Woman denies she is lover of capsized ship’s captain
Domnica Cemortan reportedly had drinks with captain Francesco Schettino on the night the ship smashed into rocks off the coast of Giglio, forcing the evacuation of its 4,200 passengers and crew.
She was an authorised passenger and Italian media reports speculated she may have been on the bridge because Schettino was trying to impress her.
“I’m not the captain’s lover,” said Cemortan, 25.
“You know why? He was always showing me photos of his daughter when she was little. A man who wants a lover doesn’t behave like that.”
She denied sharing wine with the captain, who reportedly ordered dinner for himself almost an hour after the Costa Concordia had a huge hole torn in its hull, a collision that killed at least 11 people with 21 still missing.
She denied the captain was even at her table, contrary to what several witnesses have stated and who have photograpic evidence of the encounter.
The former dancer said several other ship officers were with her, however. “It’s false to claim that the captain was with us.”
Italian judicial authorities are eager to speak to Cemortan and believe she may be able to help them build a timeframe of what happened on the night.
Meanwhile, with the cruiseliner sinking and people dying, the captain ordered dinner, according to the ship’s cook. Rogelio Barista said Schettino ordered dinner at about 10.30pm. The ship struck the rocks at 9.41pm.
“We wondered what was going on,” he said.
“At that time, we really felt something was wrong. ... The stuff in the kitchen was falling off shelves and we realised how grave the situation was,” he said.
Costa Cruises and Italian authorities have been highly critical of Schettino, who is under house arrest and faces possible charges of manslaughter, shipwreck and abandoning ship.
He is accused of deviating from his computer-programmed route to make a sail-by foghorn “salute” to a soon-to-retire crewman’s family members, who were waiting in the Giglio port.
Some islanders said they had been told beforehand that the would perform the ‘salute’ manoeuvre which took the ship within 150 metres of the shore.
Costa Cruises chief executive Pier Luigi Foschi told the Corriere della Sera that ships sometimes passed near to shore during what he termed “tourist navigation”, but he said this was always performed safely and he denied that the company knew the that Concordia would be going so close.
It has also emerged that the company is facing a class action suit in the US.
The BBC reported that the Italian consumer association, Codacons, would file the suit on behalf of passengers, along with two American legal firms. They are seeking at least $160,000 (€123,000) per passenger, but said some could seek up to €1m.
There are reportedly 110 claimants already taking part in the action.
The captain is facing a separate civil suit in Italy — a suit taken by his own cruise company.
