Cruise ship sinking: Concordia’s skipper is a maestro, not a monster, claims loyal wife

THE wife of Francesco Schettino – who was captaining the Costa Concordia cruise liner when it ran aground on to rocks and sank – has defended her husband, saying: “He’s not a monster.”

Fabiola Rossi spoke out as calls increased for prosecutors to widen their investigation into the disaster, which has so far claimed 16 lives with at least another 16 people still missing.

In an interview with glossy Italian weekly Oggi, Ms Rossi said there was a witch-hunt against her husband, who is under investigation for multiple manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing a shipwreck.

Capt Schettino is under house arrest after the disaster earlier this month when he “recklessly” steered his 114,000-tonne ship, with over 4,000 passengers and crew, on to rocks close to the island of Giglio as part of a sail-by salute to impress a crew member.

Ms Rossi, who lives with Capt Schettino and their 17-year-old daughter in Meta di Sorrento, near Naples, said: “My husband is not a monster. He was always the go-to guy for the crew. I am the wife of a seaman, so I am used to doing things on my own. I tackle situations and I resolve them. This is a witch-hunt, everyone is out to get my husband. The media has made out he is to blame. He loves ships, he knows all about them and has never stopped studying them, to learn what they are capable of and what their limits are.

“That’s why for his crew he was always the go-to man, a maestro. He is decisive, stable and lucid, he analyses situations, understands them and then acts.

“At times, Francesco seems arrogant because he puts himself above the people he is speaking to and often tells them to shut up. He knows how to do his job but sometimes even those who know how to do their job can make mistakes – that’s if he did make a mistake.”

She spoke out as Beniamino Deidda, the prosecutor general of Tuscany, called for the investigation to also focus on the Concordia’s owners Costa Cruises.