Italian media say five more bodies have been found aboard a cruise ship that capsized off the coast of Tuscany, raising the official death toll to 11
Teams have been searching the ship for passengers and crew missing since the Costa Concordia struck rocks Friday evening and capsized.
Rescuers exploded four holes in the hull of the ship earlier Tuesday to gain easier access to areas that had not yet been searched.
Before the latest find, 29 people from the cruise ship were still missing. Officials said the missing included 14 Germans, six Italians, four French, two Americans, one Hungarian, one Indian and one Peruvian.
Fuel removal may start 'within a day'
The Hague: The Dutch salvager charged with pumping fuel from a capsized cruise ship off the Italian coast said Tuesday operations could start within a day.
"From the salvage side, we are ready to start the operation tomorrow (Wednesday)," said Smit Salvage operations manager Kees van Essen in a telephone conference with journalists.
He said a timeframe for pumping operations is expected to be clearer after a meeting later Tuesday with the Italian authorities, the Coast Guard, the Costa Concordia's owners and insurers.
A spokesman for Royal Boskalis, Smit Salvage's parent company, said there was currently no danger of large scale pollution off Italy's scenic Giglio Island.
"At present there has been no form of pollution or oil escaping from the vessel," Martijn Schuttevaer said.
But Van Essen added: "We are aware of the risk. The earlier we can start, the better, we feel confident that the removal can be done, but there are always environmental risks."
He said the operation to pump out 2,380 tonnes of heavy oil (fuel) and 200 tonnes of diesel was expected to take between two to four weeks after which discussions between salvage companies and the ship's owners would start on how to remove the Costa Concordia's wreck.
Although weather was a concern, with a storm predicted to lash the island on Thursday, the men said preliminary observations showed chances of the ship slipping off a rocky shelf was minimal.
"There are quite a number of penetrations on the starboard side acting as an anchor," Van Essen added.
The weather forced a temporary evacuation of the 17-deck cruise ship for several hours Monday after it slipped on a rocky shelf under the sea, sparking fears that the hull could sink entirely.
Removal to take between 'two and four weeks'
Rome: A Dutch extraction firm says it will take between two to four weeks to safely remove the oil from a wrecked cruise ship off Italy's Tuscan coast.
The firm Smit, of Rotterdam, Netherlands, said Tuesday the search operation for the missing 29 people has the first priority and a survey of the ship must take place before the extraction begins.
However, officials say the two operations can go on in tandem and the fuel extraction operation could begin as early as Wednesday if approved by Italian officials.
Italy's environment minister has warned of an ecological crisis if the oil spills off the island of Giglio, part of a protected sanctuary for dolphins, porpoises and whales.
Some 500,000 gallons of fuel are on board the Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground Friday.
Pleasing the head waiter
Rome: The captain of an Italian cruise ship that ran aground near Giglio island passed close to its rocky shores to please the head waiter who comes from there, the Corriere della Sera reported on Monday.
The report raised more allegations of irresponsible action by the ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, leading to the accident that left several people dead. The ship's operator has said he committed "errors of judgement".
On Tuesday, rescuers found a body in the wreckage of the luxury liner Costa Concordia, bringing the death toll to seven, the daily La Stampa said on its website.
The body had not yet been recovered, the report said, quoting rescue workers. A further 28 people remained missing, La Stampa said.
Meanwhile, the Corriere della Sera reported that shortly before the accident the captain called head waiter Antonello Tievoli to the bridge saying, "Antonello, come see, we are very close to your Giglio," said witnesses quoted by the newspaper.
Tievoli had been due for leave the week before but had to remain on board because a replacement could not be found, the paper said.
Schettino was trying to give him some pleasure by steering the ship close to the rocky coasts of the Tuscan island, the report said.
It also quoted witnesses as claiming Tievoli, standing on the bridge, had said to the captain just before the accident happened: "Careful, we are extremely close to the shore."
Early on Monday, rescuers who had been desperately working through the night found the body of a man in the wreckage of the Costa Concordia, taking the death toll from the disaster to six, the Ansa news agency reported. About 15 people are still missing after the massive ship hit rocks and capsized late Friday.
