Report: Ship Captain Was Drinking

If this is true, his newfound status as “Italy’s most hated man” is understandable. Passengers say Francesco Schettino, the captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia, was drinking at the bar with a “beautiful woman” shortly before his ship hit a rocky crag close to the shores of the Italian island of Giglio, according to The Daily Mail. Italian prosecutors also claim Schettino was steering the ship near the rocky shore to send a greeting signal to someone on the island, though they say it had apparently become a tradition to do so. According to the Telegraph, there are reports that the ship’s officers had a friend on shore they wanted to salute.