Cruise ship captain was ‘showing off’ claim as death toll rises and boss says sorry

Costa Cruises chairman and chief executive Pier Luigi Foschi spoke as the death toll in the disaster rose to six.

Mr Foschi said: “We can’t deny human error has been identified”.

According to reports the ship’s captain Francesco Schettino may have been “showing off” when he steered the vessel too close to rocks.

He faces accusations that he abandoned the vessel before ensuring that all of the 4,200 people aboard were safely evacuated after the disaster off the Tuscan coast on Friday night.

It is thought that Capt Schettino sailed as close to land as he did as he wanted to salute to a friend on shore.

Mr Foschi spoke to reporters at a press conference as rescuers still searching for anyone trapped in the vessel reportedly suspended the operation after it started moving.

Mr Foschi said the incident would undoubtedly have a “negative impact” on the company’s image.

A “critical analysis” of security would be carried out, he said.

He said the liner had passed all safety and technical tests in its 2011 evaluation.

Mr Foschi said the company’s main concern now was the safety and well-being of the passengers and crew as well as making sure fuel does not leak from the upended hull into the pristine waters off the island of Giglio.

Mr Foschi told reporters the Costa Concordia had “no safety problem”, adding: “These ships are ultra-safe.”

He said the captain made an unauthorised and unapproved deviation from the ship’s programmed course.

He said the company would provide Captain Schettino with legal assistance.

But he told reporters: “This route was put in correctly. The fact that it left from this course is due solely to a manoeuvre by the commander that was unapproved, unauthorized and unknown to Costa.”

Capt Schettino, who has commanded the ship since it was built in 2006, told Italian television last night he was not to blame for the maritime disaster, claiming nautical charts did not show the rocks.

At the press conference today Mr Foschi said the captain had been trained to the “highest level”.

Mr Foschi said: “Personally and on behalf of the Costa Crociere (Cruises) I want to say we are very sorry for this tragic accident that’s happened.”

Costa Cruises owner Carnival, the world’s largest cruise operator, said the disaster would wipe £62 million from its profits this year.

Shares in the company were down 21%, wiping nearly £1 billion from its market value.

The vessel hit rocks off the tiny island of Giglio with a 160ft gash being ripped in the ship’s hull.

The discovery of a sixth victim today came as the search for survivors continued.

British survivors spoke of the scenes after the ship hit the rocks.

Rose Metcalf, 23, from Wimborne in Dorset, said: “There was absolute panic. It was just terrifying, it was a case of just trying to keep people calm. People were white, people were crying, screaming.”

Describing the moment of the vessel’s impact, she said: “The sound was absolutely unbelievable, terrifying - a groan is a very, very apt description.”

She said around an hour then passed until the order came to abandon ship and at first the crew were told there had been an electrical fault or problem with the generator.

Miss Metcalf, who as a crew member had a duty to help the passengers on board into lifeboats, said it was a “long process” getting them off the listing ship.

“Because of the listing we knew they wouldn’t be able to deploy all of the life rafts on the port side,” she said.

“We were literally throwing each other, we were creating human chains to try and pass people over gaps that if they dropped down there was no recovery from. As the ship was listing what was vertical was becoming horizontal.”

One of the last people to be rescued by helicopter, Miss Metcalf said she later left a message on her father’s answer machine to let him know she was alive, but her mother did not know she was safe for eight hours. She had written a note to her mother in case she did not survive.