Italian cruise captain committed 'mortal sin' by disembarking early, American Maritime Officers

The captain of a capsized cruise ship made repeated excuses as an Italian coast guard official repeatedly ordered him to get back on the vessel potentially still packed with thousands of frightened passengers and crew, a recording released Tuesday reveals.

Captain Francesco Schettino can be heard on the recorded telephone conversation with Italian Coast Guard Capt. Gregorio De Falco telling the official that he does not want to return to the ship despite ongoing evacuations after it struck a rock late Friday and capsized.

"Tell me if there are children, women and what kind of help they need," De Falco said. "And you tell me the number of each of these categories. Is that clear? Look, Schettino, perhaps you have saved yourself from the sea but I will make you look very bad. I will make you pay for this."

"Captain, please," Schettino replied.

"There is no please about it," De Falco said. "Go back on board. Assure me you are going back on board!"

Schettino replied: "I am in the life boat, under the ship, I haven't gone anywhere, I'm here."

Schettino later agrees to reboard, but it unclear if he did. 

An Italian judge on Tuesday delayed a decision on whether to release Schettino from jail. His attorney says Schettino "saved hundreds if not thousands of lives" when he maneuvered the ship close to shore after crashing into reefs. He has been placed under house arrest, the Associated Press reports.

Schettino had been jailed for investigation of manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing a shipwreck.

Schettino committed a "mortal sin" when he disembarked the vessel prior its complete evacuation, the vice president of American Maritime Officers Union told FoxNews.com.

Michael Murphy, national vice president of government relations for the largest union of merchant marines officers in the United States, said Schettino should never have fled the Costa Concordia after it capsized.

"I consider that to be a mortal sin," Murphy said. "He's responsible, that's his ship. He's responsible for the ship and all that's in it. As far as I'm concerned, I have sympathy for him running aground -- that's heart-wrenching -- but leaving his ship and his crew and his passengers, it unforgivable."

Murphy -- who has 45 years of nautical experience, including 23 years with the U.S. Navy and 16 years as captain in the private sector -- said he would have stayed aboard until the last passenger was rescued.

"I would have stayed and I can probably speak for all the American colleagues that I know of," he said. "It's sort of the American ethos, I guess. You don't leave that ship until you've got the people off. That's the type of leadership you expect from the captain."

Murphy continued: "I sound like I'm coming down hard on him because I am. I don't sanction what the captain did there."