Francesco Schettino

Francesco Schettino (; born 14 November 1960) is an Italian former shipmaster who commanded the cruise ship Costa Concordia when the ship struck an underwater rock and capsized off the Italian island of Giglio on 13 January 2012. Thirty-two passengers and crew died in the incident. In 2015, he was sentenced to sixteen years in prison for multiple counts of manslaughter, causing a maritime disaster, and abandoning ship, and he began serving his sentence in 2017 after exhausting his appeals. He attended the nautical institute Nino Bixio in Piano di Sorrento. He initially served as an officer in charge of security and was later promoted to second-in-command.

In November 2008, while under his command, Costa Concordia suffered bow damage in Palermo when high winds pushed the ship against the dock; there were no injuries and repairs began soon afterward.

According to Costa, in 2010, while master of Costa Atlantica, Schettino allegedly damaged another Carnival Corporation ship, AIDAblu, while entering the port of Warnemünde, Germany, at excessive speed; AIDA Cruises later stated that the incident caused no damage.

In 2014, two years after the Costa Concordia disaster, he delivered a university seminar on panic management in Rome, an appearance that provoked strong controversy among politicians, survivors, and commentators.

In 2015, Schettino published a book, Le verità sommerse ( The submerged truths), in which he defended his conduct and portrayed himself as acting heroically. The book, controversially dedicated to the victims of the catastrophe, drew criticism from survivors and commentators who argued that he was attempting both to profit from the tragedy and to recast his public image.

Costa Concordia disaster Schettino's actions during the Costa Concordia disaster resulted in a 16-year prison sentence for manslaughter.

Schettino was captain of Costa Concordia on 13 January 2012, when the ship attempted a sail-by salute off Giglio, a maneuver he had previously performed, including at Giglio itself. The ship struck a well charted underwater rock, partially capsized and listed to starboard, leading to 32 deaths among passengers and crew.

Schettino later stated that he brought the vessel close to shore to perform a sail-by salute intended both to honor local mariners and to give passengers a better view, claiming he was navigating largely by sight because he knew the route well. Costa Cruises later stated that he failed to follow the company’s authorized route for such sail-by maneuvers. Schettino publicly accepted some responsibility and asked for forgiveness when speaking about the victims. Ahead of Schettino’s testimony in December 2014, another lawyer, Domenico Pepe, said his client wished to “set the record straight” and “defend his honour”.

Schettino argued that the rock formation the ship struck was uncharted, that the helmsman had language difficulties, and that generator failures hindered the rescue. He also maintained that he left the ship only when it rolled and that he “fell” into a lifeboat.

A widely reported recorded conversation between Schettino and Gregorio de Falco, the on‑duty Italian Coast Guard commander, captured de Falco repeatedly ordering him to return to the ship, rejecting his explanation that he had accidentally ended up in a lifeboat and could not return because it was dark and the boat had stopped moving. During the exchange, de Falco’s exclamation, "" (“Get back on board, for fuck’s sake!”), became emblematic of public outrage over Schettino’s conduct.

Giglio police officer Carlo Galli later recounted that he found Schettino onshore, offered him a dinghy to return to the ship, and observed that the captain’s clothes were dry despite his claim to have fallen into a lifeboat.

Treatment in media Schettino was heavily criticized in international media coverage and was widely nicknamed "Captain Coward" and "Captain Calamity". Some commentators portrayed him as a daredevil prone to insubordination. Tabloid coverage sometimes described him as "Italy's most hated man". At the end of his trial in Grosseto, Schettino said that he had spent three years in what he called a "media meat grinder".

Some reporting and commentary focused on his personal style of command, suggesting a pattern of risk‑taking behavior and highlighting earlier allegations of close‑to‑shore approaches and unofficial "salutes".

Costa Cruises maintained communication with Schettino between the collision and the formal evacuation order, and some sources argued that these exchanges may have contributed to delays in the rescue response. Other reconstructions of events noted that Schettino did not contact Costa during the first fifteen minutes after impact, so any later conversations could not have prevented him from issuing a mayday or promptly ordering an evacuation. He was also reported to have downplayed the seriousness of the situation to the coast guard and to have directed passengers away from muster stations, further delaying evacuation.

Although there were early suspicions that Schettino might have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol, toxicology tests carried out the night of the disaster were negative.

Legal proceedings After the incident, Schettino was placed in temporary custody by the prosecutor of Grosseto and moved to house arrest on 17 January 2012. On 5 July 2012 he was released from house arrest but ordered to reside in Meta di Sorrento.

Before the trial began, Costa chairman Pier Luigi Foschi publicly blamed the captain for deviating from the planned course and bringing the ship dangerously close to Giglio, and the company dismissed Schettino in 2012. Costa declined to fund his legal defence, and after a plea bargain with prosecutors the company joined the proceedings as a co‑plaintiff.

Schettino's trial was separated from that of five Costa employees: Roberto Ferrarini – the company's crisis director, later convicted of minimizing the scale of the disaster and delaying an adequate response Manrico Giampedroni – cabin service director Ciro Ano – first officer Jacob Rusli Bin – helmsman, the only non‑Italian defendant Silvia Coronica – third officer

All five entered plea bargains and received prison sentences ranging from 18 months to two years and ten months. A separate criminal investigation into Costa’s potential liability was closed when the company agreed to pay a fine of €1 million, although it remained exposed to civil damages. The trial was held in Grosseto’s , which was converted into a courtroom to accommodate lawyers for approximately 250 co‑plaintiffs and around 400 scheduled witnesses. Some survivors’ representatives similarly argued that systemic failures in ship design, safety procedures, and emergency equipment went beyond the captain’s individual actions.

In court, Schettino reiterated that the sail‑by salute was intended as a tribute to fellow seafarers and as a marketing gesture for passengers, and he denied that the maneuver was carried out to impress Cemortan, who had boarded as a non‑paying passenger and later confirmed their affair. Fellow prosecutor Stefano Pizza emphasized that the long‑standing expectation that a captain be the last to leave a stricken vessel is both a cultural norm and a legal obligation intended to minimize casualties. The term consisted of ten years for manslaughter, five years for causing the shipwreck, and one year for abandoning passengers, to be served consecutively. but some survivors’ associations and commentators considered the sentence too lenient in light of the number of deaths.

On 31 May 2016, an Italian appeals court upheld the original conviction and sentence.

In April 2025, approximately ten years after his conviction, Schettino withdrew a request for day‑release after reportedly failing to secure a suitable work placement required under Italian semi‑liberty rules.

Personal life He is married to Fabiola Russo, with whom he has one daughter.

On the night of the collision, 26‑year‑old Moldovan dancer Domnica Cemortan was present with Schettino on the bridge and later testified that the two were involved in an extramarital affair. Before beginning his prison sentence, Schettino lived in Meta in the Province of Naples.