Coastguard ordered cruise ship captain to go back on board

THE Costa Concordia captain was ordered not to abandon his stricken ship, it has been revealed.

Transcripts of calls to the coastguard show Captain Francesco Schettino, 52, insisted everything was fine shortly before the ship keeled over with 4,200 on board. By 12.42am, he claimed there were only about 40 people missing and said he was not on board.

In the recording, coastguard Captain Gregorio De Falco was heard shouting: "You go on board and then you will tell me how many people there are. Is that clear?" But Schettino resisted, saying the ship was tipping and that it was dark.

At the time, he was in a lifeboat and said he was co-ordinating the rescue from there. Capt De Falco shouted back: "And so what? You want to go home, Schettino? It is dark and you want to go home? Get on that prow of the boat using the pilot ladder and tell me what can be done, how many people there are and what their needs are. Now. You go aboard. It is an order. Don’t make any more excuses.

"You have declared the abandoning of the ship, now I am in charge." Schettino was finally heard agreeing to reboard, but it was unclear whether he did so.