but they all have to be qualified and the same rules apply.

 

Well, psycologists asked the difference in captain types. Set up an experiment. First they put a world racer captain in this padded room containing only 2 solid cast iron cannon balls. The sail captain, being bored, decided to work on his biceps. Watching him excercise the cannon balls bored the scientists and they evicted him.
Next they put a tug captain in there. he figured it was an opportunity to catch up on sleep. BORING! tossed him out.
Put capt Francesco in there. In 15 minutes he'd lost one cannon ball and broke the other.

 

There was an article a few months ago in Maritime Reporter or one of its sister publications about a captain accused of improper procedures in a legal procedure following a minor collision in a restricted inland waterway. The captain thought his actions were proper, went into hearing and was figuratively beaten up by a knowledgeable and aggressive prosecuting officer. He hired a marine law expert to appeal, won reduction of penalty from license revocation to suspension and probation. Article author said he might have been cleared if he had the legal expert represent him from the beginning. Lesson, as you said, is never assume your belief that your actions were reasonable will protect you.

That being said, it would seem in this case that Cpt. Schettino's actions will not be found justifiable.

 

One report said he was with Costa 7 years, was hired as a safety officer.

Concordia was one of Costa's newest and largest. Other cruise lines often publicize the extensive experience of the captains of their newer and larger ships. If this report is true it seems he has only a few years experience as captain. I'm no expert, but that does not appear to be best resume for captain of a major cruise ship. Joseph T's observation seems consistent with some passenger reports and the transcript of the call from the local coast guard commander. Seems more suited for hotel/staff captain position rather than ship captain.

All speculation, of course. This will be a long investigation, hearing, and trial before the truth is settled.

 

I'm curios if Captain Francesco Schettino was the regular assigned captain, or vacation relief?

 

Agreed. I have had experiences with cruise ship captains from 23 years ago and just last year. In both cases my own observations and talks with crew members agreed that ship handling was one of the captain's strengths. I would think that experience and demonstrated ship handling abilities would be minimum requirements for one responsible for a ship costing a major fraction of a billion dollars and the safety of thousands of lives.

 

A different point of view - testimony from one crew ember

Here it comes: http://gcaptain.com/shame-you-costa-concordias/?37697 (thanks to Dougfrolich for the link on the other Costa Concordia thread)

She is very angry, and I can understand her. However, her testimony of the captain leaving with the last lifeboat doesn't coincide with what we have heard in the audio recordings. Perhaps she (and the captain?) simply wasn't aware there were people left aboard at the time they decided to abandon the ship? In the audio recordings the captain said to De Falco: "I've been told by the Company (Costa Crociere) that there are probably some 100 people still aboard. But he was already in the liferaft at that time. Nothing that could excuse him, but one more piece to add to the puzzle.

Anyways, back to that crew members testimony - it is indeed very emotional.