Cruise line slaps blame on captain

Genoa – The operator of a cruise ship that ran aground off Italy’s west coast blamed the captain for the accident, saying today his actions had caused the disaster in which at least six people died.

At a news conference in Genoa, the head of Costa Cruises, a unit of Carnival Corp, rejected suggestions that the sheer size of the cruise ship had made it impossible to evacuate the more than 4000 people onboard safely.

‘‘These ships are ultra-safe. It is an exceptional event, which was unforeseeable,’’ chairman and chief executive Pier Luigi Foschi said, fighting back tears.

‘‘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,’’ he said. The 114,500-tonne Costa Concordia vessel capsized on Saturday and now lies on its side near the port of Giglio off the Tuscan coast.

Captain Francesco Schettino is accused of manslaughter and abandoning the ship before all of the people were evacuated. Sixteen people were still unaccounted for.

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 safety procedures.

‘‘The company disavows such behaviour, which caused the accident,’’ Foschi said. Coastguard officials have said the captain had refused to return to the vessel when asked to.