For some reason, ever since I heard the news about the sink of the cruise ship 'Costa Concordia' I have become extremely interested in the event. Friday 13th January, which was also my Maths AS exam! Unfortunately, the tragedy took at least seventeen lives to date. It was horrible, and just hearing about it really did make me value my life so much more.

However, when I hear somebody talk about the tragedy, the thing that always seems to follow is whose fault it was. "The Captain should be jailed for life,” “he shouldn't be allowed to see daylight,” “his life should be taken too!" All these comments come spurting out of people's mouths, judging him without even thinking. But can we really blame him for the whole thing?

It is illedgedly said that captain Schettino “went off course,” and undoubtly he shouldn’t have done so. However, this small action has caused such a great impact, should he really have all this blame on his shoulders? He may not have made the right decision, and by prolonging the process by continuing his course did effectively worsen the situation, but at the time I think it’s clear in anyone’s eyes that he was trying to fix the problem himself. When you are a spectator, things are completely different, but being in charge of over 4,000 people’s lives and trying not to panic? I don’t think anybody can say they would act any different to how he did unless they are put in that position. Fear can eat us alive, I think it is clear that this is what happened in this case.

We can all say now that it’s better to be safe than sorry, but at the time I think the situation is completely different. Even though people onboard suffered a traumatic event that they may never forget, I can assure you that Schettino will be sorry for a very long time, and that night won’t leave his mind for a second, no matter how hard he tries to make it. Were we all a little too quick to judge?

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