Divers of the Nucleo Operatori Subacquei Guardia Costiera (Coast Guard) conduct a search and rescue operation that led to the discovery of the body of a woman inside the Costa Concordia ship on January 21, 2012
Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino reportedly told prosecutors that Costa Cruises operators ordered him to perform the “salute” maneuver, when a cruise ship sails close to the shore to attract publicity and delight passengers. That move, he says, caused the ship to capsize, Reuters reports.
“It was planned, we were supposed to have done it a week earlier but it was not possible because of bad weather,” Schettino reportedly told prosecutors. “They insisted. They said: ‘We do tourist navigation, we have to be seen, get publicity and greet the island.'”
(PHOTOS: Saving Italy’s Stricken Costa Concordia Cruise Ship)
Schettino, charged with manslaughter and with abandoning ship, claimed he regularly performs the salute. “But we do it every time we do the Sorrento coast, Capri, we do it everywhere,” he said, according to transcripts of his hearing.
In the company’s defense, Costa Chief Executive Pier Luigi Foschi has said “tourist navigation” happens, but not usually in such risky conditions, Reuters reports. This time, the 114,500-ton cruise ship was too close to shore—just 150 meters from Giglio, a Tuscan island, according to the Associated Press.
“We cannot deny human error,” Foschi said during a press conference. “This route was put in correctly. The fact that it left from this course is due solely to a maneuver by the commander that was unapproved, unauthorized and unknown to Costa.”
Seventeen of the 4,200 passengers on the boat remain missing after more than a week of searching, but that number may actually be higher because of potentially unregistered passengers aboard, MSNBC reports. The ship is now stable enough to let the search continue, and experts can now start pumping fuel from the ship to avoid environmental damage.
Though the captain has said the Concordia’s black box had been broken for the two weeks preceding the crash, Italian prosecutors are investigating black boxes from several Costa cruise ships to uncover the truth.
PHOTOS: Unsafe at Sea: Asia’s History of Deadly Ferry Disasters