Inside Netflix's Shipwrecked captain's critical error when 'abandoning' Costa Concordia
Inside Netflix's Shipwrecked captain's critical error when 'abandoning' Costa Concordia
Charl WrightFri, July 17, 2026 at 9:00 AM UTC
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Captain Francesco Schettino abandoned the Costa Concordia while 300 people were still on board -Credit:AFP/Getty Images
Netflix has blessed streaming fans after it released a docufilm about the Costa Concordia tragedy.
On July 10, Netflix dropped its latest documentary, Shipwrecked: Nightmare At Sea, a harrowing offering about a collision that took the lives of 32 people, including a five-year-old girl.
On Jan. 13, 2012, the same day the ship had departed from Italy, the Costa Concordia collided with above-water rocks, which left a mammoth gash in the side of its hull. Devastatingly, several passengers drowned, as were left trapped in elevators, and others were pulled under by vortex-like water after the collision, which was not reported to authorities straight away.
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The Costa Concordia crashed into Scole Rocks after it veered off course and towards the island of Giglio. The incident took place only two and a half hours after it set sail from the port of Civitavecchia at 7:18 p.m. for a planned week-long Mediterranean voyage.
However, poor decisions were made by the liner's captain, Francesco Schettino, which caused the disgraced sailor to be sentenced to 16 years and one month in prison.
Part of the rocks that tore a huge gash in the hull of the Costa Concordia -Credit:Target Presse Agentur Gmbh/Getty Images
The first bad decision made by Schettino was what caused the crash: veering off course toward Giglio to give the island a "salute" for a head waiter whose family lived there.
Schettino also reportedly chose to "navigate by sight" in pitch-black darkness, turning off the computerized alarm system, something he can be heard panicking about in the new Netflix film.
Additionally, Schettino sailed the ship at excessive speeds as he approached the rocky coastline. He also brought guests up onto the bridge that night during the critical maneuver, which in turn left a 160-foot gash in the hull.
After the crash, Schettino's delay in raising the alarm was a huge error of judgement.
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The Costa Concordia tilted at a 70-degree angle after the collision -Credit:Getty Images
For nearly an hour, he told the Italian Coast Guard and his own passengers that the ship was merely experiencing a temporary "electrical blackout". Panicking passengers were even instructed by crew members to return to their cabins, costing precious survival time.
He also delayed the evacuation order and then abandoned ship prematurely, which was documented in the documentary via a spine-chilling phone call with the coastguard.
In turn, he was convicted of manslaughter, causing a maritime shipwreck/disaster, failing to properly report the scale of the disaster to maritime authorities, and abandoning ship. But why was it so significant that Schettino abandoned ship?
Captain Francesco Schettino is currently in prison -Credit:AFP/Getty Images
Speaking exclusively to The Mirror US, Nora Demleitner, dean at Washington and Lee University's Law School, explained the significance of a captain abandoning ship.
"Captains are responsible for the crew and passengers on their ship. When a captain leaves the ship when others remain behind in an emergency situation, he fails in a core duty and responsibility," Demleitner explained.
The legal expert told us that this "departure is a breach of a legal duty" and can lead to manslaughter charges if deaths occur.
"Clearly Captain Schettino knew all of this and attempted to style his departure as accidental and unintended," Demleitner added, referring to the audio.
The wrecked Costa Concordia emerging from the water -Credit:AFP/Getty Images
In the call, the coastguard can be heard telling him, "You get back on board. Assure me that you are going back on board," to which Schettino replied, "I am in a lifeboat here under the ship. I haven't gone anywhere, I am here," the captain replied, before he was told to get back on the ship.
He was then asked if he was "refusing" to assist, as the call handler raged, "You go on board! This is an order. You have declared 'Abandon Ship'. Now I am in charge. You go on board! Is that clear? Do you hear me? Go and call me immediately when you are on board. My rescue teams are already there at the bow."
"How many dead bodies?" Schettino asked, with the handler finally replying, " I don't know! You are the one who should be telling me that! Christ! You want to go home, Schettino? It’s dark, and you want to go home? Go on board and tell me what can be done, how many people there are, and what they need. Now!"
Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea is now available to stream on Netflix.
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
