Captain told coastguard ‘it’s just a blackout’

A NEW audiotape has emerged of the captain of the stricken cruise ship Costa Concordia insisting that the vessel only had a blackout a full 30 minutes after it had rammed into a reef.

The recording emerged as police were poised to question a mystery blonde woman who may be a key witness to the chain of events that led to the vessel smashing into the rocks

The tape is of the first contact between Livorno port officials and Captain Francesco Schettino.