Concerned that the ship might suddenly sink, Italian authorities suspended rescue efforts at the wreckage of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that capsized this weekend off the coast of Tuscany.
The ship is resting on a 120-foot "ledge," and could slip down to a depth of about 224 feet if it becomes unstable or moves because of wind or sea shifts. There is also concern about the potential of fuel leaking from the vessel.
At a news conference today, Costa Cruises Chief Executive Officer Pier Luigi Foschi said the ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, made an unapproved, unauthorized maneuver to change the ship's programmed course. Italian media has reported that Schettino was close to the shore in order to wave to a friend who was on land.
"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," Foschi told a news conference in Genoa.
Schettino is suspected of manslaughter and abandoning ship.
A sixth body was found in the wreckage early this morning when rescue workers searched the part of the ship that is above water.
The body has yet to be identified, although it has been confirmed by Italian news outlet Ansa that the man was a passenger on the ship. The man was found on the second deck in a part of the ship that was not flooded by water. He had his life vest on.
Sixteen people are still unaccounted for after the Costa Concordia, which was carrying 4,234 passengers and crew, hit rocks Friday evening near Giglio, a small island off the coast of Tuscany. Investigators say the ship was an "incredibly close" 450 feet or so from the shore.
The bodies of two passengers found wearing life jackets aboard the ship were identified Sunday, officials said. Both passengers were elderly men -- one Italian, the other Spanish. The bodies were found earlier Sunday near a gathering point in the submerged part of the luxury liner.
"While the investigation is ongoing, preliminary indications are that there may have been significant human error on the part of the ship's master, Captain Francesco Schettino, which resulted in these grave consequences," Costa Cruises said in a statement. "The route of the vessel appears to have been too close to the shore, and in handling the emergency the captain appears not to have followed standard Costa procedures."
Experts are still analyzing the ship's black box, which has already revealed a one-hour lag between the time of the impact on the rocks at 9:45 p.m. local time Friday and the ship's alarm call to the coast guard at about 10:43 p.m. Investigators suspect Schettino tried to maneuver the ship before alerting coast guard, the Italian news outlet Ansa reported.
Schettino is in custody, facing possible charges of manslaughter and abandoning his ship. Schettino reportedly left the stricken vessel at approximately 12:30 a.m., while many passengers didn't get safely off the ship until 6 a.m., Ansa reported.
Ten passengers and six crew members are still unaccounted for. The number was reduced from an earlier estimate of 40 unaccounted for.
The U.S. embassy in Rome estimates 120 Americans were on board the ship, of which 118 have been accounted for.
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