Judge fines Costa 1M euro for Concordia wreck
Italy: Judge fines Costa 1 million euro for Concordia wreck in plea bargain
ROME (AP) -- A judge in Tuscany has fined Italian cruise line Costa Crociere SpA 1 million euros in administrative sanctions for the 2012 wreckage of the Concordia cruise ship that killed 32 people.
Costa had asked for a plea bargain agreement to respond to the sanctions, which are foreseen for companies when employees commit crimes. On Tuesday Judge Valeria Montesarchio of the Grosseto tribunal accepted the plea.
Costa, a division of Carnival Corp., has sought to blame the disaster entirely on Capt. Francesco Schettino, who rammed the Concordia into a reef off the Tuscan island of Giglio on Jan. 13, 2012, causing it to take on water and capsize.
Grosseto prosecutors are seeking indictments for Schettino and five others on manslaughter and other charges; a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Monday.