Costa Chairman Pier Luigi Foschi said at a news conference in Genoa that it was Captain Francesco Schettino’s “human error” that brought the ship carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew too close to the shores of Giglio island where it ran aground, gashing its hull. The Costa Concordia’s route was set electronically before it left Civatavecchia near Rome.
“We can’t deny that there was a human error,” Foschi said. “The route had been properly programmed in Civitavecchia. The fact that the ship strayed from that course can only be due to a maneuver that was not approved, not authorized nor communicated to Costa Crociere by the captain of the ship.”
While the captain has the final decision to adjust the ship’s course, that move is typically done only because of bad weather or an emergency. Foschi said. Schettino apparently rerouted the ship to “pay a salute” to the island of Giglio and struck rocks that were above the water line, Foschi said. As far as he knew, the captain had not been drinking alcohol.
The ship is expected to be out of service "for the remainder of the current fiscal year if not longer," the company said.
Schettino joined Costa Cruises as a safety officer in 2002 before being appointed captain four years later, the company said.
Even with its admission that mistakes were made, the Genoa-based cruise company defended the ship's crew in the face of criticism on the part of some passengers, who said the crew appeared helpless and overwhelmed as passengers rushed for lifeboats.
"It is becoming clear that the crew of the Costa Concordia acted bravely and swiftly to help evacuate more than 4,000 individuals during a very challenging situation," the company said, adding all crew members are trained and the passengers earlier took part in an evacuation drill.
Survivors have described the scene -- after the ship hit rocks near Giglio, off the coast of Tuscany, and turned over on its side -- as chaos.
"There was no one taking command," passenger Lauren Moore told HLN's Mike Galanos. She said she was having dinner with a group of friends when she heard the crunch of the ship hitting the rock and the crash of plates and glasses falling to the floor.
"It was a terrifying sound and we knew it wasn't normal," she said.
Moore ran to her cabin and then to board a lifeboat. "It was so chaotic ... Everyone was basically fighting for his or her own life," she said.
Some passengers braved the chilly water, with a temperature of about 57 degrees, and swam to safety. Others had no choice and fell in. Nighttime temperatures on Giglio have recently dipped below freezing.
Authorities have said at least 20 people were injured, in addition to those killed and missing.
There were fears the death toll could rise as rescuers searched the ship, which was nearly 50% submerged and had a gash in its hull, authorities said.
Questions and criticism continue about what caused the shipwreck and the adequacy of the response.
Speaking on Italian television, the ship's captain insisted the rocks that the Concordia hit were not marked on his map.
"On the nautical chart, it was marked just as water," Schettino said, adding that the ship was about 328 yards (300 meters) from shore.
But Coast Guard spokesman Cosimo Nicastro insisted that the waters where the ship ran aground were well-mapped. Local fishermen say the island coast of Giglio is known for its rocky sea floor.
Nicastro said the Coast Guard was investigating why the ship took the course it did.
"We know where the ship was," he said. "We know it was too close to the island. ... We don't know why."
Built in 2006, the Concordia had been on a Mediterranean cruise from Rome with stops in Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Cagliari and Palermo.
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