Is There Nothing That Costa Concordia Captain Won't Be Accused Of?
Authorities are well into their investigation of Costa Concordia captain Franchesco Schettino, and thanks to some leaks to the Italian press, it seems he and his crew are being examined for a little bit of everything, including drugs, prostitution, and a previous crash.
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The notion Schettino had been drinking and may have even used cocaine has been floating around for some time. But the report of a previous crash on Schettino's record is new, as is the allegation that Costa ships "were hotbeds of sexual harassment, drinking and drug abuse," as the Sydney Morning Herald puts it. The prostitution allegation is also new and there's little detail about it in the English-language coverage outside of one former employee's claim she saw "corruption, drugs and prostitution" on board the Concordia.
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The report of the crash is better documented. Leaked reports says Schettino crashed a Costa ship a year and a half before the Concordia, when he sailed too fast into a German port in June 2010. He said at the time he didn't know the speed limit, and reportedly wrote in an explanation of the incident that there were "probably other factors" beyond the speeding. With all this bad news coming out, it's no wonder Schettino is too afraid for his safety to attend his pre-trial hearing on Saturday.
