Where Are the Costa Concordia Survivors Now? What Happened to the People Who Escaped the Shipwreck

Where Are the Costa Concordia Survivors Now? What Happened to the People Who Escaped the Shipwreck

Where are the Costa Concordia survivors now? More than 4,000 passengers and crew escaped the sinking ship on January 13, 2012, after Captain Francesco Schettino steered the luxury cruise liner too close to Giglio Island off the coast of Italy. The ship struck a reef, tearing a 174-foot gash in its hull, and 32 people died. Now, 14 years later, a new Netflix documentary, Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea, has brought the tragedy back into the spotlight. Costa Concordia survivors, the captain's fate, and the aftermath of one of modern history's worst maritime disasters — here's what happened to the people who lived through that terrifying night.

The Scandal That Shocked the World

At 9:45 PM on January 13, 2012, the 952-foot Costa Concordia slammed into the Scole Rocks. The crew failed to properly track the ship's proximity to underwater rocks, and due to language barriers, an Indonesian helmsman accidentally steered the ship in the wrong direction for 13 critical seconds. Seawater flooded the engine room and generator compartments, knocking out electrical power and leaving the vessel unable to steer or maneuver.

Instead of calling mayday, Schettino downplayed the catastrophe to passengers and port authorities, claiming the ship was simply experiencing a temporary blackout. By the time he finally ordered abandonment at 10:54 PM, the vessel had tilted so sharply that many lifeboats could not be deployed. In mass panic, hundreds jumped directly into the freezing sea. Schettino abandoned ship in a lifeboat while approximately 300 passengers and crew remained trapped on board, defying orders from the Italian Coast Guard to return.

The Disgraced Captain: Francesco Schettino

Captain Francesco Schettino, dubbed "Captain Coward" by the media, was convicted on February 11, 2015, on multiple counts of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning his passengers. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison.

Schettino unsuccessfully appealed his case for two years before handing himself in to authorities in May 2017. "I trust in the justice system. The verdict must be respected. I'm handing myself in right now," he said via his lawyer. He is currently serving out his sentence at Rome's Rebibbia Prison. In January 2025, he filed for early release into "semi-liberty" but withdrew the request that April due to problems obtaining a suitable work placement.

During the trial, it emerged that Schettino was not wearing his glasses when the crash happened, instead choosing to navigate using his sight and asking 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 claimed in court. He also shifted blame to his helmsman, Jacob Rusli Bin, alleging the helmsman ignored warnings — though investigators found that Bin might not have fully understood the captain because of a language barrier.

Stefania Vincenzi and Maria Grazia Trecarichi

Stefania Vincenzi boarded the Costa Concordia at 17 years old with her mother, Maria Grazia Trecarichi, for what was meant to be a 50th birthday celebration. When the ship began to list, life jackets had run out. Trecarichi went back to their cabin to find another, but they were separated in the chaos. Her mother's remains were one of the last to be found, confirmed by divers in October 2013.

"My mother's body was one of the last ones to be found," Stefania said in the documentary. "Finding her body wasn't comforting for me at all. It's like Costa Concordia interrupted my life. She was my entire world."

Stefania went on to compete in the 2013 Miss Italy contest and made it to the final rounds, telling the Christian Science Monitor her participation was a tribute to her mother, who gave her the blessing when she came of age. Today, she operates a nail service called Crystal Nails Italia under the title "Absolute Master" and runs a successful Instagram account for her business. She remains with her boyfriend Andrea to this day.

John, Meghan, and Lila Scimone

John and Meghan Scimone were on the voyage with their 14-month-old daughter, Lila, for one of their first family holidays. When disaster struck, the family was forced to slide down a corridor that had turned into something resembling a giant slide, and Lila suffered a severe blow to the head in the process. Meghan recalled desperately trying to attract the attention of a woman on a lifeboat, pleading for her to take their child to safety — but the woman simply shook her head.

They eventually managed to get the attention of a lifeboat captain who pulled them to safety. John, who works as President and Chief Security Officer at Dell Technologies, was diagnosed with PTSD after returning home. "When we got home ... I was completely broken. I was diagnosed with PTSD. I had panic attacks. I had nightmares," he said.

Their daughter Lila, now 15, has grown up to be "the most well-rounded, grounded, incredible teenager" and a passionate ballerina who has traveled the world for dance training. John said: "She has this god-given passion for dance. The world is her oyster. She's gonna have some impact on it as a result of getting off the ship that night." Shortly after returning home, the couple discovered Meghan was pregnant — their second child, followed by a third. "One of the greatest gifts I could've been given was that pregnancy," Meghan said.

Rose Metcalf: The Dancer Who Helped 400 Escape

Rose Metcalf, a 23-year-old dancer on the ship, helped 400 people escape before becoming one of the last survivors rescued. Earlier that evening, she had heard violinists playing My Heart Will Go On from Titanic and told them, "That's a bad omen, you shouldn't play that." Hours later, one of the violinists was among the 32 who perished.

Recalling the moment of impact, Rose said: "I was thrown back in my seat, my cappuccino lurched upwards. The boat began to shudder. It felt like an earthquake... Plates were smashing, lights flickered. People held their breath. I knew in that moment we were f***ed."

With no crew leadership, Rose took charge, forming a human chain to guide passengers to safety. When the ship's tilt became so extreme she and four others were trapped, she improvised a torch from a broken light, using her earring to reconnect the wires. A helicopter spotted the signal and rescued them.

The trauma took a heavy toll. "PTSD, survivor's guilt and victim-mentality ensued and it took me many years and healing modalities to find meaning," she wrote on her website. She moved to Malibu, married her actor partner Kalond, and became a successful life coach and business coach, certifying women in nervous system regulation therapy — the therapy that healed her. She also wrote a book about her experience called Unsinkable.

Patricia Sandoval and Nicholas Taliaferro

San Diego-based couple Patty Sandoval and Nicholas Taliaferro were planning a proposal vacation. Instead, they became heroes, helping passengers into lifeboats when crew members failed to do so. "When you're in that kind of situation, you become a completely different person," Sandoval said.

Taliaferro now works as a real estate agent in California. Sandoval is an Associate Director of Oncology Field Reimbursement at Genmab in San Diego.

Manoj Singh: The Chef Who Lost Everything

Manoj Singh was a chef on the ship when it crashed. He lost all his savings — money he had kept under his bed — and survived despite not knowing how to swim. He was stopped by a chief security guard who told him there's nothing more important than his life. Singh said he saw Captain Francesco sitting in a lifeboat abandoning ship instead of helping passengers.

"I will never work for the cruise industry again," Singh said in the documentary. "All my money, I lost it. But I learned life is more important than money. Every morning when I wake up, the first thing I do, I say thank you."

Today, Singh is a Senior Chef de Partie at the Hamilton Princess & Beach Club in Bermuda, where he received the Long Service Award in 2025. He married Maya Singh in 2015.

Manrico Giampedroni: The Last Survivor Rescued

Manrico Giampedroni, the hotel cabin services manager, was the last survivor to be rescued from the ship. He fell 20 feet through a doorway and was trapped in a restaurant with a broken leg, banging a frying pan to attract rescuers' attention for 36 hours. He was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison in 2013 but did not serve jail time because sentences under 34 months in Italy often result in community service or house arrest.

Corporate Accountability: Survivors Demand Justice

Many survivors argue that Schettino is not the only person responsible. Benji Smith, who wrote a book called Abandoned Ship, told The Daily Beast: "Even if Captain Schettino bears the personal responsibility for the sinking of the Concordia, none of this would have happened if there had been a modicum of oversight from the corporate executives at Costa and Carnival."

Andrea Davis, another survivor who wrote Survival Was Only the Beginning, said two and a half years after the disaster, she could only think in terms of "life before" and "life after" the accident. "Life will never be the same again," she said.

Rose Metcalf expressed similar frustration: "Justice has not been done. If all of the parties responsible could be held accountable instead of just individuals, then I believe that maritime safety would improve."

Safety Changes Since the Disaster

The calamity caused significant changes in the cruise industry, including carrying more lifejackets and holding emergency drills before leaving port. Since the disaster, each boat is legally required to have passengers participate in safety and evacuation drills before departure, and unauthorized personnel are not allowed in the ship's bridge.

However, survivors like Joan Fleser and Brian Aho, who testified at Congressional hearings in Washington D.C., expressed concern that little has changed. They highlighted language barriers — Italian was the official language, but many crew members didn't understand it — and the difficulty of obtaining information about safety incidents due to lax reporting requirements.

Netflix Documentary: What Was Left Out

The Netflix documentary Shipwrecked: Nightmare at Sea features survivor accounts and never-before-seen footage, but it omitted several details. Two surviving passengers recalled hearing Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On from the Titanic soundtrack over the loudspeakers. Schettino's mistress, Domnica Cemortan, who was on board that night, was also not shown.

FAQ: Costa Concordia Survivors

Q: Where is the Costa Concordia captain now?
A: Francesco Schettino is serving a 16-year prison sentence at Rome's Rebibbia Prison. He was convicted of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck, and abandoning his passengers.

Q: What happened to baby Lila Scimone from the Costa Concordia?
A: Lila Scimone, now 15, survived the shipwreck with her parents. She is a passionate ballerina who has traveled the world for dance training and lives in Austin, Texas with her parents and two younger siblings.

Q: How many people died on the Costa Concordia?
A: 32 people died in the Costa Concordia disaster on January 13, 2012, including a five-year-old child.

Q: Did the Costa Concordia survivors receive compensation?
A: Many survivors reported difficulties with compensation. Costa Concordia owners did not cover lost wages, belongings, or therapy costs for some survivors. If a mayday call had been sent, everyone on board would have been entitled to €30,000 compensation.

Q: Where is the Costa Concordia now?
A: The Costa Concordia was dismantled for scrap in 2014 after the largest and most expensive maritime salvage operation in history, costing around $2 billion.

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