Seemingly minute shifts in the position of the cruise ship that partially sank in an Italian port is hampering the underwater search for 21 passengers and crew missing for more than a week. NBC's Michelle Kosinki reports from Giglio, Italy.
By NBC News and msnbc.com news services
Updated at 11:10 a.m. ET: GIGLIO, Italy -- Italian Coast Guard divers on Saturday found a woman's body in a corridor of a submerged section of the capsized Costa Concordia, raising to at least 12 the number of dead in the cruise liner accident.
Coast Guard Cmdr. Cosimo Nicastro told The Associated Press that the victim, who was wearing a life vest, was found during a particularly risky inspection of an evacuation staging point at the ship's rear.
"The corridor was very narrow, and the divers' lines risked snagging" on objects in the passageway, Nicastro said. To permit the coast guard divers to get into the area, Italian navy divers had preceded them, setting off charges to blast holes for easier entrance and exit, he said.
The woman's nationality and identity were not immediately known.
The body was brought to Giglio, the Tuscan island where the cruise liner hit a reef and ran aground on Jan. 14. Twenty people remain?missing.
DigitalGlobe
The Costa Concordia ran aground Jan. 13 off the coast of Italy, resulting in the evacuation of thousands of passengers as the ship began heavily listing.
Search and rescue efforts for survivors and bodies have meant that an operation to remove heavy fuel in the Concordia's tanks hasn't yet begun, although specialized equipment has been standing by for days.
On Saturday, light fuel, apparently from machinery aboard the capsized Costa Concordia, was detected near the ship.
But Nicastro said there was no indication that any of the nearly 500,000 gallons (2,200 metric tons) of heavy fuel oil has leaked from the ship's double-bottomed tanks. He said the leaked substance appears to be diesel, which is used to fuel rescue boats and dinghies and as a lubricant for ship machinery.
There are 185 tons of diesel and lubricants on board the crippled vessel, which is lying on its side just outside Giglio's port. Nicastro described the light fuel's presence in the sea as "very light, very superficial" and appearing to be under control.
NBC's Michelle Kosinski reports.
?Updated at 9:30 a.m. ET:? The captain of the cruise ship Costa Concordia, which struck a rock and capsized off Italy, told magistrates he informed the ship's owners of the accident immediately, denying he had delayed raising the alarm, judicial sources said on Saturday.
Capt. Francesco Schettino has been blamed for causing the January 13 accident in which at least 11 people died. He is under house arrest, accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship before all passengers were evacuated.
His statements to prosecutors investigating the disaster, reported in the Italian press and confirmed by judicial sources, underline the growing battle between him and Costa Cruise Lines which operates the 114,500 ton vessel.?
Published at 5:40 a.m. ET: Divers resumed the search of the wreckage of the capsized Costa Concordia after data indicated the cruise ship had stabilized in the sea off Tuscany.
Italian coastguard spokesman Cosimo Nicastro told NBC News Saturday that the navy had punctured two holes in the carcass of the ship, which has been lying on its side near the port of Giglio island since shortly after it crashed into a reef on Jan. 13.
Divers were expected to search the area around bridge number four, an emergency meeting point near to where other bodies were found. They had been hoping to reach that area for days, NBC reported.
They are searching for bodies or survivors, although it is unlikely any of the 21 missing in the accident could still be alive. The search was suspended on Friday after the Concordia shifted, prompting fears the ship could roll off a rocky ledge of sea bed and plunge deeper into the sea.
There are also fears the Concordia's fuel could leak, polluting pristine waters.
On Friday, the Concordia owner's CEO said the captain did not relay correct information either to the company or the crew after the ship hit rocks.
Pierluigi Foschi told Italian state TV that the company spoke to the captain some 20 minutes after the ship ran aground, but could not offer proper assistance because the captain's description "did not correspond to the truth," Reuters reported.
More from msnbc.com and NBC News:
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
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