Cruise ship sinking: Cruiser could release 2,300 tonnes of fuel into the Med

A STATE of emergency is to be declared by the Italian government as fears grow that 2,300 tonnes of fuel on board the cruise ship Costa Concordia could leak, raising the prospect of an environental disaster.

Last night, as the ship’s owners blamed the captain for deliberately going off course, Italy’s environment minister said the risk to the pristine waters off the island of Giglio and maritime wildlife was “very, very high”.

Corrado Clini said the Italian cabinet would call a state of emergency to free funds in order to prevent an environmental disaster, or to deal with one if an oil slick became inevitable.

He said: “The environmental risk for the island of Giglio is very, very high. The aim is to prevent the fuel leaking out of the ship. We are working to avoid this.”

But he warned: “It is urgent and time is running out.”

Rescue workers have recovered six bodies from the vessel, and officials say 16 of the 4,200 passengers and crew are still missing.

Yesterday, the ship, which ran aground on Friday, slipped a few inches, causing search and rescue operations to be postponed for five hours.

The 290m-long ship is resting on an undersea ledge in 15-20 metres of water, but salvage workers fear it could slip down the slope, which falls away sharply into much deeper water. The liner’s owners yesterday said the captain had made “an unapproved, unauthorised” deviation to his route. The chairman of Costa Cruises, Pier Luigi Foschi, also apologised for the tragedy, which has left dozens of people injured.

At the centre of the investigation into the disaster is Francesco Schettino who, according to reports, was “showing off” and sailed close to land as he wanted to salute to a friend on shore.

He faces accusations that he abandoned the vessel before ensuring that all of the 4,200 people aboard, including 35 Britons, were safely evacuated.

British survivors told of panic on board after the ship began to list, but Mr Foschi said the liner had passed all safety and technical tests in its 2011 evaluation.

Explaining that the ship was “ultra safe”, Mr Foschi said the captain had made an unauthorised and unapproved deviation from its programmed course.

Mr Foschi said: “This route was put in correctly. 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.”

Mr Foschi added: “Personally, and on behalf of the Costa Cruises, I want to say we are very sorry for this tragic accident.”

Capt Schettino, who has commanded the ship since it was built in 2006, denies he is to blame and said charts did not show the rocks off Giglio.

Allan Graveson, senior national secretary of the ships’ masters’ union, Nautilus, said large liners such as the Costa Concordia were “inherently unstable” and operators of such ships were “putting profits before safety” and loading them with too many decks.

But Robert Ashdown, the European Cruise Council’s technical, environment and operations director, said Mr Graveson’s view was “just not right” and big ships were “more stable than they have ever been”.

It also emerged yesterday that the father of the ship’s head waiter said his son had telephoned him before the accident to say the crew would salute him by blowing the ship’s whistle as they passed close by Giglio, where both the waiter, Antonello Tievoli, and his 82-year-old father, Giuseppe, live.

“The ship obviously came too close,” Mr Tievoli senior said. “I don’t know if Antonello asked the captain to come near, but the responsibility is always the captain’s.”

Further evidence that the ship’s course was fatally changed emerged on Facebook in a posting by Mr Tievoli’s sister, Patrizia.

About 30 minutes before the disaster, she posted: “Shortly the Costa Concordia will pass really, really close, a big hello to my brother who will disembark at Savona and finally get to enjoy some holiday.”

The following day she wrote “Tragedy… a huge tragedy”, before adding: “This has been the longest night of my life”.

Last night, after visiting Capt Schettino in prison, his lawyer, Bruno Leporatti, said his client was “pained and overcome for the loss of human life and deeply troubled by what had happened”.