Last night footage flooded media outlets of scenes hauntingly reminiscent of James Cameron’s 1997 hit Titanic, as the cruise liner, part of the Carnival Cruise fleet, was shown tipping onto its side late Friday night off of the coast of Italy. Almost as shocking as the crash was how Captain Francesco Schettino handled the situation.

According to evidence found on Facebook, the Captain may have actually contributed to the crash by turning off the automatic controls in order to steer the ship closer to the small island of Giglio to impress crew members. With the boat far too close to the shore, it ran aground and flipped onto its side.

 Schettion then neglected his captain duties further by abandoning ship before most of the vacationers had even heard word of an evacuation plan. When ordered back to the boat by the Italian coast guard member Captain Gregorio De Falco to oversee the safety of evacuation passengers, Schettion ignored orders and remained a safe distance away. Even when asked about how many children and women were left trapped on the sinking ship, Schettion responded with “I am here with the rescue boats, I am here, I am not going anywhere.”

If convicted, Schettion could face up to twelve years for the criminal offence of a captain abandoning ship before his passengers. On top of this, with eleven people found dead and twenty-four still missing, he could face charges of manslaughter depending on whether the ships crash can be related directly back to him.

 However, the majority of the ships passengers (4,200) were able to escape to the lifeboats, some even swimming to shore. Still even with the blatant neglect of his duties, Captain Schettino, now being dubbed Captain Coward, has given a different account of the events and has hired a lawyer to fight the case.