13 years after the accident

Costa Concordia captain hopes to be released from prison

The Costa Concordia after capsizing in 2012(Bild: AP/Gregorio Borgia)

Former captain Francesco Schettino has been in prison for eight years after he rammed a rock with the Costa Concordia cruise ship in 2012 and caused dozens of deaths. The seafarer is now hoping for a conditional release.

The 63-year-old Francesco Schettino has already served more than half of his sentence and has therefore reached the deadline for alternative measures, reported his lawyer Paola Astarita. A hearing on Schettino's application was scheduled for Tuesday, but has now been postponed until April. 

Francesco Schettino had initially stated that he had "fallen" into a lifeboat after the accident - eyewitnesses and a video refuted this version.(Bild: EPA/MAURIZIO DEGLINNOCENTI)

The postponement was necessary because the judge was changed at short notice, it was said in Rome. Schettino had failed in his request for a retrial.

Schettino had failed with his demand for a retrial in 2023. The Supreme Court rejected a corresponding application. The captain was not only criticized for the failed manoeuvre, but also because he left the ship while the evacuation was still underway.

Salzburg's mayor at the time survived the accident
The Costa Concordia cruise ship hit a rock off the island of Giglio on 13 January 2012 and capsized. 32 of the more than 4,200 people on board lost their lives. All 77 Austrians on board the Costa Concordia - including the mayor of Salzburg at the time, Heinz Schaden - survived the accident.