Passenger is Domnica Cemortan, 25, from MoldovaProsecutors believe she may have crucial evidence as ...

1. Domnica Cemortan: Was Costa Concordia captain Francesco
Schettino trying to impress ballerina?
Passenger is Domnica Cemortan, 25, from Moldova
Prosecutors believe she may have crucial evidence as to what happened
Witnesses saw Captain Schettino dining with her minutes before crash
New recording reveals crew told coastguard there was no emergency11 people confirmed dead and
30 still missing after disasterInvestigators probing whether fear of £25million compensation bill was
to blame for hour delay in abandoning ship
By
Rebecca Evans for the Daily Mail
and
Arthur Martin for the Daily Mail
Updated:
10:54 GMT, 20 January 2012
Italian police are seeking a ballerina they believe may shed light on the Costa Concordia disaster.
Domnica Cemortan was seen cavorting with Captain Francesco Schettino in the minutes before his
cruise liner foundered on rocks.
Italian authorities believe 52-year-old Schettino - dubbed Captain Coward - may have been
distracted from his command by trying to impress the dancer.
Scroll down for video

2. Captain's lover: Moldovan Domnica Cemortan (left), 25, told the court today she was Captain
Francesco Schettino's lover

3. Proud: Domnica Cemortan (centre), as an employee of the cruise ship industry, proudly shows off
her certificate of proficiency in maritime safety
Schettino was seen 'drinking' at dinner in the company of Ms Cemortan at about 8.35pm on Friday
evening. The picture of her on the right was taken on the bridge of the Concordia
The Moldovan dancer admitted she was Captain
Francesco Schettino's lover and boarded the Costa Concordia without a ticket

4. They consider the 25-year-old Moldovan blonde to be a 'key witness'.
Eleven people are dead and 30 missing after the £400million ship came to grief on a rocky outcrop
off the Tuscan isle of Giglio.
It was carrying 4,200 passengers.
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.
A grainy photograph was taken of her on the bridge.
It is thought she might be able to shed light on Schettino's decision to sail close to Giglio to perform
a 'salute' for a former crew member and for the ship's head waiter.
Miss Cemortan and Schettino were seen wining and dining together 30 minutes before the disaster.
One passenger, Angelo Fabri, said: 'The captain was in a dark jacket and he was sat in front of the
woman - she was quite young and at first I thought it might have been his daughter.
'She was slim, had blonde hair to her shoulders and was wearing a black dress with her arms
uncovered. They were laughing and in high spirits.'
He said the captain was drinking wine - a claim that contradicts Schettino's assertion that he stayed
off alcohol.
A source for operator Costa Cruises
said: 'The woman who appears to have dined with Schettino was a Costa
employee who had been hired to assist Russian passengers.
WAS £25M COMPENSATION BILL TO BLAME FOR HOUR DELAY IN ABANDONING SHIP?
Investigators are probing whether the fear of paying a £25million compensation bill was to blame for
the hour delay in telling the Costa Concordia's 3,000 passengers to abandon ship.
Every one of the vessel's passengers is in line to receive £8,300 - or EUR10,000 - payout once an
order is made to abandon ship.

5. With so many passengers on board the operators Costa Cruises would have faced a mammoth
payout.
Officials probing the disaster are believed to be probing whether the fear of compensation was to
blame for the delay, The Times reported.
11 passengers have been confirmed dead and 21 people are injured.
'She was due to disembark from the Costa Concordia before it began its seven-day cruise of the
Mediterranean but she bought a ticket and stayed onboard.
'We cannot confirm or deny that she was on the bridge. To be honest, nobody quite knows what
Schettino was up to.'
In an interview with Moldovan newspaper Adevarul, Miss Cemortan admitted being on the bridge on
Friday evening and added that 'he (Schettino) was there'.
Italian newspapers yesterday claimed
Schettino has admitted being with Miss Cemortan at the time and that she
was not on the official passenger manifest.
Her mother Vera, who lives with her in the Moldovan capital Chisinau, said the seven-day cruise was
a birthday present.
Yesterday Miss Cemortan defended
Schettino: 'I know that some of my colleagues should be upset because
they are out of work now and they have debts and have kids waiting for
them but we are all in agreement that the captain did something
exceptional and saved 3,000 lives.'

6. Training: Cermortan said she was only on the bridge to translate instructions for Russian passengers
Miss
Cemortan (left) told the Italian court that she boarded as a non-paying passenger hours before the
crash

7. Miss
Cemortan tried to dodge the question of whether she was romantically involved with captain
Francesco Schettino, and only responded positively after being told she risked criminal charges for
refusing to reply
Accused of cowardice: Captain Francesco Schettino. Right, Ms Cemortan with a fellow crew member

8. Divers
swim by Costa Concordia's bell off the coast of Giglio
Rescue: Firefighters climb up a ladder on to the Costa Concordia as it lies on its side off the island of
Giglio, Tuscany

9. Race
against time: A technician aims a laser scanner at the cruise liner. There are fears impending bad
weather could cause the ship to fall off the ledge on which it is resting
Damning transcripts of a phone call
between Schettino and a coastguard have since emerged - revealing his
refusal to return to the listing ship to help co-ordinate the rescue of
hundreds of stranded passengers.
Schettino says he deserted the vessel only because he 'tripped' and fell into a lifeboat.
A transcript released yesterday shows
that - even 45 minutes after striking rocks - Schettino was telling
coastguards the only help he needed was a tug.
He is under house arrest on suspicion of multiple manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing
shipwreck. If convicted, he faces 15 years in jail.

10. Impact: A satellite image shows the stricken cruise liner on its side in shallow water
He is barred from leaving the £175,000 apartment he shares with his wife Fabiola and 15-year-old
daughter Rossella in the coastal enclave of Meta di Sorrento, near Naples.
Yesterday, in a show of local support, a banner was put up outside his home saying: 'Captain, don't
give up'.
Costa said it had suspended Schettino and launched civil action for 'significant misbehaviour'.
It said he was not receiving any support or legal aid from the company.

11. Operation: Firefighters travel past the vast cruise liner
Despair: Relatives and friends of victims of the cruise liner disaster arrive at Giglio Porto
Divers resumed their search of the Concordia yesterday following a delay caused by the ship shifting
position.
Susy Albertini, whose five-year-old daughter Dayana is missing, begged them to carry on.

12. 'Bring her home to me as soon as you can,' she said.
Dayana was on holiday with her father, William Arlotti, 36, who is also missing.
Preparations are under way to remove the 2,200 tons of heavy duty diesel in the ship's tanks - an
operation expected to take a month.
Experts say sealife would be devastated were the oil to leak.
Vigil:
Family and friends of Jerry and Barbara Heil, the only Americans still unaccounted for on the Costa
Concordia, attend a prayer service in White Bear Lake, Minnesota
Listen to an audio recording of a crew member reassuring passengers everything is OK, despite the
ship taking on water.
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