Netflix premieres new documentary on Costa Concordia disaster

Streaming platform Netflix premiered a new documentary last week about the Costa Concordia cruise ship disaster.

The 87-minute film by British director James Rogan reconstructs the tragedy using previously unreleased archival footage, mobile phone videos recorded by passengers, and data from the ship's black box, CE Report quotes STA.

The reconstruction is complemented by testimonies from survivors, crew members, and rescue workers, according to the Austrian Press Agency (APA).

The Costa Concordia ran aground on a reef off the Tuscan island of Giglio on January 13, 2012, with more than 4,200 people on board. The ship had deviated from its planned route to perform the so-called inchino, an unofficial maneuver intended as a salute to the island. The collision tore a hole approximately 70 meters long in the hull. The vessel lost power, drifted helplessly, and eventually capsized near the shore.

According to the documentary, the delayed and chaotic evacuation significantly contributed to the high death toll. Thirty-two people lost their lives in the disaster, while the remaining passengers and crew were rescued with the assistance of emergency services and residents of Giglio Island.

The documentary places particular emphasis on the actions of the ship's captain, Francesco Schettino. Using data from the vessel's black box, the filmmakers reconstructed his decisions before and during the disaster. Schettino was later sentenced to 16 years in prison for causing the shipwreck, multiple counts of manslaughter, and abandoning the ship.

Beyond examining the captain's responsibility, the film also explores the widespread practice of inchino on cruise ships, which the filmmakers argue had been tolerated for years, as well as a number of organizational and safety failures that contributed to the scale of the tragedy.

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