Costa Concordia: Fears for Missing Twenty Four Passengers & Crew

Over the coming days and weeks we will be witness to the vilification of Francesco Schettino, though hardly necessary one would have thought, by paid liar Clarence Mitchell.

Mitchell who was brought in to help cover up the death of Madeleine McCann, who died whilst in the care of her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, will, by innuendo and leaks to his cronies in the press, do a hatchet job on Costa Concordia Captain, Francesco Schettino.

What we mustn't loose sight of however, is that Francesco Schettino is Costa's man. They judged him fit enough to take command of the Costa Concordia, and they paid him to do so.

And if the reports are true, that this isn't the first time Schettino has pulled this stunt, ''driving his ship like a Ferrari,'' and skirting dangers, then so much more damning it is for owners, Carnival Cruise Lines.

As I say, IF Schettino has put his vessel at risk on previous occasions, and given that, as we have seen quite recently, that ship's movements can be tracked to the nearest foot, then Carnival doesn't have a leg to stand on.

If my local council takes the trouble to scrutinize the tacks of all its vehicles that are on the road, and it does, speeding here speeding there, then one might expect the owners of a hundred million dollar gin palace to exercise a similar procedure.

Five More Bodies Found.

17 January 2012

Rescuers find five more bodies in the wreckage of the , bringing the known death toll of the cruise ship accident to 11. There are still 24 people missing.

Hopes are beginning to fade for the missing, four days after the giant cruise liner carrying 4,200 passengers and crew ran into rocks off the coast of Tuscany, Italy and capsized.

Five more bodies were found on Tuesday, bringing the total death toll to 11, after rescuers used controlled explosions to try to reach parts of the wrecked vessel which were previously inaccessible.

Before the five bodies were found, those missing were 14 German, five Italian, four French and two American passengers and four crew from Italy, Peru, India and Hungary.

The hull of the Costa Concordia remains wedged on a slope off the coast, near the island of Giglio.

The captain of the ship, Francesco Schettino, has been blamed for causing the disaster, risking thousands of lives and millions of pounds of ship, by sailing too close to the nearby island. He is in jail accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck by sailing too close to shore and abandoning ship before all his passengers and crew managed to scramble off.

New transcripts (see grey box, below) also suggest that Mr Schettino also refused orders from the coastguard to get back on the ship to co-ordinate the rescue.

State of emergency

Italy is preparing to declare a state of emergency following the incident, and the Italian government has pledged funds to prevent an environmental disaster.

Concerns are growing that rough seas could result in tonnes of fuel leaking from the wreck into waters that are part of a protected sanctuary for dolphins, porpoises and whales. The Italian government says the salvage company dealing with the vessel has until Wednesday to come up with a plan to remove the fuel, and 10 days with a plan to remove the ship.

Clarence Mitchell, who is representing Costa Cruises, said: "(Costa Cruises CEO) Mr Foschi confirmed the captain had been approaching the island of Giglio to 'make a salute'.

"The company says this (incident) was caused by an attempt by the captain to show the ship to the port. But there's a criminal investigation going on and we're not going to say anything that's going to compromise that or the captain's case."

Mr Schettino's lawyer issued a statement saying the skipper was "broken up, troubled and saddened by the loss of life", but he believed he had saved many lives by carrying out a difficult emergency manoeuvre with anchors after the accident, which turned the ship closer to the shore. He denies being too close to the coast and says the rock he hit was not on the charts.

Prosecutors also say the captain refused to go back on board when requested by the coastguard. Ch4 + video