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Cruise ship owners accuse captain of 'inexplicable' error
Owners of a capsized cruise ship off the Italian coast have suggested Captain Francesco Schettino may be responsible for the deadly accident, while rough seas and weather forced rescue workers to suspend their efforts.

Owners of a capsized cruise ship off the Italian coast have suggested Captain Francesco Schettino may be responsible for the deadly accident, while rough seas and weather forced rescue workers to suspend their efforts.

Disasters | 16.01.2012

Rescue attempts resume on capsized Italian cruise ship

At least six people have been confirmed dead in the accident

Divers have resumed their efforts to rescue survivors of a capsized cruise ship off the Italian coast. Its owners have suggested the captain may have been responsible for the deadly accident.

Divers and coastguards resumed their attempts on Monday to rescue survivors of the cruise ship Costa Concordia, which capsized off the western Italian coast on Friday. The operation had been suspended earlier on Monday afternoon because the ship was found to have shifted approximately nine centimeters, apparently because of rough waters. The head of the coast guard's diving team, Rodolfo Raiteri, said an expected storm had led officials to remove all divers from the site because of "disastrous" conditions.
The CEO of Costa Crociere, the company which owns the ship, said Monday that the deadly accident was caused by an "inexplicable" error by the captain, who has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
Pier Luigi Foschi told reporters that Captain Francesco Schettino, 51, made an unauthorized deviation from the Costa Concordia's scheduled course, a "human error" that caused the deaths of at least six people.
Foschi added that he expected a negative impact on the company's business, but that he was "hoping that the confidence of our customers will be restored." He also praised the members of rescue teams that have been searching the ship for survivors, saying they had "all behaved like heroes."
Schettino was arrested on Saturday on charges of manslaughter and causing a disaster. Witnesses and the Italian coast guard say he was seen abandoning the ship before all of the 4,200 passengers and crew members were evacuated. Italian navigation code allows for up to 12 years in prison for a captain who abandons a ship in danger.
Close to shore
Captain Francesco Schettino was arrested on SaturdayOn Friday, under clear weather and calm seas as dinner was being served, the ship struck a rock, tearing a large hole in the hull.
"The route followed by the ship was too close to the coast and it seems that [the captain's] decisions on the management of the emergency did not follow the procedures of Costa Crociere," the company said in a statement.
Schettino told Italian television that the rocks were not marked on maps and were undetected by the ship's navigation systems. He said the accident took place about 300 meters (330 yards) from shore.
Rescue workers found another body Monday morning, bringing the death toll to six. Late in the day, the Italian coast guard reported that 29 people were still unaccounted for, up from a previous estimate of 15. Four of the missing are crewmen, while 25 are passengers, among them at least 11 German citizens.
Environmental risk
The 290-meter-long ship lay on its side half submerged on Monday near the small island of Giglio off the Tuscan coast. A large hole in the hull was visible, but salvage experts said there was little risk of an oil spill because the fuel tanks appeared to have escaped the damage.
Foschi said the ship contained 2,300 metric tons of fuel, but that there had been no sign of leakage yet.
However, Italian Environment Minister Corrado Clini warned that the ship still posed a "very high risk" to the delicate coastal environment, and that "urgent action" was necessary to avert environmental catastrophe.
Author: Andrew Bowen, Richard Connor (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)
Editor: Michael Lawton