Animation Details Cruise Liner's Final Route

Sky News has obtained a report and animated reconstruction of the Costa Concordia's final route based on shipping navigational data.

The animation shows the cruise liner hitting an "exposed rock" before continuing on.

The report - from professional sources - details the vessel's route, which is superimposed over shipping charts of the area.

One of the images depicts the liner, a "safety contour" outline around the island of Giglio and the heading "struck exposed rock with a speed of 15 knots".

The animation based on AIS navigation data shows the ship hitting an "exposed rock"

The report is based on information from the Automatic Identification System (AIS), an automatic tracking system used by vessel traffic services (VTS) to locate and identify ships.

It works by electronically exchanging data with other nearby ships and AIS base stations.

Marine radar is the primary method of collision avoidance for water transport, supported by AIS information.

:: Click here for our graphic sequence to find out how the cruise liner ended up on its side.

The report comes a day after claims emerged that the cruise liner's captain has admitted to investigators he ordered the ship to turn too late.

The ship's captain Francesco Schettino is now under house arrest

According to a leaked transcript being quoted in the Italian media, Francesco Schettino - who has been put under house arrest - admitted making the mistake that led to the Costa Concordia hitting a rock.

"I was navigating by sight because I knew the depths well and I had done this manoeuvre three or four times," he reportedly said.

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."

Schettino has appeared in court accused of causing the accident by coming too close to the shore so he could "make a salute" and also of abandoning ship before the evacuation was complete.

Meanwhile, divers and salvage teams are facing a race against time to recover bodies and siphon fuel from the stricken Costa Concordia.

Earlier, the bodies of four victims - two French, an Italian and a Peruvian - were identified. The bodies of Jeanne Gannard and Pierre Gregoire were pulled from the wreckage earlier this week.

Worsening weather conditions are threatening to shift the ship off the rocks and send it to the bottom of the sea, piling pressure on those carrying out the search for the people who are still missing.

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