'Don't worry, go back to your cabins, it's just an electrical fault': What stricken cruise ship passengers were told after hitting rocks

• Crew member's plea came as luxury liner was fatally holed


• Ship's cook claims captain ordered food nearly an hour after striking rocks


• Moldovan ballerina 'cavorting' with Schettino on bridge defends captain


• Investigators probe owner's role in 68-minute delay of abandoning ship
  


• Search suspended as ship slipped slightly from its rocky resting place


• Fears rose again that it could soon plummet 100m to bottom of sea


• 11 confirmed dead, 21 still missing
  

By Nick Pisa

Last updated at 11:56 AM on 20th January 2012

Dramatic footage of a Costa Concordia crew member telling passengers to 'Go back to your cabins' has emerged.

The plea came despite the luxury liner being fatally holed and underlines the chaotic situation in the moments after the ship struck rocks.

Holidaymakers wearing red life jackets can be seen milling on the deck of the Concordia in the mobile phone footage which was posted on Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera's website.

Emergence of the footage came as a cook from the ship said Captain Francesco Schettino had ordered dinner at 10.30pm - nearly an hour after the liner struck rocks at 9.41pm.

Scroll down to see the videos...

Calling for calm: This crew member may have asked passengers not to panic, but inside other parts of the ship water was cascading down the stairs

Disaster: An incredible aerial shot of the doomed Costa Concordia shows just how far it has listed onto its side

Questions have already been raised as to the slow response from captain Francesco Schettino in waiting more than an hour to abandon the stricken 290m Concordia.

And the footage confirms passenger accounts of how they were told to return to their cabins sending some of the victims to certain death.

The film also again underlines how Schettino and his crew were still insisting that the situation was all down to a 'electrical black out'.

But by then he knew that the ship had suffered a 70m gash in its hull after hitting a reef off the coast of the Italian island of Giglio as he sailed past too close in a mad moment of showboating.

Rescue effort: Firefighters approach the stricken cruise liner as stormy weather sees the search being called off over fears the ship could slip from its rocky resting place

Busy: Italian firefighters have scoured the doomed Costa Concordia as they try to find the 21 missing people

The female crew member is seen telling passengers in Italian: 'The situation is under control. Go back to your cabins. We ask you that you all return to your cabins.

'Once the electrical problem is sorted out everything will be back to normal shortly. Everything is under control. We are resolving the problem.'

However, just 30 minutes after the video was shot cowardly captain Schettino eventually gave the order to abandon ship.

But by then it was too late as the ship had begun to list too far over for the lifeboats to be launched safely and passengers had to make their way down the superstructure of the hull using rope ladders.

Relentless: Scuba divers have searched large swathes of the stricken ship over the last five days as hopes fade of finding any more survivors

Looking: Divers have had to postpone their efforts several times amid fears they could become trapped

Illuminated: The Costa Concordia lights up the Tuscan coast last night as rescue efforts were suspended once again

This morning the search was called off after movement was detected by lasers pointed onto the ship and it was deemed too dangerous for the dive teams to carry on the hunt.

There are still 21 people still missing, who are believed to be lying in muster stations on decks submerged below the water. A total of 11 people have been confirmed dead.

The main concern for teams working on the ship is the weather, as although they have been lucky in the week following the tragedy the forecast is for strong winds.

The fear is that it could whip up waves around the Concordia and shift it further - even possibly dislodging it from the rock shelf it is resting on.

Fire brigade spokesman Luca Cari said: 'The search was suspended at around midnight because movement was detected. 

Defended: Captain Francesco Schettino (left) was said to have been 'cavorting' with Domnica Cemortan (right) on the bridge of the ship

'It was thought best to pull the dive teams out and we are now deciding the best course of action.'

The revelation that Schettino had ordered dinner at 10.30pm - less than an hour after the liner struck rocks at 9.41pm - was made by ship's cook Rogelio Barista.

DID COSTA CONCORDIA'S OWNERS DELAY THE ABANDONING OF SHIP?

Investigators are looking into the role played by the owner of the Costa Concordia as the order to abandon ship was delayed by 68 minutes.

They are looking in particular at the requirement that, once the order is given, each passenger is entitled to  €10,000 euros in compulsory compensation.

It would mean a  €30million bill for the 3,000 tourists. Costa Cruises declined to comment on the compensation allegations.

But it has labelled itself as an 'aggrieved party' in what could be one of the biggest maritime claims in history. It has also suspended Captain Francesco Schettino.

Prosecutor Francesco Verusio has also said that the only suspects were Captain Schettino and the Second Officer Ciro Ambrosio.

He told Filipino TV station GMA: 'We wondered what was going on. At that time, we really felt something was wrong.

'The stuff in the kitchen was falling off shelves and we realised how grave the situation was. I have had 12 years of experience as a cook on a cruise ship.

'I have even witnessed fires, so I wasn't that scared. But I did wonder, though, what the captain was doing. Why was he still there?'

Suspension of the search comes after it was revealed Moldovan ballerina Domnica Cemortan, 25, was seen cavorting with Schettino on the bridge of the ship in the minutes before his cruise liner foundered on rocks.

Italian authorities believe Schettino - dubbed Captain Coward - may have been distracted from his command by trying to impress the dancer who they now consider to be a 'key witness'.

Miss Cemortan, who has a two-year-old daughter, had worked as a translator for the Concordia but was on holiday on the ship at the time of Friday night's disaster.

She has now defended the captain, who she told Moldovan TV had 'saved over 3,000 lives', and said she was summoned to the bridge to help translate for the evacuation of Russian passengers.

Prosecutor Francesco Verusio declined to comment on Italian media reports that Ms Cemortan was being sought as a witness.

Hard at work: The ship is at risk of completely sinking in the next few hours

Schettino is under house arrest, facing possible charges of manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing a shipwreck after he made an unauthorised detour from the programmed route that caused the vessel to slam into a reef and capsize off the Tuscan island of Giglio.

Yesterday an audiotape of the doomed vessel's first communications with maritime authorities showed the ship's officers continued to report only an electrical problem for more than 30 minutes after hitting the reef.

Seven of the 11 dead were also identified yesterday by authorities - four French passengers, one Spanish and one Italian passenger and one Peruvian crew member. Italian passenger Giovanni Masia, who would have been 86 next week, was buried in Sardinia.

Italian authorities have identified 32 people who have either died or are missing: two Americans, 12 Germans, seven Italians, six French, two Peruvians and one person each from Hungary, India and Spain.

Source : dailymail

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