HEATED EXCHANGE AS CAPTAIN 'ADMITS HE HAD LEFT SHIP'
The transcripts show heated telephone exchanges took place between captain Schettino and harbour master officials in the hours after he struck the rocks at around 9.40pm on Friday evening.
At 9.49pm Schettino is asked: 'Is everything ok?' He replied: 'Yes, just a small technical problem.'
This was despite the hull having a 70m gash.
There was silence until half past midnight when officials managed to contact the captain - who by now had got off a lifeboat and safely on shore.
Hundreds of passengers were still onboard as the order to abandon ship had only been given an hour earlier.
An official at Livorno harbour asked: 'How many passengers are left to evacuate captain?' He answered: 'I've called the company and they say around 40.'
The official, who knew from reports at the scene that hundreds were still onboard, added: 'How come so few? Are you still onboard captain?'
Captain Schettino replied: 'No, I'm not onboard, the ship's beached, we have abandoned.' To which the shocked official responded: 'What? You have abandoned ship?' He answered: 'No, what are you talking about abandoning.'
Minutes later he was contacted again and told: 'Get back on board, get back to the ship and co-ordinate the rescue. You need to tell me how many people are onboard, how many women, how many children. You need to organise the rescue.
'Captain this is an order, I am in charge now, you have given the order to abandon ship and you need to get back to coordinate the rescue, OK. There are already bodies.'
Captain Schettino replied in a whisper: 'How many?' with the harbour master shouting at him: 'You tell me. What do you want to do? Go home? You now get back on board and tell me what you are going to do.'
He replied: 'Alright, I'm going'. But he failed to obey the order and instead was reportedly seen getting into a taxi which took him from Seagull Point, the reef where the Concordia had beached, to the harbour at Giglio.
