# It's No Pit yet of the captain of the Concordia? Allow me **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 20, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089 "2012-01-20T02:33:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/1 "2012-01-20T02:33:41Z")
Jeez, what a scuzz ball. He runs the ship onto rocks while buzzing too close to an island to “salute” a pal on shore. He didn’t use the ship’s navigation system, he navigated by eye because he “knew the waters well.” A full half hour later, when his engine room was already flooding, he doesn’t mention hitting the ricks to the coast guard. He just acknowledges an electrical outage that they are investigating. He doesn’t order an evacuation until more than an hour after the collision. Then he leaves the ship. He deflects orders from the coast guard to get back about and manage the evacuation, and never did in fact go back aboard. Oh yeah, and eventually he claims that he never intended to leave the ship, but he tripped and fell into a lifeboat by accident. Remarkably, the ship’s second and third officers must have tripped and fallen into the lifeboat with him. Perhaps they all tripped over each other while racing for the lifeboats. The captain of the Concordia’s sister ship was on board by coincidence, actually stayed aboard and managed the evacuation, and has condemned Captain Schettino’s actions. Schettino’s former training officer says he repeatedly had to rein him in and he tried to drive the ship “like a Ferrari”. 11 dead and counting. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/2 "2012-01-20T02:39:35Z")
The transcripts between him and the coast guard would be hilarious if people hadn’t died because of this cowardly asshole. Coast Guard: There are already bodies? Schettino: Really? How many? CG: I don’t know. YOU TELL ME! Later: GET BACK ON THE FUCKING SHIP!!! ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/3 "2012-01-20T02:41:02Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Oh yeah, and eventually he claims that he never intended to leave the ship, but he tripped and fell into a lifeboat by accident. This is great. It reminds me of an Eminem song: “What, you tripped, fell, and landed on his dick?” I’m also fairly bewildered as to why the captain of a ship would agree to leave the shipping lanes in order to allow a waiter to wave to his family. I’m not buying that either. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/4 "2012-01-20T02:41:19Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > he doesn’t mention hitting the ricks to the coast guard. So the ship got rickrolled? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/5 "2012-01-20T02:48:52Z")
It also sounds like some 40 minutes before the crash, the good captain was having a nice dinner with wine along with a “friend”. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/6 "2012-01-20T02:49:49Z")
> [@Ike\_Witt](#): > > So the ship got rickrolled? If Rick Astley appeared and started singing on deck, that would have been _almost_ as bad a disaster. Sorry about the typo. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/7 "2012-01-20T02:53:59Z")
He was leading from the front. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/8 "2012-01-20T02:58:54Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > It also sounds like some 40 minutes before the crash, the good captain was having a nice dinner with wine along with a “friend”. She was checking the captain’s log? That seems to be the insinuation, but even ignoring that, it seems that he was also drinking and sailing, (some reports mention that he was seen drinking just before the incident with the girl) I would think that some rules were broken just on this item alone. > **[Costa Concordia: mystery of blonde on the bridge of doomed liner](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9026359/Costa-Concordia-mystery-of-blonde-on-the-bridge-of-doomed-liner.html)** > > The captain of the Costa Concordia was drinking and dining with a young blonde Moldovan woman just before his vessel ran aground off the island of Giglio, it has emerged. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/9 "2012-01-20T03:04:04Z")
He denied drinking at dinner, but there may be some photographic evidence as well as testimony from passengers. This will probably come out at his trial. And there will be a trial. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/10 "2012-01-20T03:15:36Z")
Filipino cook reports the guy ordered dinner for himself and his “friend” about 45 minutes after the collision “and I was surprised because our pots and pans were falling off the shelves.” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/11 "2012-01-20T03:18:20Z")
This in gonna be the best trial since OJ! ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/12 "2012-01-20T03:18:27Z")
> [@Huerta88](#): > > Filipino cook reports the guy ordered dinner for himself and his “friend” about 45 minutes after the collision “and I was surprised because our pots and pans were falling off the shelves.” This is at odd with passengers in the resteraunt from the link above: > [@](#): > > The captain reportedly left the restaurant with the woman and the officer at 9.05pm, 37 minutes before the collision ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/13 "2012-01-20T03:24:13Z")
[This is my favorite quote of this whole thing so far.](http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/costa-concordia/i-fell-into-lifeboatcosta-concordia-skipper-francesco-schettino-says/story-fnbvduqy-1226248041712) I’m guessing that Massimo Gramelini of La Stampa is a columnist or editorial writer, and he said this: > [@](#): > > “Even if only half of it is true, we are nevertheless in the presence of an Italian that we cannot pretend we don’t know,” he wrote. “More full of himself than sure of himself … Someone who creates havoc simply out of bravado and then tries to hide it with the mantra ‘Everything’s fine, no problem’, even when the ship is sinking … It’s not Schettino himself who worries me. It’s the Schettino in me.” ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/14 "2012-01-20T03:31:48Z")
“More full of himself than sure of himself” Wow, now I have worked for a couple of guys like that. The more I hear of this disaster, the worse the command crew (not just the captain) come off. These guys are going to prison for this. ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/15 "2012-01-20T03:40:11Z")
> [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > This is at odd with passengers in the resteraunt from the link above: How so? Sounds like they were maybe having a nightcap in his room? Here’s the link. > **[Cruise ship’s cook says captain ordered dinner after crash | CNN](https://www.cnn.com/2012/01/19/world/europe/italy-cruise-cook/index.html)** > > The captain of the Costa Concordia ordered dinner for himself and a woman after the ship collided with rocks off Italy’s coast, a cook on the ship said. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/16 "2012-01-20T03:46:48Z")
Meh. I can wait for actual facts. I’m sure much of what we’ve been told so far is either completely false or so misleadingly incomplete that it’s worse than completely false. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/17 "2012-01-20T03:48:53Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Meh. I can wait for actual facts. I’m sure much of what we’ve been told so far is either completely false or so misleadingly incomplete that it’s worse than completely false. You mistaken. He’s a Ship’s Captain, not a capitalist. No need to make excuses for him. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/18 "2012-01-20T03:57:31Z")
The captain has already testified in front of a judge that he went off course and close to the island in order to “salute” a friend there. The captain has already testified before a judge that he was not using the ship’s navigation tools and was steering by eye because he knew the waters so well. There is audio tape of a conversation between the coast guard and the captain 30 minutes after the collision in which he fail to mention hitting any rocks. If he did not already know that water was coming into his ship within that time, he was grossly derelict just for that. We have audio tape of a coast guard commander ordering him to return to his ship, while the evacuation was still continuing, and the captain insisting that he could coordinate the emergency response from the lifeboat. Unless you are claiming that people are deliberately mis-translating the exchange, that’s pretty fucking definitive. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/19 "2012-01-20T04:14:56Z")
**Boyo Jim** : My favorite quote from this incident is [this bit](http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-incidents/i-will-make-you-pay-for-this--go-back-on-board-20120118-1q5ae.html?skin=text-only) from the Coast Guard Captain: > [@](#): > > Listen Schettino, perhaps you have saved yourself from the sea but I will make you look very bad. I will make you pay for this. Dammit, go back on board! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089/20 "2012-01-20T04:17:21Z")
I bailed from Concordia too! Well, “[graduated](http://www.concordia.ca/)”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-no-pit-yet-of-the-captain-of-the-concordia-allow-me/610089.md?page=2)