On January 13, 2012 the Costa Concordia was wrecked off the coast of Isola del Giglio. The ship, under command of Captain Francesco Schettino, struck a rock in the Tyrrhenian Sea. The wreck tore a gash on her hull which caused flooding in the engine room, resulting in power loss. “International maritime law requires all passengers to be evacuated within 30 minutes of an order to abandon ship,” but in the case of the Costa Concordia it took more than 6 hours and not all passengers were evacuated. There were 4,252 people on the ship. About 300 passengers were left on board after the evacuation, most of whom were rescued by helicopter or motorboats in the area. 32 people died. Captain Schettino left the ship prematurely.
[Guilty Costa Concordia Captain Schettino Remains Free]
On 11 February 2015, Schettino was found guilty of manslaughter of 32 passengers and was sentenced to 16 years in prison. Now six of the survivors of the Costa Corcordia shipwreck are talking about their experiences with American TV network NBC. The three-part documentary series, Escape, will air Sunday, March 1 at 9pm on NBC’s Dateline.
