Cruise ship sinking: latest

Pier Luigi Foschi, the CEO of Costa Cruises, owner of the Costa Concordia, apologized for the disaster then told reporters at a press conference in Genoa, "We need to acknowledge the facts and we cannot deny human error."

Foschi explained that all his ships have their routes programmed into navigational systems before they embark on their voyages. The Concordia left its preprogrammed route in a maneuver that was "unapproved, unauthorized and unknown to Costa."

Tape of press conference is here.

Meanwhile, one more body was found today bringing the death toll in the disaster to six.  A number of people are still missing.

The weather is changing off the coast of Giglio, the island where the cruise ship ran aground. A rising swell is leading to fears that the ship will break-up further and begin to leak fuel around the island.

The Italian environment minister, Corrado Clini, warned: "The environmental risk for the island of Giglio is extremely high."

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