Sunken ship’s owners cite ‘human error’ for deadly accident

The chairman of Costa Cruises, the company that operates the Costa Concordia that ran aground after hitting rocks off western Italy on Friday, has cited “human error” as the cause of the accident.

Pierluigi Foschi said the ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino appeared to have sailed too close to land and failed to follow the company’s emergency procedures.

“The company will stand by the captain and will provide him with assistance, but we must acknowledge the facts and we cannot deny human error,” Foschi said at a news conference.

Captain Schettino denies any wrongdoing, but Foschi said the ship had deviated from the correct route when it hit rocks near the coast, tearing a large hole in the hull, and that the captain had contravened company’s safety procedures. “The company disavows such behaviour, which caused the accident,” he said.

Foschi fought back tears as he told reporters: “These ships are ultra-safe. It is an exceptional event, which was unforeseeable.”

Rescue operations on the capsized vessel were suspended for several hours after the luxury liner slipped on its rocky resting place. Authorities said they are continuing to monitoring the stability of the ship.

Six people are known to have died in the sinking while 15 remain unaccounted for.

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