A new audiotape has emerged of the captain of the stricken cruise ship Costa Concordia insisting that the vessel only had a blackout a full 30 minutes after it had rammed into a reef.

The Italian operator of the Costa Concordia has today accused the ship's jailed captain, Francesco Schettino, of causing ship to run aground, saying he made an "unapproved, unauthorised manoeuvre'' to divert the vessel from its programmed course.

Emergency Services in Italy are denying reports that a seventh body has been found amid the wreckage of the Costa Condordia this morning.