Costa Concordia captain freed from house arrest
Published Friday, July 6th 2012The captain of the wrecked cruise liner Costa Concordia was released Thursday from house arrest by Italian judges who ordered him not to leave his home town while the case against him continues.
Francesco Schettino is accused of causing the accident on January 13 in which as many as 32 people died.
The giant Costa Concordia, carrying more than 4,000 passengers and crew, ran aground off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio shortly after beginning a cruise of the western Mediterranean.
Schettino is accused of wrecking the 126-ton vessel by bringing it too close to shore where a rocky ledge tore a gash in its side, causing it to keel over and sink.
At least 30 people died in the accident and another two people are still missing and are believed to be dead.
In a letter explaining his version of events, published in Italy’s La Corriere della Sera newspaper, he defended his actions after the ship struck rocks and capsized off the coast of Tuscany in January.
He was able to make the claims after being released from house arrest Thursday.
Schettino faces charges of manslaughter, shipwreck and abandonment of his vessel.
He has publicly denied all these charges, claiming the reef that tore into the Concordia was not on his navigational charts.
In the letter, Schettino said it was only when he saw "white foam" that he realised how close the ship was sailing to the rocks.
“ That was the sign that led me to give the order to steer starboard, by pure instinct. In that moment a divine hand no doubt rested upon my head. If I had continued on that path we would have hit the rocks with the bow. It would have been a catastrophe,’’ he said.
Although he made brief statements to the Italian press immediately following the disaster, Schettino has, until now, been unable to speak freely due to the terms of his house confinement.
Magistrates in the Tuscan town of Grosseto who are handling the case said Schettino would no longer have to remain confined to his home in Meta di Sorrento near Naples but would have to remain in the town.
He would also no longer be bound by the strict conditions of house arrest which prevented him from communicating with anyone apart from his lawyer and close family.
The judges' ruling said that the period Schettino had spent under house arrest had already had a deterrent effect and he would remain under adequate supervision by authorities.
Schettino faces charges of multiple manslaughter, causing the accident and abandoning ship prematurely. A pre-trial hearing was held in Grosseto, near Florence, in March.
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