Cruise ship shifts, search halted indefinitely

The cruise ship Costa Concordia leans on its side off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Jan. 18, 2012. / AP

Updated at 11:50 a.m. ET

ROME - Italian rescue workers suspended operations Wednesday after a stricken cruise ship shifted slightly on the rocks near the Tuscan coast, creating deep concerns about the safety of divers and firefighters searching for the 22 people still missing.

CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey reports the fear is that the massive vessel -- almost 1,000 feet long -- might slip off the rock ledge it's resting on and plunge into deep water. Five days after the ship hit rocks and became stuck off Tuscany, Pizzey said the urgency has gone out of the search operation. No one expects to find anyone else alive aboard the largest cruise liner ever to have been wrecked.

Lawyer: Cruise captain "saved hundreds" of lives
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Video: How will the Costa Concordia be salvaged?

The $450 million Costa Concordia cruise ship was carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew when it slammed into the reef Friday off the tiny Italian island of Giglio after the captain made an unauthorized maneuver.

(Watch at left a "CBS This Morning" report)

The death toll stands at 11, and none of the dead have been identified so far. Italian authorities released the names of 24 passengers and 4 crew still missing, a list that includes six of the dead. The missing included 13 Germans, six Italians, four French, two Americans and one person each from Hungary, India and Peru.

Instruments attached to the ship detected the movements early Wednesday even though firefighters who spent the night searching the area above water for the missing could not detect any movement.

82 Photos

Luxury cruise ship runs aground

"As a precautionary measure, we stopped the operations this morning, in order to verify the data we retrieved from our detectors, and understand if there actually was a movement, and if there has been one, how big this was," said Coast Guard Cmdr. Filippo Marini.

By late afternoon, officials still did not have enough data to reassure them that the ship had stopped resettling. The latest victims were discovered after navy divers exploded holes in the hull of the ship to allow easier access.

Premier Mario Monti offered his first comment on the disaster Wednesday, telling a press conference in London that it "could and should" have been avoided.

Monti also thanked the residents of Giglio, which has a wintertime population of about 900, for opening their doors to the 4,200 refugees who struggled ashore with nothing and were given clothes, food and shelter.

34 Photos

Inside the Costa Concordia wreck

And he acknowledged concerns about the 500,000 gallons of fuel still aboard the ship.

"Everybody can be assured that the Italian authorities are both taking care of the prevention and limitation of any environmental negative implications of this accident, as well as in the first place providing all the necessary help to those affected."

Passengers continued to make their way home, with consistent claims that crew members were ill-prepared to handle an emergency evacuation.

"The crew members had no specialized training — the security man doubled as the cook and bartender, so obviously they did not know what to do," passenger Claudia Fehlandt told Chile's Channel 7 television after being embraced by relatives at Santiago's airport.

"In fact, the lifeboats, even the ones that did get lowered, they did not know how to lower them and they cut the ropes with axes," she said.

In addition to the rescue, much of the focus has been on the cruise ship captain's actions.

In a dramatic phone conversation released Tuesday, a coast guard official was heard ordering the captain, who had abandoned the ship with his first officers, back on board to oversee the evacuation. But Capt. Francesco Schettino resisted the order, saying it was too dark and the ship was tipping dangerously.

"You go on board! Is that clear? Do you hear me?" the Coast Guard officer shouted as the Schettino sat safe in a life raft and frantic passengers struggled to escape after the ship rammed into a reef off the Tuscan coast. "It is an order. Don't make any more excuses. You have declared 'Abandon ship.' Now I am in charge."

Jailed since the accident, Schettino appeared Tuesday before a judge in Grosseto, where he was questioned for three hours. The judge ordered him held under house arrest and Italian media reported he returned to his home near Naples.

Federal prosecutors are planning to challenge that decision.

Schettino's lawyer, Bruno Leporatti, told a news conference in Grosetto that house arrest made sense given there was no evidence the captain intended to flee. He cited the fact that the captain coordinated the evacuation from the shore after leaving the ship.

"He never left the scene," Leporatti said. "There has never been a danger of flight."

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[ticobird]

Saving lives was most important initially but what is happening with the effort to unload the fuel?

[Forty-Four]

It's being unloaded, right into the ocean....actually, I don't know. For all I know, the tanks are not damaged at all

[JoeScrotum]

I assumed these monsters (not referring to Capt) had autopilots as mentioned in the article, so it can be assumed the moron disengaged the device to make a hazardous and ill-fated route for his juvenile grandstanding. He should soon realize he has only one logical course of action at this juncture, which involves a razor blade or 15 foot section of rope.

[Forty-Four]

I know this isn't the point, but, why does that funnel have the same paint job as the funnels of White Star ships?

[Forty-Four]

Ok, I'll be honest; I am not up on this story. From what I understand, it is grounded. Is there a hole in the ship that prevents them from towing it upright and pumping water out?

[Forty-Four]

Doesn't look that bad

note the sarcasm

[smokedbacon]

Something I have not seen the news media ask is, were drugs involved?
In the US accidents involving transportation by any means requires a mandatory drug test within 24 hours after the accident. Was the captain tested?

[hemusbull]

Whit or against the captain, this so called commander is morally bankrupt individual. There is non writen rules of all seaman that captain is the last who leaves the ship. Period!

[Jesus_Loves_Children]

Underwater Graves For Sale

Before the cruise ship Costa Concordia will have sunk into its watery grave, there will have to be changes done by all cruise ship companies and the ship builders in relation to security issues:

-Limit on the number of passengers a crew and ship can handle in an emergency (stricter emergency procedures...);

-Training of cruise personnel on coordinated safety procedures (with possibility that ship can sink under one hour...);

-Access to life boats, ladder ropes won't do anymore (even if boat on side or turtle...);

-Emergency kit for all passengers (includes GPS sender, whistle, hands free flashlight...);

-Emergency lighting (inside (light guide on floor like in airplanes) & outside (flood lights, torches and distress signals that light up the sky and ship in distress)...);

-Milles and miles of corridors that don't lead to an emergency exit (additional emergency hatches...);

-Ship material quality and solidity (akin to bolts on the Titanic...);

-Supervision of all cruise ships from ground control (sea traffic control...).

-Ect.

Conclusion:
The Captain of the Costa Concordia must not be made a scapegoat by unscrupulous cruise ship companies. Heaven help us if this tragedy would repeat itself but with thousands of casualties instead of dozens.

[signseeker1717]

Even if all your recommendations were followed, it doesn't change the fact that the wreck wouldn't have happened AT ALL if the Captain hadn't deviated from the programmed route.

His actions CAUSED the accident. He bears personal responsibility. He is not a "scapegoat".

[lkm0118]

What is the second. To be second, the first should be. Everyone in the world who believe second coming Jesus is waiting for him from now.

But they could not recognize when, where ... Beside they do not look into the bible. It is the time when we should try to find him and figure out him in the bible.

I would like to show that...

(ihavealreadycome1) http://youtu.be/SPKZ78cIH8c
(ihavealreadycome2) http://youtu.be/zXKV78VERio