(ANSA) - ROME, JAN 13 - Italy is remembering the 32 victims
of the Costa Concordia disaster on the 10th anniversary on
Thursday with a ceremony on Giglio island.
Former Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino is serving a
16-year sentence for multiple manslaughter in relation to
Italy's worst postwar maritime disaster.
He caused the disaster by sailing the liner too close to the
coast of the Tuscan island in a flyby to "salute" people on
land.
Schettino was also dubbed captain coward in the media for
abandoning the ship before all his passengers were evacuated.
The disaster occurred after the cruise ship carrying 3,216
passengers and 1,013 crew members hit an underwater rock
formation off the island's east coast just south of its port at
21:45 on the evening of Friday, January 13, 2012, in a strong
impact that opened a hole 70 metres wide on the left side of its
hull.
The ship ran aground north of the island's port at Punta
Gabbianara, which saved it from sinking 100 metres to the sea
floor.
Schettino is the only person to have stood trial for the
disaster after a number
of crew members and company staff reached plea bargains with
prosecutors.
In addition to the 32 people who died in the disaster, a diver
also died while working on the ship.
While the disaster shocked the world, the unprecedented
operation to set the ship upright so it could be towed away for
salvaging in 2014 was widely held as a remarkable feat of
engineering.
Giglio Mayor Sergio Ortelli said this year would be the last in
which the island holds a public ceremony for the anniversary of
the disaster.
"We don't want to forget, but we want to respect the 32
victims," Ortelli told reporters.
"The city council has decided to mark this day forever, calling
it the Day of Memory, because it is our duty with respect to the
relatives of the victims of the shipwreck.
"There were people of 54 nationalities on the ship and it is
right that they are remembered forever". (ANSA).
Italy remembers Concordia disaster on 10th anniversary
Shipwreck claimed 32 lives