What Happened to the Captain Who Abandoned the Costa Concordia?

Netflix’s new documentary, “Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea,” has thrust the Costa Concordia disaster from the night of January 13, 2012, back into the spotlight. The film became available for streaming on July 10, 2026.

The documentary features never-before-seen footage and survivor accounts that are leaving viewers with one question: Where is Ship Captain Francesco Schettino today?

Unlike other disasters at sea, Schettino has been personally found at fault for the disaster. Instead of following the planned route, Schettino chose to perform a reckless “sail-by salute” maneuver off the coast of Giglio Island in Italy.

This brought the Carnival-owned ship too close to the shore and led the 114,147-gross ton vessel to collide with rocks that were known to be in the area, eventually causing the ship to capsize.

Making matters worse, the captain abandoned ship too early. He was spotted on a lifeboat when around 300 passengers and crew members were still stranded on the rapidly sinking cruise ship.

Under the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS), it’s the captain’s responsibility to ensure the safe and orderly evacuation of all passengers and crew is completed, meaning he should have been the last person to debark.

At the time of the incident, 1,023 crew members and 3,206 passengers were onboard, meaning 4,229 lives were unnecessarily placed at risk.

A total of 32 people ultimately died and dozens more were injured, making this the most deadly cruise ship disaster in modern history.

The cruise ship itself remained stuck off the coast of Giglio until July of 2014, when it was finally righted and refloated using massive flotation tanks. She was eventually towed back to Genoa, Italy, for scrapping.

Cruise Ship Captain Imprisoned

Schettino, who served as a Costa Cruises captain from 2006 until that fateful night, had to answer for his crimes over the course of a 19-month trial in Italy.

On February 11, 2015, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison, with 10 years for manslaughter, five years for causing the collision, and one year for abandoning passengers.

The former captain also received a five-year interdiction, meaning he was banned from commanding a ship following his eventual release from prison.

Schettino tried to appeal his sentence for two years, before finally turning himself in to start serving his time in May of 2017. He is now nine years into his sentence and incarcerated at the Rebibbia Prison in Rome, which is one of Italy’s largest prisons.

As recently as January of 2025, the captain attempted to apply for “day release” for inmates with good behavior, but withdrew his request in April of 2025 over not being able to find a “suitable work placement,” which is a requirement of the program.

Valuable Lessons Learned

While the Costa Concordia disaster is primarily the result of “human error,” it also identified glaring gaps in communication and failures to adhere to mandatory safety protocols.

Cruise Hive previously reported that the cruise lines began emphasizing the importance of accountability for ship captains and other high-ranking crew members in the aftermath of the sinking.

Training programs that focused more on handling emergency evacuations became standard, while enhanced muster drills for all cruise passengers before departure on embarkation day were implemented.

Additionally, it’s now a requirement for extra life jackets to be available near muster stations and on open decks so that passengers do not have to waste time returning to their cabins in the unlikely event of an emergency.

As an added layer of protection, automated systems that ensure that the ship’s crew cannot make unsafe navigational errors are now embedded in most modern cruise ships.

Communication between the bridge team, cruise line headquarters, and local authorities has also improved significantly in the over a decade since the Costa Concordia disaster.