Concordia skipper vows to clear name

An aerial view shows the Costa Concordia as it lies on its side next to Giglio Island taken from an Italian navy helicopter in this August 26, 2013 file photo. The wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise liner is set to be refloated within 10 days, to be towed away from the Italian island where it ran aground and capsized two and a half years ago, the group organising the removal said on July 3, 2014. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi/Files (ITALY - Tags: DISASTER MARITIME TRANSPORT)

Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino has vowed that he will never accept his conviction for abandoning ship on the night of the 2012 cruise ship disaster.

Schettino, 54, was sentenced on Wednesday to 16 years in prison for multiple manslaughter, causing a maritime accident and for leaving his boat before all of the passengers and crew had been evacuated.

“I will fight for ever to prove that I did not abandon the Costa Concordia,” Schettino said in his first reaction to the verdict at the end of his 19-month trial.

Despite conviction, Schettino was still a free man on Thursday and will remain so, pending at least one, and likely two appeals, which could take years.

Italy’s crammed jails and generous parole system mean it is unlikely he will ever serve anything like 16 years in jail for his role in a disaster that left 32 people dead.

The violation of the ancient code of the sea which states a captain must be the last man off a sinking ship only accounted for one year of the sentence handed down by a three-judge panel in the Tuscan town of Grosseto.

But the accusation that he behaved in a cowardly and unprofessional way in the chaotic aftermath of the Concordia smashing into underwater rocks off the island of Giglio appears to have been the one that hurt the Naples-born career seaman the most.

The charge was instrumental in turning Schettino into a reviled figure, with the Italian media’s monicker for him, “Captain Coward”, picked up around the world and his defence that he “fell” into a lifeboat widely ridiculed.

Schettino was not in court for the verdict, having broken down in tears during his final plea earlier in the day.

Speaking to Italian reporters later, he said he was disappointed with the guilty verdict, but would not comment on the more serious charges until he had read the judges’ motivations.

Schettino was given 10 years for manslaughter and five for causing a disaster that led to the biggest salvage operation in maritime history.

His sentence was significantly lower than the 26 years prosecutors had called for.

The judges also made a series of damages awards which will have to be partly met by the ship’s owner, Costa Crociere, which many see as having escaped lightly from the disaster.

They ruled that Costa must share civil responsibility for the disaster with the disgraced skipper, but their compensation awards, totalling just over seven million euros ($A10.26 million), were limited.

The company sidestepped potential criminal charges in 2013 by accepting partial responsibility and agreeing to pay a one million euro fine, but it may yet face bigger payouts depending on the outcome of ongoing civil suits.

Awards announced on Wednesday included 300,000 euros each for the region of Tuscany and the island of Giglio, a tiny fraction of what they were seeking.

Image: NY Post

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