The Costa Concordia ship which ran aground at the weekend had been detected cruising too close to the coast 52 times in the past, according to an Italian newspaper.
The reports come as an Italian judge ordered that the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship, Francesco Schettino, be held under house arrest.
La Repubblica reports that data from an automatic marine radar tracking system, called AIS (Automatic Identification System) show that the Costa Concordia had been cruising too close to the coast 52 times in the past.
Media reported earlier today that Schettino ordered an unauthorised sail-by close to the island, which was not on the cruise's itinerary, to please a crew member who hails from Giglio.
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"It was bravado, Schettino was showing off, clowning around, it was incredibly stupid. I would sentence him not once but 10 times," a former captain who worked with the ship's owner, Costa Crociere told AFP.
La Repubblica asks why, all these times, such a behaviour had not been questioned by the coast guards. Under Italian legislation, it is illegal for small boats to sail closer that 500 metres from the coast.
"Captain Schettino made many mistakes, but no one stopped him from cruising too close to the Giglio Island as well," the commentary says.
What the Italian media are saying
The conduct of the captain of the grounded Costa Concordia ship was also slammed by Italians on social media, while coastguard captain Gregorio De Falco has become a national hero.
A shocking audio tape, released overnight, has revealed Gregorio De Falco vehemently demanded Captain Francesco Schettino return to his crippled vessel to oversee its evacuation.
The tape shows Schettino repeatedly resisted, saying the ship was tipping and it was dark.
On Twitter, comments trickled in under the hastags #schettino, #defalco e #vadaabordocazzo ("Go aboard for f*** sake").
"In an Italy dominated by Schettinos, I want to be like De Falco," a Twitter user wrote.
Another Twitter user wrote: "Thought of the day: I wonder how many Italians are anonymously like De Falco and how many are renown to be like Schettino".
And another Italian, referring to De Falco's conduct, posted on Twitter: "Strange to prove surprise in front of what should be common behaviour, but since there's many Schettinos, De Falco comes across as a hero".
Many insults were posted on the Facebook page of Francesco Schettino Comandante such as "coward" and "criminal".
A group of Italians even created a T-shirt called "Vada a bordo, cazzo" ("Go aboard for f*** sake") and put it for sale online, Italian newspaper La Stampa reports.
The Vatican Insider published an interview aired on Vatican Radio by Don Raffaele Malena, a priest who was aboard the Costa Concordia.
"The chaos was not created by the crew -- it was created by the fear rising among the passengers. The crew was proactive -- it's not true that it was inefficient," he said.
"(On Giglio Island) everybody wanted to help: they opened the hotel doors for us, they fed us, gave us blankets. They gave us everything they had. We should make a monument for the residents of Giglio Island. They didn't abandon us".
