Costa Concordia captain denied plea bargain in deadly shipwreck

GROSSETO, Italy – Italian prosecutors on Tuesday rejected a plea bargain bid by the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground off Italy last year, killing 32 people, defense lawyers said. Capt. Francesco Schettino is accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship before all 4,200 passengers and crew were evacuated.Defense lawyer Francesco Pepe said Schettino had wanted to defend himself at a trial but when the five other defendants in the shipwreck off the Tuscan coast all sought plea bargains during a closed-door hearing Tuesday, his defense team decided to change strategy.

Costa Concordia captain denied plea bargain in deadly shipwreck Fox News
Costa Concordia captain back in court Reuters
Costa Concordia hearing re-opens Euronews
Francesco Schettino’s offer to plead guilty in return for a sentence of three years and four months is rejected by prosecutors. Skynews
Costa Concordia suspects want plea bargains Newstalk JB
Costa Concordia captain back in court Brisbane Times
Costa Concordia Captain Schettino sought a plea bargain, rejectedDigitalJournal.com
Plea deal for Costa Concordia captain rejected Telegraph

Costa Concordia Removal Planned by Fall 2013

Costa Concordia Removal Planned by Fall 2013
Occupational Health and Safety
Titan Salvage and Micoperi, the two companies hired to remove the Costa Concordia cruise ship from Giglio island’s rocks and tow it away to be scrapped, now report they expect to complete the job by the end of summer 2013. The companies are posting regular reports

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Costa Concordia captain “in fighting mood” in Italian court

GROSSETO, Italy (Reuters) – The Italian captain of the Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino, took the witness stand in a pre-trial hearing on Thursday, refusing to accept sole blame for sinking the cruise liner with the loss of 32 lives. Schettino is accused of manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning ship before the evacuation of more than 4,000 passengers and crew was complete. He has admitted making mistakes but says he should not be the only person blamed.”We are trying to find out exactly what happened,” Schettino’s lawyer Francesco Pepe told journalists in a break during the closed-door hearing in Grosseto.

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Italy cruise ship disaster crew win seafaring award

Reuters
ROME (Reuters) – The crew of the Costa Concordia, the huge liner which capsized off the coast of Italy in January killing as many as 32 people, won the Lloyd’s List “Seafarer of the Year” award for 2012. The citation for the award said the crew provided “true examples of courage and professionalism” during the dangerous night evacuation of the ship after it was fatally holed by a rock off the Tuscan island of Giglio.The ship’s captain Francesco Schettino has been blamed for the disaster and faces charges of multiple manslaughter, causing the accident and abandoning his ship before the evacuation was complete.”The ‘Seafarer of the Year’ award recognizes the competence, heroism and professionalism displayed by the sailors every day.”
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Insurer Lancashire hit by wider Costa Concordia loss

Reuters
(Reuters) – British insurer Lancashire said it expected to return cash to shareholders this year as it reported a 33 percent drop in its quarterly profit, blaming bigger payouts related to the Costa Concordia shipwreck and dwindling investment returns. Lancashire, which insures heavy-duty assets such as oil rigs, ships and aircraft, made a pretax profit of $60.6 million in the three months to June

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Costa Concordia black box to be revealed in court

ABC Online
Findings from the black box of the Costa Concordia cruise ship will be revealed on October 15, an Italian judge said Saturday at a hearing where the data was due to have been presented. Lawyers representing survivors were at the technical hearing in Grosseto in central Italy where investigative judge Valeria Montesarchio said there had been delays in analysing all the data from the instruments on the ship.
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Sophia sails into row about monster ship in Venice

The Independent
The monstrous vessel, which is 40m longer than the wrecked Costa Concordia, swept past St Mark’s Square, and no doubt blotted out the sun from some positions, while protesters, like specks on the shore, waved banners which read “No Big Ships”.  Environmentalists are urging Italian screen legend Sophia Loren to ditch her endorsement of the latest giant cruise liner to sully the views and pollute the air of Venice. The 140000-tonne MSC Divina was christened by the actress last month in France.
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Venice environmentalists ask Sophia Loren to renounce ship

Reuters
Since the wreck of the Costa Concordia last January, environmentalists have stepped their efforts to have large cruise ships banned from the lagoon which surrounds the historic centre of the canal city. The Concordia capsized off the coast of the Tuscan island of Giglio after it hit rocks. Environmentalists on Saturday urged film diva Sophia Loren to help stop a big cruise ship named in her honor from ever entering the Venice lagoon because of potential damage to the city and the lagoon’s delicate ecosystem.
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Refloat of Italy’s Concordia wreck to be biggest ever

Reuters
By Catherine Hornby | ROME (Reuters) – Salvage crews will employ huge cranes and air tanks to refloat the half-submerged Costa Concordia cruise liner in the largest ever operation of its kind, according to a plan unveiled on Friday.
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Costa puts hopes on new flagship after cruise disaster

Reuters
By Stephen Jewkes | VENICE (Reuters) – Cruise operator Costa Crociere took delivery of a new flagship liner on Saturday, hoping the glamour of Italy’s biggest ship will mark a new era for a company whose reputation was marred by the deadly Concordia disaster. The 114,500-tonne Costa Fascinosa, built by state-owned shipyard Fincantieri, has space for 3,500 passengers. An even bigger vessel, with 5,000 berths, should be ready in 2014 for a company that says bookings have recovered from the crisis.
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