Italian Cruise Ship captain of luxury cruise Concordia got scenes for sixteen years and has been charged for manslaughter.

The captain of Italian luxury cruise Captain Francesco Schettino has been found guilty of man slaughter and has been sentenced for 16 years to jail.

According to evidence presented in court the ship was in complete control when it hit the rocks and sank killing more than 30 people in 2012.

Schettino was accused of first taking the ship close to the shore and then negligently abandoning it, while it was full of passengers and crew. He did such a reckless act without foreseeing the consequences of it.

Prosecutors had insisted Schettino was a “reckless idiot” and asked the court to sentence him to 26 years and three months in prison.

This long trial has been running since 2013 and finally the verdict was given out and Schettino was charged guilty under the offense of manslaughter for killing 32 people recklessly and negligently.

In his defence Schettino said that he was being “sacrificed” for the economic interest of his employer, and his crew was also as much involve in the offense as he was.

“My head was sacrificed to serve economic interests,” the 54-year-old Neapolitan seaman told the court.
Schenitto further said that he brought the ship closer to the shore to please his passengers and the others on the shore. Rumour has it that Schenitto brought the cruise near the shore to impress his girlfriend.

Statement of declaration highlighted the errors by other crew and equipment malfunctions after the Concordia smashed into a jagged reef when Schettino steered the ship close to the island of Giglio’s shoreline while passengers were having supper in the main dining room.

The reef gashed the hull of the ship and sea water rushed in, sinking the Concordia. Autopsies determined that victims drowned aboard ship or in the sea after either falling or jumping off the ship during a chaotic, delayed evacuation.