Salvage mission

Italian authorities issued a weather alert on Thursday as rescue workers resumed operations on the capsized Costa Concordia cruise liner. Warnings that the sea could become "very agitated" fuelled fears that efforts to search the wreck could be hampered once again.

"When the waves are high, it's difficult to approach the ship with a dinghy, so helicopters are now installing ladders that will link the ship to the coastline," Luca Cari, a spokesman for Italy's firefighting services said.

The warning came a day after the ship, stranded near the Tuscan coast, shifted slightly on the rocks. Poor weather conditions could cause the semi-submerged cruise ship to sink entirely.

"The ship is still precariously balanced on the shoal, so they [the divers] will have to move carefully," Cari, told news agency dpa earlier on Thursday.

"Any shift in the Concordia's position would mean danger, and we would have to suspend operations again," he added.

Missing passengers

The ship capsized after it ran aground on the tiny island of Giglio off Italy's Tuscan coast late Friday. Around 4,200 passengers and crew were on board. The death toll stood at 11 on Thursday, with 21 people still missing.

The first victim from the Costa Concordia disaster was identified Wednesday as a 38-year-old violinist from Hungary who had been working as an entertainer on the cruise ship.

Meanwhile crew members distanced themselves from criticism that followed the night rescue. They said they guided hundreds of people onto lifeboats even after the captain had abandoned ship.

"Unlike the captain, we were there until the end. We did all we could to avoid catastrophe," said Andrea Carollo, third officer in the engine room.

Another officer said the crew didn't wait for the captain to give the order to abandon ship, adding that when they saw how serious the situation was they organized the evacuation themselves.

Captain under house arrest

The crew's accounts have been overshadowed by passenger complaints of chaos and poor communication during the evacuation and above all by the mistakes and alleged cowardice of Captain Francesco Schettino, who is accused of causing the accident and then abandoning ship.

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

Italian Premier Mario Monti told a press conference in London that the disaster "could and should" have been avoided. He thanked the residents of Giglio for opening their doors to the refugees who struggled ashore with nothing and were given clothes, food and shelter.

Monti acknowledged concerns about the 1.8 million liters (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," he said.

Author: Dagmar Breitenbach, Stuart Tiffen, Charlotte Chelsom-Pill (AP, dpa, Reuters, AFP)
Editor: Michael Lawton