Italy ends cruise ship search

Salvage work turns dangerous

Italian authorities have ended the search for bodies in the submerged sections of the capsized Costa Concordia, more than two weeks after the giant cruise liner capsized off the Tuscan coast.

The civil protection authority said conditions on the wreck had made it impossible for divers to continue working safely in the underwater sections of the 290-metre long vessel.
The decision had been finalized after the families of the 15 people still unaccounted for had been informed.

A total of 17 bodies have been recovered since the accident on January 13 in which the Concordia, carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew, was holed by a rock after its captain steered to within 150 meters of the tiny island of Giglio.

The chief executive of the ship’s owner Costa Cruises told an Italian Senate committee Tuesday that all safety systems on board had been in order at the time of the accident but there had potentially been delays leading up to evacuation.

“We know there is a sequence of orders that has to be given before the evacuation. Some of these orders were given, but we are not certain of the timing or who gave them,” CEO Pierluigi Foschi said.

“Possibly the period of time between one order and the next was too long,” he added.