Dark details about Costa Concordia crash that Netflix left out of Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea

Netflix’s new documentary film, Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea, tells the tale of the Costa Concordia and the 32 lives it claimed, but some details were left out.

The horrifying incident happened on January 13, 2012, when the Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia crashed into rocks near Giglio Island. 32 people died in total, with Captain Francesco Schettino and other employees being jailed as a result.

Here’s what the doc failed to include.

Passengers recalled hearing a specific song that night

In an eerie moment that didn’t make it into the documentary, two passengers who survived recalled hearing My Heart Will Go On from Titanic on the loudspeakers.

Captain Schettino was not wearing his glasses

Credit: Netflix

Ahead of the trial, Captain Francesco Schettino’s lawyer confirmed he wasn’t wearing his glasses at the time of the crash. He chose to navigate by sight and asked the ship’s first officer to check the radar for him.

“I was navigating by sight, because I knew those seabeds well. I had done the move three, four times,” he said in court.

The captain blamed his Indonesian helmsman

Though it was briefly mentioned in the doc, Captain Schettino blamed helmsman Jacob Rusli Bin for the crash that killed 32 passengers. He claimed that the helmsman ignored his warnings about speed and a change of course.

Investigators later discovered that Jacob Rusli Bin might not have understood the captain due to a language barrier.

The mistress was not in Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea

Though he was in a long-term marriage, it later emerged that Captain Schettino had been entertaining his mistress, Domnica Cemortan, that very night. They spent time on the bridge and had dinner before the crash.

“When you’re somebody’s lover they don’t ask you for a ticket,” she said.

‘I had no intention of escaping’

As people were literally dying in his vessel, the captain managed to escape the chaos by boarding a lifeboat. The Coast Guard demanded that he return to the boat, which 300 people were still on, and he refused.

Later, in court, he claimed to have accidentally fallen in the lifeboat when it tilted.

“I had no intention of escaping,” he claimed. “I was helping some passengers put the life boat to sea. At a certain point the mechanism for lowering it, blocked. We had to force it. Suddenly the system unblocked itself and I tripped and I found myself inside the lifeboat with a number of passengers.”

Credit: Netflix

The Netflix doc didn’t really delve into the victims

Most of Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea is about the chaos of the crash and the events that followed. The individuals who died, all 32 of them, were not a major factor in the doc. People like 5-year-old Dayana Arlotti, or 71-year-old Francis Servel, who drowned after giving his life jacket to his wife.

You can find more details about the fatalities here.

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Costa Cruises never faced criminal complaints

Though Costa Cruises and its parent company never faced criminal charges for the crash, it did weather several civil lawsuits.

Around 3,200 of the 3,229 passengers agreed to a $14,460 payout for their loss of luggage and personal trauma suffered, and the parent company also agreed to reimburse passengers for all travel, cruise and medical costs.

Others did choose to refuse the settlement, like Ernesto Carusotti, who won $105,000.

Imagine being a captain of a cruise, hitting a rock, knowing the ship is sinking and telling the coastguard you have a LEAK.

A LEAK?! Watch Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea to learn about the incompetence of some of this crew. https://t.co/mlA5m8eqHq

— Briah (@briahnicole) July 10, 2026

The captain wasn’t the only person hit with charges

Though Captain Schettino was ultimately jailed for 16 years, he wasn’t the only employee who was slapped with charges.

Crisis unit director Roberto Ferrarini, cabin service director Manrico Giampedroni, first officer Ciro Ambrosio, helmsman Bin and third officer Silvia Coronica were all charged with manslaughter and negligence.

All accepted plea deals:

• Roberto Ferrarini – two years and ten months
• Manrico Giampedroni – two and a half years
• Ciro Ambrosio – one year and 11 months
• Silvia Coronica – one year and 11 months
• Jacob Rusli Bin – one year and eight months

“Justice is beginning to be done but there will be real justice in the end, when we can determine with certainty what the responsibilities of the captain are,” Prosecutor Francesco Verusio said at the time.

The salvage operation cost a whopping $2 million

The cleanup of the Costa Concordia cost $2 billion and five years to complete, with removing the fuel alone taking a full year of work. Hundreds of people were hired for the job, and they clocked a total of one million hours during the project.

Now, the Costa Concordia is no more.

Over 30 safety rules were implemented in the cruise industry afterwards

After the crash, the Cruise Lines International Association and the International Maritime Organisation implemented over 30 new safety rules and policies to stop it from happening again.

Such rules included:

• Passengers have to complete mandatory safety training and drills
• The bridge is only for crew members
• Ships must stick to their planned routes
• Crew members teaching passengers how to use life jackets
• Crew drills to practice securing heavy equipment
• Cruises must keep documentation and photos of all passengers

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Featured image credit: Netflix