The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia sinks off the coast of Italy due to the captain Francesco Schettino's negligence and irresponsibility. There are 32 confirmed deaths.

Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on tours known as "shore excursions".

Costa Concordia was a cruise ship operated by the Italian cruise line Costa Crociere. She was the first of her class, followed by her sister ships Costa Serena, Costa Pacifica, Costa Favolosa and Costa Fascinosa, and Carnival Splendor built for Carnival Cruise Line. When the 114,137-ton Costa Concordia and her sister ships entered service, they were among the largest ships built in Italy until the construction of the 130,000 GT Dream-class cruise ships.

On 13 January 2012, the seven-year-old Costa Cruises vessel Costa Concordia was on the first leg of a cruise around the Mediterranean Sea when it deviated from its planned route at Isola del Giglio, Tuscany in order to perform a sail-by salute, sailed closer to the island than intended, and struck a rock formation on the sea floor. This caused the ship to list and then to partially sink, landing unevenly on an underwater ledge. Although a six-hour rescue effort brought most of the passengers ashore, 32 people died: 27 passengers and five crew. A member of the salvage team also died following injuries received during the recovery operation.

Francesco Schettino is an Italian former shipmaster who commanded the cruise ship Costa Concordia when the ship struck an underwater rock and capsized off the Italian island of Giglio on 13 January 2012. Thirty-two passengers and crew died. In 2015, he was sentenced to sixteen years in prison for his role in the incident. He began serving his sentence in 2017 after exhausting his appeals.