Captain Francesco Schettino News

Domnica Cemortan, the Moldovan dancer on the bridge of the Costa Concordia when it listed over, drowning 32 people, has hired Italian lawyer Gianluca Madonna. Madonna said that his client will launch several lawsuits relating to that night.

Francesco Schettino, captain of the ill-fated Costa Concordia when it hit a reef and partially sank early last year, tried to plea bargain with the prosecutors handling his case. Looking for a prison term of 3 years, 4 months, he was flatly turned down.

Italian and American companies, Micoperi and Titan Salvage, continue working on refloating the Costa Concordia. Last week the first of 30 giant 'boxes' was attached to a side of the doomed cruise ship.

The Costa Concordia disaster was 14 months ago and finally there is a complete plan to remove the ship. While it's been known for months they were refloating and towing it for dismantling, only now have Italian officials decided the port it will go to.

The Bulgarian technician credited with saving hundreds of lives on the Costa Concordia has been named his country's 'Man of the Year'. The award was handed out Monday at the Inter Expo Center in Sofia and Petar Petrov's wife and son accepted it for him.

The tragedy of the cruise liner the Costa Concordia turns one-year-old on Jan. 13. Italian authorities will mark the date with a memorial on the island of Giglio, where the ship hit rocks and listed. Sixty-five percent of the ship remains underwater.

When Benji Smith and Emily Lau boarded the Costa Concordia cruise liner a year ago they were embarking on a honeymoon cruise long anticipated. Not long after, however, it turned into a nightmare as the ship hit a reef and over 65% wound up underwater.

The Canadian newsmagazine show, The Fifth Estate, will air an exclusive interview on Friday with the disgraced captain of the doomed Costa Concordia. In the show, Francesco Schettino says the ship's sinking was an accident and that he was not negligent.

In a talk with an Italian newspaper, Francesco Schettino, captain of the Costa Concordia, said a book he's writing on the sinking of the cruise liner will show him to be a hero, not a coward. Schettino's claim flies in the face of evidence.

The company that owns the Costa Concordia, Costa Cruises, has put up a website detailing the progress of the salvage operation. The ship sank off the shore of the Italian island of Giglio on Jan. 13 and is being refloated.