Domnica Cemortan, Cruise Ship Dancer, Defends Costa Concordia Captain Francesco Schettino (VIDEO)

Francesco Schettino, captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Italy last week, is not a well-liked man. According to Reuters, Italian newspapers "have branded Schettino a coward for fleeing in the face of adversity."

But Domnica Cemortan, a 25-year-old dancer whom the Telegraph reports used to work on the Costa Concordia, says she was with the captain as he ordered people to get into lifeboats.

In an interview available above, posted by the Telegraph, Cemortan says that, despite earlier media reports, the captain was not one of the first people to leave the ship.

"I've heard through Russian media that the captain was the first or one of the first to leave, but that's not true," she said in the interview. "As a witness, I can say that I left the deck at [11:50 p.m.] following an order from the captain himself who told me to go to the third deck and get into a lifeboat that could take more people."

Cemortan also spoke on the issue with reporters in Bucharest, according to the New York Daily News.

"He saved us," Cemortan told reporters. "I believe that he did an extraordinary job -- the whole crew thinks so. He saved more than 3,000 people."

The Guardian reported on Thursday that passengers said they saw Schettino and Cemortan eating and drinking together before the disaster, something she said wasn't true.

According to the Associated Press, Cemortan, who is Moldovan and speaks several languages, said she was called to the ship's bridge to help translate instructions

"All our colleagues made announcements in different languages because there was a problem with the electricity. It was very dark on the ship," she told Adevarul, a daily newspaper in Moldova, according to the AP. "I stayed on the bridge in case the captain needed me to make an announcement."

But Cemortan is one of the few to publicly defend the captain who is currently under house arrest and, may be charged with abandoning ship, shipwreck and manslaughter.

The search for 21 passengers who are still missing resumed on Thursday, according to the AP. So far, there have been 11 confirmed fatalities.

Comments

[Mardukk]

10:09 PM on 02/25/2012

Was the captain "distracted" from his duties?

[Nolan Darch]

11:35 AM on 01/24/2012

How is she a mystery woman?

[MIKEinNYC]

06:33 PM on 01/23/2012

How do you say "Gilligan" in Italian? Schettino?

[LafnBacstage]

01:02 PM on 01/23/2012

And so the public trial by media begins. Next witness. Executioners, please wait until the verdict is announced.

[lawofthelion]

08:04 PM on 01/22/2012

its the captain of the ships responsibility no ands and buts, the ship should have never run aground! somebody wasnt wathcing the scope, what was the cpt doing or where was is head

[LiberalLee]

09:12 AM on 01/22/2012

Wait... Moldova?

Isn't that where OilyTitz was from?

[Massconfusion]

03:33 PM on 01/24/2012

Moldova has some of the most beauitful women in the world, This makes them a major target for Human Traffic. Many of these women are lured away with promises of jobs by traffickers (Albanian gangsters mainly) and then forced to work the streets, many in Italy and in Erope in general, for their new masters. Unrelatedly, It has been said that this woman was the Captain's mistress so her defending him is no suprize.

[lokiesteve]

07:41 AM on 01/22/2012

Even if what she said was true the world has already made up its mind.

[rich3324]

01:47 AM on 01/22/2012

I think she was doing the CPT.

[karmi antiquena]

01:40 PM on 01/21/2012

As a Costa Crew myself I know that she is not telling the truth. First reason is that, she is a passenger because her contract already ended. She doesn't have a role in the emergency situation. Second, there are different hostesses on board for different nationalities on board and it is their job and only them is aloud to give order in behalf of the captain. She is not supposed to be in a bridge or command control. And during those time of panick and confusion, how sure is she with the time????

[LiberalLee]

09:09 AM on 01/22/2012

The whole thing smelled like red herring to me too.
One is forced to wonder about how close she and the Captain really were.

[Bill928]

11:55 AM on 01/21/2012

Hopefully everything will come out in court. Right now the Captain needs someone on his side, a damcer might be the only one.

[piceaglauca]

11:47 AM on 01/21/2012

She'll say what she knows. Research her background and place her puzzle in the big puzzle picture.
Time will reveal the lineo f truth. Thank you Ms Cemorton for your insight.

[Jake Thomas]

11:30 AM on 01/21/2012

I am starting to think he has a type.

[es30]

11:28 AM on 01/21/2012

She can tell time?

[arkaytroll]

11:58 AM on 01/21/2012

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOLOLO. FUN E.

[75thRangers]

10:21 AM on 01/21/2012

check your time line lady, He was filmed ordering and eating dinner when you say he was on the ship.

[WBLM]

09:31 AM on 01/21/2012

This captain and his sinking cruise ship is a representative sample of our own government. Our House of Representatives in Washington have abandoned the people on the good ship America sinking as rapidly with the only exception being the loss of life will be higher.

While the captain is being held accountable for negligence the representatives are being paid to abandon the ship with special interest funds.

[arkaytroll]

11:59 AM on 01/21/2012

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT4B-NJUcZE