Capsized ship will take 10 months to remove

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

Officials called off both the operations to remove 500,000 gallons of fuel and the search for people still missing after determining the Costa Concordia had moved four centimetres over six hours, coupled with waves of more than three feet.

A 17th body, identified as Peruvian crew member Erika Soria Molina, was found on Saturday. Sixteen remain missing, with one body recovered not yet identified.

Officials have virtually ruled out finding anyone alive more than two weeks after the liner hit a reef, but were reluctant to give a final death toll.

The crash happened when the captain deviated from his planned route, creating a huge gash that capsized the ship. More than 4,200 people were on board.

“Our first goal was to find people alive,” Franco Gabrielli, the national civil protection official in charge of the operation said. “Now we have a single, big goal, and that is that this does not translate into an environmental disaster.”

University of Florence professor Riccardo Fanti said the ship’s movements could either be caused by the ship settling on its own weight, slipping deeper into the seabed, or both. He also could not rule out it sliding along the seabed.

Experts have said it would take 28 days to remove fuel from 15 tanks accounting for more than 80% of all fuel on board.

The next job would be to target the engine room, which contains nearly 350 cubic meters of diesel, fuel and other lubricants.