Costa Concordia Captain 'Delayed' Rescue Call

A radio operator on board the Costa Concordia has told a court how captain Francesco Schettino delayed calling rescue services after the luxury liner struck rocks.

Flavio Spadavecchia said he had "waited and waited" for Schettino to give the order so that he could alert coastguards of their situation but it never came, holding up the rescue operation.

The captain is on trial accused of multiple manslaughter, abandoning his ship while passengers and crew were still onboard and causing a maritime disaster.

Prosecutors claim that by delaying the alert, valuable time was wasted in the disaster which cost 32 people their lives, after Schettino deliberately changed course in order to carry out a "sail-by salute" of the Italian island of Giglio.

The seven-day Mediterranean cruise turned to tragedy just hours after the Costa Concordia, packed with more than 4,000 passengers and crew had left the port of Civitavecchia in January last year.

Mr Spadavecchia told the hearing in Grosseto how he had waited for Schettino to order the "pan pan" message which is used to signify urgency on board a ship but no immediate danger to life or the vessel.

In maritime situations a "pan pan" is used to inform potential rescuers of a safety issue and if it develops then a mayday call will be issued.

Mr Spadavecchia said: "Schettino never gave me the order. The pan pan message was never sent because Schettino never gave me the order. I asked if I should send it but Schettino said no. I asked at least once, maybe twice.

"I approached the bridge and he just signalled to me 'no' - if I am not mistaken he was on the telephone at the time."

The order to abandon ship was not given until more than an hour after the Costa Concordia had struck rocks and in the meantime police on shore had received telephone calls from worried passengers onboard, as well as relatives on shore.

Mr Spadavecchia told prosecutor Alessandro Leopizzi that he had eventually given the order after hearing "a conversation between officers on the bridge and coastguards on the mainland in Livorno and Civitavecchia".

He added: "The officers kept saying there had been a blackout. I was trying to figure out what was happening as I had been off duty just before. Then I heard them say we had scraped the bottom and eventually Schettino told me to call the Costa Cruises emergency control centre."

Prosecutors claim that Schettino called the crisis centre before coastguards, again wasting valuable rescue time. Roberto Ferrarini, in charge of the control centre the night of the disaster, has already pleaded guilty to multiple manslaughter.

The court also heard from chief electrician Antonio Muscas, who said emergency power generators had broken following the impact with the rocks and they had to use "screwdrivers to make them work".

He added: "The generators had been tested three days before in Barcelona and worked. The generators were supposed to power the release mechanisms for the lifeboats and the lifts to the upper decks where the lifeboats were."

Mr Muscas went on: "The main electrics room was flooded very quickly after the impact, there was more than a metre of water in there. There were serious electrical issues. I had to use a screwdriver three times to get the generators to start."

Schettino denies the charges against him and insists that the watertight doors failed that caused the ship to sink and he also claims that he is a "hero" after saving thousands of lives.

The trial is expected to last well into next year with more than 1,000 witnesses due to give evidence.