The body of an elderly woman has been recovered from the wreck of the Costa Concordia, 11 days after the giant Italian cruise liner struck a rock and capsized.
She was wearing a life jacket. The total number of bodies recovered so far is 16. At least 16 more people are missing on the 290-metre long vessel, which lies half-submerged on its side just outside the tiny island port of Giglio.
Nine victims have been identified. The identities of the others are so far unknown
Salvage and rescue workers reported the first possible sign of a contaminant slick beginning to ooze from the stricken liner this evening.
Samples of the slick, described as a "very thin film" by officials and residents of the Tuscan coastal island, were being analyzed, said Adm. Ilarione Dell'Anna. The precise origin of the slick was unclear but Italian officials said absorbent booms placed around the 950-foot-long hull were trapping it.
The discovery came as salvage crews began preparations today to pump thousands of tonnes of fuel from the ship.
Dutch salvage company SMIT brought a barge carrying defueling equipment alongside the giant hulk as divers worked on installing external tanks that will be used to hold more than 2,300 tonnes of diesel that must be pumped out of the Concordia.
Navy explosive experts also blasted a hole into the submerged third deck of the ship to allow divers to continue the search of the vessel.
"While this operation is underway, rescue efforts are continuing simultaneously," fire services spokesman Claudio Chiavacci said.
Authorities have been increasingly concerned at the threat of an oil spill in the marine reserve where the incident occurred but work on removing diesel and lubricant oil has been delayed by the search for survivors and bodies.
Preparations to begin pumping the oil are expected to take about two days and the actual work of removing the fuel from the giant liner's 17 fuel tanks will take another 28 days.
As the work on Giglio continued into a second week, magistrates investigating the accident are expected to extend their inquiries, with attention increasingly focused on the ship's operators, Costa Cruises.
The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino has been blamed for the accident and placed under house arrest, accused of multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship before the evacuation of more than 4,200 passengers and crew was complete.
But his lawyer said yesterday that the investigation would be extended to other officials of Costa, a unit of the world's largest cruise operator Carnival Corp.
Costa said today it had not been notified that it was under investigation but would cooperate fully with investigators and had full confidence in magistrates.
In interviews, the company has placed the blame for the accident squarely on the shoulders of the 51 year-old Mr Schettino, who told investigators he brought the ship close into shore to perform a manoeuvre known as a "salute" to the island.
Whether or not such manoeuvres were known about and encouraged by Costa has been disputed but there are also questions about when Mr Schettino informed the company of what had happened after the ship was holed by a rock.
Mr Schettino's lawyer has said his client is ready to assume his share of responsibility for the incident but he has said he was in constant touch with Costa's command centre during the including the evacuation of the ship.
Reuters