Captain of Costa Concordia tests negative for drugs

The captain of the Costa Concordia was not under the effects of drugs when the liner hit a rock that tore a hole in the hull and caused it to capsize near the port of Italy’s Giglio island, his lawyer said.

A toxicology report showed that Captain Francesco Schettino had tested negative for drugs, his lawyer Bruno Leporatti told reporters.

“We had no doubts about it,” Leporatti said.

The comment came as divers resumed a search for bodies on the stricken vessel, which lies on its side in about 20 meters of water off Giglio. Thirteen people are known to have died and 17 are still missing after the accident, which occurred in calm seas and good weather as the 114,500-tonne liner approached the island, apparently to make a display known as a “salute”.

Schettino has been charged with multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship before the evacuation of more than 4,200 passengers and crew was complete. He is currently under house arrest in his home town of Meta di Sorrento near Naples.

Leporatti said the criminal probe into the doomed voyage may be widened.

Schettino’s lawyer said that evidence from his client about phone calls with the ship’s owners, Costa Cruises, at the time of the accident, could lead to the investigation being widened.

Schettino’s phone calls with the owner’s marine operation director ”. . . have opened further channels for investigation that could reasonably lead to an increase in the number of those under investigation,” Leporatti, said in a statement.

Third parties “could have at least contributed to creating the tragic event,” Leporatti said.

According to leaked transcripts from the investigation, Schettino has admitted steering too close to shore and Leporatti has said that while Schettino is willing to accept his share of responsibility, other factors were also involved in the accident.

Costa Cruises, a unit of Carnival Corp, the world’s largest cruise ship operator, has suspended Schettino and declared itself an injured party in the case. It has said “unfortunate human error” by Schettino was the cause of the disaster.