Cruise ship runs aground off Italy
Latest news on the accident on the ship carrying 4,000 passengers
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Costa Cruises issued a statement calling into question Captain Francesco Schettino's judgment: "The route of the vessel appears to have been too close to the shore, and the captain's judgment in handling the emergency appears to have not followed standard Costa procedures."
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The owners added: "We are aware that the lead prosecutor has levelled serious accusations against the ship's Captain, who joined Costa Crociere in 2002 as a Safety Officer and was appointed Captain in 2006, after acting as Staff Captain as well. As all Costa Masters, he has been constantly trained passing all tests."
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Capt Schettino told Italian television he was not to blame for the ship, built in 2006, crashing into rocks. He said: "I don't know if it was detected or not, but on the nautical chart it was marked just as water and some 100-150 metres (328ft-492ft) from the rocks, and we were about 300 metres (984ft) from the shore, more or less. We shouldn't have had this contact."
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Karen Jacques, chief operating officer, of Dryad Maritime, which provides risk forecasts and advice to mariners, said key questions investigators will want answers to included: what speed the cruiser was doing; why it took a different route; whether there was a problem below the water level that allowed the Concordia to list so quickly; what decisions Captain Francesco Schettino took and where he was before the collision; what his role was during the evacuation and when he left the vessel, and an inquiry into the evacuation itself.
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No further word on a sixth body being found on the Costa Concordia - the lastest Foreign Office links are here.
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The pics of the sinking cruise ship in Italy are unreal!by flaca_sp via twitter 1/16/2012 6:59:14 AM -
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The chief executive of Costa Crociere - the line that owns the Concordia - Pier Luigi Foschi will be talking to the media later today. He has scheduled a press conference for Italian reporters at 10.30am GMT and another for international media at 1pm GMT.
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Bloomberg Businessweek reports on the impact the Concordia hulling could have on the cruise industry - the timing could hardly be worse as January to March is "wave season" when one-third of all cruises are booked.
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Stories from survivors have been coming in from around the world.
US website Boston.com shares the story of honeymooners Benji Smith and Emily Lau. Mr Smith said as lifeboats were being prepared and loaded, passengers were pushing one another and fighting with crew members. -
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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."
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