Costa Concordia captain 'changed speed of ship for dinner with dancer'

Feb 24, 2012 |

Agencies

chennai

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Allegations continue to pile up against the captain of ill-fated cruise liner Costa Concordia.

It has now been claimed that Francesco Schettino 'slowed' the gigantic ship down to 'enjoy dinner' with a Moldovan ex-dancer and then increased the speed to make up lost time.

Several passengers have already revealed to investigators that they saw Schettino having dinner with a 'Domnica Cemortan' - a dancer who has worked on other cruise liners before.

Britain's The Telegraph today carried a report from the prosecution which has alleged that Schettino, after that dinner, 'ordered the ship’s speed to be increased to 16 knots despite the proximity of obstacles, shallow water, and night-time conditions'.

The fresh charge concludes that as a result of this decision the luxury ship, carrying over 4,000 passengers 'failed to maintain adequate distance from the island'.

The Costa Concordia is believed to have hit rocks off the Italian island of Giglio.

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