"The captain of the Costa Concordia was distracted by guests he had invited onto the bridge in the crucial moments before his cruise liner rammed into rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio, one of the ship's senior officers has claimed.
Silvia Coronica, the vessel's third officer, also told investigators that Francesco Schettino panicked in the aftermath of the crash, rushing "from one part of the bridge to the other".
In the 10 minutes before the collision, he was seem chatting on the bridge with one of the ship's pursers and its head waiter, who had been asked up to the bridge to watch the liner perform a nautical 'fly-by' past his home island.
"The people who came up to the bridge with Schettino were disturbing the ship's navigation," Ms Coronica told investigators.
"The maitre d'hotel was chatting, disturbing the steering, with a consequent impact on concentration."
The ship was travelling at 15 knots as it steamed to within 150 yards of Giglio's coast – too fast for such a delicate operation, the officer added.
The evidence given to investigating judges also revealed scenes of panic down in the engine room, as water began to gush in through the hole torn by a huge lump of granite that was broken off from by the force of the impact.
"Descending down a stairway into deck B, I opened the door and I saw the tear in the hull and the water that was coming in. In the space of two minutes it was completely flooded," said Alberto Fiorito, the engine room's duty officer. "I opened the door to the main electrical room but there was already nearly two metres of water."
He was being interviewed by an Italian television network when a smartly-dressed middle-aged blonde woman employed by Costa Cruises swept into the lobby, ordered him not to do any more interviews, and whisked him away.
When he was interviewed by police in the nearby town of Orbetello several hours later, the computer was no longer with him.
Costa Cruises denied that its employee had obtained the laptop. "After contacting the person involved, Costa Cruises categorically denies that it has received anything at all from Capt Schettino," the company said in a statement."
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"The huge quantities of food that the vessel was carrying – it was at the start of a week-long Mediterranean cruise and had on board more than 4,000 passengers and crew – was rotting and creating a terrible smell."