17th body removed from cruise ship wreck

(AP) 

Last Updated 12:11 p.m. ET

GIGLIO, Italy — Rough seas off Italy's Tuscan coast forced a delay in the planned Saturday start of the operation to remove a half-million gallons of fuel from the grounded Costa Concordia, and officials said pumping may now not begin until midweek.

Recovery operations continued, however, and on Saturday yielded a 17th body: The woman who wasn't wearing a life jacket was found by divers on the submerged sixth floor deck, civil protection officials said.

The Concordia ran aground on Jan. 13 off the port of the island of Giglio port after the captain deviated from his planned route and gashed the hull of the ship on a reef. Some 4,200 passengers and crew endured a panicked evacuation after the abandon ship alarm didn't sound until the ship had capsized so much that some life boats couldn't be lowered.

Some 16 people remain unaccounted for and are presumed dead. The body discovered Saturday has not yet been identified.

Technicians work on a floating barrier near the stricken cruise liner Costa Concordia lying aground at Isola del Giglio on January 27, 2012.

(Credit: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty Images)

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The removal of the fuel aboard the Concordia is a key concern since the seas around Giglio form part of a protected marine sanctuary and are a favorite destination for scuba divers. So far, no leakage has been detected.

Dutch shipwreck salvage firm Smit has been contracted by the Concordia's owner Costa Crociere SpA, a unit of Miami-based Carnival Corp., to remove the fuel. Smit's divers have made the necessary preparations to begin pumping out fuel from six outer tanks that hold more than half of the 500,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil that are aboard the ship.

The rest of the fuel is contained in inner tanks that are harder to access.

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Inside the Costa Concordia wreck

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So far, divers have drilled into four of the six outer tanks and fixed valves on them: one on top, one on bottom. Hoses will then be attached to the valves and as the oil — which must be warmed to make it less gooey — is sucked out of the upper hose, sea water is pumped in to fill the vacuum via the lower hose.

Smit spokesman Martijn Schuttevaer told reporters Saturday that the pumping operation may not begin now until midweek since the poor weather is forecast at least through Tuesday. Officials don't want to risk the possibility that a battering of the hoses caused by rough seas might lead to leakage.

On Saturday, the choppy waters partially dislodged Smit's barge that was hitched to the Concordia's hull and had served as a staging platform for the fuel removal operation. Smit brought it back into port, where it will stay until the weather improves, Schuttevaer said.

The Concordia's captain, Francesco Schettino, remains under house arrest, accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning a ship before its passengers had evacuated. He has admitted he took the ship on "tourist navigation" to bring it close to Giglio but said the reef he hit wasn't marked on his nautical charts.

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Luxury cruise ship runs aground

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[smcarter]

I would like to know if the reef was on his nautical charts or not. It would seem something fairly easy to clarify. Were they digital or paper? It would seem a half decent reporter could check with the cruise line on what charts they used.

[AnnieDanny]

That's been mentioned many times. The reef and the rocks were well documented on all maps, some of it even mentioned on TOURIST maps: that's what one article said. Locals said that the sea passage is very safe. The ship was simply too close to the island, doing a "drive-by" as a favor to a passenger who was from the island. That's what I read, anyway.

[djberson]

Maybe if they wait long enough to do something about siphoning out the fuel and securing the vessel, they won't have to do anything. You know, like was the case with the Sea Diamond.

[signseeker1717]

It seems like a very similar situation. If interested, here's a report on oil containment for the Sea Diamond as of 2010:

http://www.itopf.com/information-services/publications/papers/documents/SeaDiamond10.pdf

[djberson]

Thank you. That is an interesting technical report. I felt at the time that the Sea Diamond should never been allowed to sink in the first place, as there was MORE than enough time to ground her. It was a ridiculous waste, and needless environmental disaster.

[thanks8282]

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[Goofer-Buddy]

RIP...Will that person be eligible for the 14 thousand dollar offer?

[deohgee]

No, I think they are offering 30% off at an Italian funeral home.