MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Captain Schettino’s lover admits she was in the Concordia bridge when the crash

The Moldavian blond and former dancer Domnica

The Moldovan blonde spotted with the captain of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia, Francesco Schettino, on the night of the disaster, has told Italian investigators she is in love with him.

“Yes, it's true. I am in love with Captain Schettino,” Domnica Cemortan, 25, told prosecutors, according to Italian newspaper La Stampa.

Cemortan, who has joint Moldovan and Romanian citizenship, previously said she was not Schettino's lover, saying he was faithful to his wife.

She also reportedly told Italian investigators that she was on the bridge as a “guest” of the captain at the time of the crash, despite Schettino claiming that only authorised staff was on the bridge at the time.

Survivors claimed that they saw Cemortan dining and drinking wine with Schettino shortly before the 17-deck vessel ran aground, but she has always denied this in media interviews, calling him a “hero” who “saved lives.”

The cruise ship ran aground on rocks on January 13 with some 4200 people aboard and is lying on its side off the Tuscan island of Giglio. A total of 17 bodies were recovered, and 15 people remain missing.

Her statement was confirmed when clothing and lingerie belonging to the Moldovan blonde have reportedly been found in the captain’s cabin. Divers found the clothing, and a beauty case, when they searched Capt Francesco Schettino's cabin.

Schettino is under house arrest facing charges of manslaughter and abandoning ship.