The CEO of Costa Cruises, the owner of the ship that ran aground off Italy, says the captain made an "unapproved, unauthorised" deviation in course. Capt Francesco Schettino is suspected of manslaughter, but denies wrongdoing. Six people were killed and about 15 remain missing after the hull of the Costa Concordia was torn open by rocks late on Friday off the Tuscan coast. The search for survivors has temporarily been suspended after the ship slipped in rough weather. "The company will be close to the captain and will provide him with all the necessary assistance, but we need to acknowledge the facts and we cannot deny human error," Costa Cruises Chief Executive Officer Pier Luigi Foschi told a news conference in Genoa. Mr Foschi said Costa's ships have their routes programmed and alarms sound when they go off course. "This route was put in correctly," he said. "The fact that it left from this course is due solely to a manoeuvre by the commander that was unapproved, unauthorised and unknown to Costa.'' He said the ship was regularly inspected and had had a major check in November last year. Oil spill fears At the emotional news conference, Mr Foschi fought back tears and apologised for the accident. Earlier, Costa Cruises said Capt Schettino had appeared to sail too close to land. Continue reading the main story “Start Quote There was panic, like in a film, dishes crashing to the floor, people running, people falling down the stairs” Italian media have suggested he may have been taking the Costa Concordia close to the Tuscan island of Giglio to put on a show for the islanders. Some of the passengers on board the ship described hearing a horrendous noise as the ship struck rocks at about 21:30 (20:30 GMT) on Friday. There were scenes of panic as alarms sounded soon after and the ship began to list. Capt Schettino steered the vessel closer to land to where it now lies on its side just metres off Giglio island. Some of the passengers and crew were forced to swim for land as the angle of the ship made boarding life boats impossible. The 4,200 passengers and crew on board had not conducted an emergency drill after leaving on its cruise several hours earlier. Environment Minister Corrado Clini said there was an extremely high risk of a damaging spill of fuel from the ship's tanks. "The vessel has reservoirs full of fuel, it is a heavy diesel which could sink down to the seabed, that would be a disaster," he told La Stampa newspaper. "As soon as possible, the fuel will be removed from the vessel. But we have to take into account the precarious state of the ship."

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