The captain of the Costa Concordia admitted that he made a navigational error moments before the cruise ship struck a rock in shallow Italian waters late Friday evening, according to Italian media.

Captain Francesco Schettino had apparently planned the ill-fated route of the Costa Concordia's first day at sea when it left port near Rome on Friday.

From BBC News Online, on RadioFiji:

(Creative Commons)

"The captain reportedly told the investigating judge in the city of Grosseto that he had decided to sail close to Giglio to salute a former captain who had a home on the Tuscan island."

Schettino, from Reuters, on National Post:

“I was navigating by sight because I knew the depths well and I had done this manoeuvre three or four times... But this time I ordered the turn too late and I ended up in water that was too shallow. I don’t know why it happened.”

The first victim in Friday's disaster has been identified as Sandor Feher, a 38-year-old Hungarian who had been working -- as a violinist -- on the ship.

The death toll remains at 11, and the number missing is now 21, after a German passenger believed to have been missing was found alive in Germany, according to the Grosseto prefect's office.