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Cruise ship sinking

FILE - A Monday, Feb.13, 2012 file photo showing ongoing operations to remove fuel from the half sunken hulk of the luxury ship Costa Concordia a month after it ran aground outside the port of Isola del Giglio island in Tuscany, Italy. The Concordia capsized in a protected sea sanctuary, and salvage teams have been removing fuel since Feb. 12 in hopes of sparing the pristine waters from pollution. Costa Crociere SpA., the Italian cruise company, and Italian officials said fuel removal was expected to be completed by Friday evening. (AP Photo/Giorgio Fanciulli, File)

3 more bodies found in wrecked cruise ship

Last updated Thursday, March 22, 2012 - 2:16pm

GIGLIO, Italy -- Searchers on Thursday found three bodies under the hull of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship that capsized off an Italian island in January, an official said, raising the number of bodies found so far to 28 and leaving four still missing.

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FILE In this undated photo released by the Italian Navy Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, scuba divers inspect the Costa Concordia cruise ship grounded off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. A veritable treasure now lies beneath the pristine Italian waters where the massive cruise liner ran aground last month. In the chaotic evacuation of more than 4,200 people from the Costa Concordia, passengers and crew abandoned almost everything on board: jewels, cash, champagne, antiques, 19th century Bohemian crystal glassware, thousands of art objects and even 300-year-old woodcut prints by a Japanese master. (AP Photo/Italian Navy GOS handout)

Cruise shipwreck has plenty of sunken treasures

Vanessa Gera The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, February 2, 2012 - 1:29pm

ROME -- In the chaotic evacuation of the Costa Concordia, passengers and crew abandoned almost everything on board the cruise ship: jewels, cash, champagne, antiques, 19th century Bohemian crystal glassware, thousands of art objects including 300-year-old woodblock prints by a Japanese master.

In other words, a veritable treasure now lies beneath the pristine Italian waters where the luxury liner ran aground last month.

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In this July 16, 2009 photo, the schooner Liana's Ransom sails past the cruise ship Carnival Triumph in Halifax. Carnival Cruise Line won't say exactly what percent drop it has seen in bookings but disclosed Monday, Jan. 30, 2012, that in the 12 days following the Concordia grounding there was a decline. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Andrew Vaughan)

Cruise bookings fall after Concordia shipwreck

Scott Mayerowitz The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - 6:42pm

NEW YORK -- The frightful images of a sinking Italian cruise ship have scared off some cruise passengers, at least temporarily, during the industry's peak booking season.

Travel agents -- who book more than two-thirds of cruise passengers worldwide -- have been nervously watching bookings ever since the Costa Concordia, which is owned by Carnival Corp, ran aground on Jan. 13.

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Oil recovery experts work on a wave control buoy to be used near the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2012. Residents of Giglio are growing increasingly worried about threats to the environment and the future of the Italian island following the temporary suspension of the recovery operation of the capsized cruise ship Costa Concordia. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

It could take 10 months to remove capsized cruise ship

Colleen Barry, Fulvio Paolocci The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, January 31, 2012 - 1:31pm

GIGLIO, Italy -- The cruise ship that capsized off Italy's coast will take up to 10 months to remove, officials said Sunday, as rough seas off the Tuscan coast forced the suspension of recovery operations.

Officials called off both the start of operations to remove of 500,000 gallons of fuel and the search for people still missing after determining the Costa Concordia had moved four centimeters (an inch and a half) over six hours, coupled with waves of more than one meter (three feet).

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An Italian Coast Guard dinghy sails around the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Rough seas off the Tuscan coast have delayed for a second day the start of operations to remove half a million gallons of fuel from the grounded Costa Concordia. Officials called off both the fuel removal and search operations Sunday after determining the ship had moved 4 centimeters (an inch and a half) over six hours. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Rough seas delay work on grounded cruise ship

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, January 30, 2012 - 2:40pm

GIGLIO, Italy -- Rough seas off the Tuscan coast have delayed for a second day the start of operations to remove half a million gallons of fuel from the grounded Costa Concordia.

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In this undated photo released by the Italian Navy Thursday, Jan. 26, 2012, the Costa Concordia cruise ship is seen grounded off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. Italian authorities have identified the bodies of three German passengers as divers kept up the search for those still missing from the Costa Concordia cruise ship that rammed into a reef off Italy. Sixteen deaths have been confirmed so far in the disaster, but three of those bodies have yet to be identified. Another 16 people are still missing from the ship, which grounded Jan. 13, but officials have acknowledged that it would take a miracle to find any more survivors. Salvage experts worked Thursday so they could begin pumping tons of fuel off the ship starting Saturday to avert an environmental catastrophe. The stricken ship lies very close to a marine sanctuary. (AP Photo/Italian Navy)

Cruise line offers $14,460 per person for ruined Italy trip

Nicole Winfield The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, January 27, 2012 - 11:13am

ROME -- Costa Crociere SpA offered uninjured passengers (euro) 11,000 ($14,460) apiece Friday to compensate them for lost baggage and the psychological trauma they suffered after their cruise ship ran aground and capsized off Tuscany.

But some passengers are already refusing to accept the deal, saying they can't yet put a figure on the costs of the trauma they endured.

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In this undated photo released by the Italian Navy Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012, an inside view of the Costa Concordia cruise ship grounded off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy. A large platform carrying a crane and other equipment hitched itself to the toppled Costa Concordia on Tuesday, signaling the start of preliminary operations to remove a half-million gallons of fuel from the grounded cruise ship before it leaks into the pristine Tuscan sea. Actual pumping of the oil isn't expected to begin until Saturday, but officials from the Dutch shipwreck salvage firm Smit were seen on the bow of the Concordia and in the waters nearby making preparations to remove the fuel, while the search for missing passengers continues. (AP Photo/Italian Navy GOS)

Official: Finding survivors from shipwreck would be a miracle

Manuel Schwarz, Peter Mayer Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Last updated Thursday, January 26, 2012 - 10:35am

GIGLIO, Italy -- It would take a "miracle" to find survivors 12 days after the shipwreck of the Costa Concordia, the Italian official leading rescue operations said Wednesday.

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In this picture taken on Friday, Jan. 13, 2012 and made available on Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2012, the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia lays on its starboard side after it ran aground off the coast of the Isola del Giglio island, Italy, gashing open the hull and forcing some 4,200 people aboard to evacuate aboard lifeboats to the nearby Isola del Giglio island. About 1,000 Italian passengers were onboard, as well as more than 500 Germans, about 160 French and about 1,000 crew members. (AP Photo/Giuseppe Modesti)

Cruise ship night of terror

The Associated Press

Last updated Wednesday, January 25, 2012 - 1:06pm

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A sea platform carrying a crane approaches the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012. A large platform carrying a crane and other equipment hitched itself to the toppled Costa Concordia on Tuesday, signaling the start of preliminary operations to remove a half-million gallons of fuel from the grounded cruise ship before it leaks into the pristine Tuscan sea. Actual pumping of the oil isn't expected to begin until Saturday, but officials from the Dutch shipwreck salvage firm Smit were seen on the bow of the Concordia and in the waters nearby making preparations to remove the fuel, while the search for missing passengers continues.(AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Oil to be pumped from grounded cruise ship Saturday

Contributed The Associated Press

Last updated Tuesday, January 24, 2012 - 12:14pm

ROME -- A barge carrying a crane and other equipment hitched itself to the toppled Costa Concordia on Tuesday, signaling the start of preliminary operations to remove a half-million gallons of fuel from the grounded cruise ship before it leaks into the pristine Tuscan sea.

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A police boat sails by the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia, off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2012. Rescuers on Sunday resumed searching the above-water section of the capsized Costa Concordia cruise liner, but choppy seas kept divers from exploring the submerged part, where officials have said there could be bodies. Civil protection officials said that until the waves slack off, divers would not swim into the submerged part of the vessel just off the port of Giglio, a tiny Island off the Tuscan coast. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

Cruise ship recovery continues

The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, January 23, 2012 - 6:24pm

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Italian Coast Guard scuba divers carry away the recovered bodies of two victims of the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Monday, Jan. 23, 2012. Italian officials say Monday two more bodies have been pulled from the wreckage of a cruise liner capsized off the Tuscan coast, bringing the number of confirmed dead to 15. The national civil protection agency official in charge of the search said Monday that divers recovered the bodies of two women from the ship's internet cafe. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)

2 more cruise bodies found, oil pumping to begin

Colleen Barry, Frances D'Emilio The Associated Press

Last updated Monday, January 23, 2012 - 3:19pm

ROME -- Experts can begin pumping fuel from a capsized cruise ship as early as Tuesday to avert a possible environmental catastrophe and the ship is stable enough to let search efforts go on for those still missing, Italian officials said.

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Still image from video shows former Costa Concordia crew member Domnica Cemortan gesturing during a television interview recorded on January 17, 2012 in Chisinau. Cemortan, who happened to be onboard the cruise ship during the disaster off the coast of Tuscany last Friday, defended the captain's action in the interview. Photograph by: Zhurnal Tv via Reuters Tv, Reuters

Woman with Italian ship captain defends his effort

Alison Mutler, Nicole Winfield The Associated Press

Last updated Friday, January 20, 2012 - 11:14am

ROME -- A young Moldovan woman who says she was called to the bridge of the stricken Costa Concordia to help evacuate Russian passengers defended the embattled captain on Thursday, saying he worked tirelessly and "saved over 3,000 lives."

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Capt. Bill Wright, left, discussed cruise-industry regulation at a passenger ship safety conference in London on Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012 with Richard Evenhand, managing director of V.Ships Leisure UK on the right. Wright, senior vice president of Marine Operations for the Royal Caribbean International cruise line, said it was too soon to comment on the captain of the Costa Concordia’s actions, but said it was “an unwritten rule or law of the sea” that a captain stands by a ship in distress. (AP Photo/Cassandra Vinograd)

Other seafarers outraged that captain could jump ship

Karl Ritter The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, January 19, 2012 - 12:52pm

STOCKHOLM -- Seafaring tradition holds that the captain should be last to leave a sinking ship. But is it realistic to expect skippers -- only human after all -- to suppress their survival instinct amid the horror of a maritime disaster? To ask them to stare down death from the bridge, as the lights go out and the water rises, until everyone else has made it to safety?

From mariners on ships plying the world's oceans, the answer is loud and clear: Aye.

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FILE In this In this Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012 file photo Francesco Schettino, right, the captain of the luxury cruiser Costa Concordia, which ran aground off Italy's tiny Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, is taken into custody by Carabinieri in Porto Santo Stefano, Italy. Seamen have expressed almost universal outrage at Capt. Francesco Schettino, accused of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and of abandoning his crippled cruise ship off Tuscany while passengers were still on board. The charge of abandoning his ship carries a potential sentence of 12 years in prison. Seafaring tradition holds that the captain should be last to leave a sinking ship. But is it realistic to expect skippers _ only human after all _ to suppress their survival instinct amid the horror of a maritime disaster? To ask them to stare down death from the bridge, as the lights go out and the water rises, until everyone else has made it to safety? From mariners on ships plying the world's oceans, the answer is loud and clear: Aye. (AP Photo/Giacomo Aprili, File)

Doomed ship's captain told port: 'It's just a blackout'

Collen Barry, Nicole Winfield The Associated Press

Last updated Thursday, January 19, 2012 - 10:39am

ROME -- A new audiotape emerged Thursday of the first contact between Livorno port officials and the Costa Concordia -- and the captain is heard insisting that his cruise ship only had a blackout a full 30 minutes after it had rammed into a reef.

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