A young Moldovan woman who is saying she was with the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship after it hit a Tuscan reef emerged as a potential new witness Thursday in the investigation into the actions of the captain that night.Dominica Cermotan, a 25-year-old Moldovan hostess who stated she was working for Costa on the Concordia, stated on her Facebook page that she was not on duty the night of the grounding but was with Schettino, other officers and the cruise director on the bridge. She revealed that she was called to help with translations of instructions for how the small number of Russian passengers should evacuate.
Cermotan said in an interview with Moldova’s Jurnal TV that they were looking for them, searching for the Russians. They heard them all crying, shouting in all languages.
She defended Schettino, stating that “he did a great thing, he saved over 3,000 lives,” and added he was on deck until 11:50 p.m.
The ship struck the reef at 9:45 p.m.
Crew members and passengers have stated that Capt. Francesco Schettino ate dinner with Cermotan in the ship’s restaurant Friday night, and Italian news reports have stated that prosecutors want to interview her.
Schettino, who was arrested after he left the ship before everyone was safely evacuated, is under house arrest, facing possible charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning his ship. Ship owner Costa Crociere SpA said he made an unauthorized deviation from the ship’s programmed course that brought him too close to the reefs off the tiny island of Giglio. The ship capsized a couple miles away in Giglio’s port, forcing the chaotic evacuation of the 4,200 people on board.
It has been confirmed that eleven people are dead and 21 others are still missing.
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