Francesco Schettino

Francesco Schettino (Italian pronunciation: [sketˈtiːno]; born November 14, 1960) is an Italian former sea captain who commanded the cruise ship Costa Concordia when it capsized with the loss of 32 passengers and crew off the Italian island of Giglio on January 13, 2012.

Professional development

Schettino was born in Castellammare di Stabia into a seafaring family. After he had attended the nautical institute Nino Bixio in Piano di Sorrento, Schettino worked for the ferry company Tirrenia. In 2002 Schettino was hired by Costa Crociere (Costa Cruises), a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation. Starting as an official in charge of security, he moved up to become second-in-command. In 2006 Schettino was promoted to captain and given command of the newly launched Costa Concordia.

In 2010 Schettino as captain of the Costa Atlantica entered the port of Warnemünde, Germany, at too high a speed, allegedly causing damage to the AIDAblu, also a Carnival Corporation ship.

Schettino lives in Meta in the Province of Naples and is married to Fabiola Russo. He has one daughter.

Costa Concordia

Costa Concordia (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkɔsta konˈkɔrdja]) was a Concordia-class cruise ship built in 2004 by the Fincantieri's Sestri Ponente yards in Italy and operated from 2005 until 2012 by Costa Crociere (a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation). It was wrecked off the coast of Isola del Giglio in Italy on 13 January 2012. It was declared a total loss and later towed to the port of Genoa where it was scrapped. The name Concordia was intended to express the wish for "continuing harmony, unity, and peace between European nations."

Costa Concordia was the first of the Concordia-class cruise ships, followed by similar ships Costa Serena, Costa Pacifica, Costa Favolosa and Costa Fascinosa, and Carnival Splendor built for Carnival Cruise Lines. When the 114,137 GT Costa Concordia and its sister ships entered service, they were among the largest ships built in Italy until the construction of the 130,000 GT Dream-class cruise ships.

Francesco

Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis", is the second most common name among males in Italy after Giuseppe, and is the given name of:

List of people with the given name Francesco

Coast guard

A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term implies widely different responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to being a volunteer organization tasked with search and rescue functions and lacking any law enforcement powers. However, a typical coast guard's functions are distinct from typical functions of both the navy (a pure military force) and a transportation police (a civilian law enforcement agency).

History

The modern Her Majesty's Coastguard of the United Kingdom was established in 1809 as the Waterguard, and was originally devoted to the prevention of smuggling as a department of the HM Customs and Excise authority. It was, however, also responsible for giving assistance to shipwrecks.

Each Water Guard station was issued with Manby's Mortar which was invented by Captain George William Manby in 1808. The mortar fired a shot with a line attached from the shore to the wrecked ship and was used for many years up and down the coastline. This began the process in which the Coastguard assumed a life saving role. In 1821 a committee of inquiry recommended that responsibility for the Preventative Water Guard be transferred to the Board of Customs. The Treasury agreed and in a Minute dated 15 January 1822, directed that the preventative services, which consisted of the Preventative Water Guard, cruisers, and Riding Officers should be placed under the authority of the Board of Customs and in future should be named the Coast Guard. In 1845 the Coastguard was subordinated to the Admiralty.