Princess Chatter

"Franco Gabrielli, head of Italy's national civil protection agency, told reporters that rescuers would keep searching the ship, which is half-submerged off the Tuscan island of Giglio, until every reachable area is inspected. "Finding someone alive today belongs in the realm of miracles," Gabrielli said. "But since none of us, at least inside, wants to give up on that possibility, we will continue."

http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2105355,00.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2091752/Costa-Concordia-pictures-lifeboats-fleeing-like-scene-Titanic.html

According to AFP, the reports said that police secretly recorded a phone call in which Francesco Schettino told a friend he was following the advice of a manager about what route to take. The manager allegedly told him "pass through here, pass through there."

"In my place, another would not have been so ready to pass there, but they got to me with their 'pass through there, pass through there,'" Schettino said.

"The rocks were there, but the instruments I had weren't showing them, so I went through," he said.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/stricken-costa-concordia-captain-says-company-pressure-made-him-sail-too-close-to-shore/story-e6frf7jx-1226253122103

"(Reuters) - The captain of the doomed Italian liner Costa Concordia said he was told by managers to take his ship close in to shore on the night it ran aground and capsized, according to bugged conversations leaked in Italian newspapers.

The daily La Repubblica published transcripts of a conversation Captain Francesco Schettino had with an unknown person identified only as Fabrizio in which he implicates an unnamed manager of the vessel's owners Costa Cruises."

http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/01/25/italy-ship-idINDEE80O0AI20120125

"WEALTHY Russian passengers allegedly bribed Costa Concordia crew members to let them skip the queue for spots on lifeboats, it has been claimed.

Authorities are investigating reports from eyewitnesses who told Italian prosecutors that well-dressed Russians from first-class cabins stuffed wads of cash into the hands of crew members in a bid to be some of the first to board the lifeboats, the UK's Sun reported.

The disabled were also left to fend for themselves as the ship listed and began to sink, according to statements given to Italian officials.

Franca Anichini, 52, who lives nearby the shipwreck in Giglio, told German media that she was surprised to see so many men being brought to shore early on.

“I went to the boats as I saw them coming in expecting to see women, children and the injured but all I saw were healthy men and elegant women in evening gowns who were speaking Russian," Mr Anichini said."

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/world/bodies-found-near-cruise-ship-cafe/story-e6frf7lf-1226252006207

"The search for the missing was continuing as were preparations for the removal of thousands of tonnes of potentially hazardous fuel from the tanks of the half-sunken Costa Concordia cruise ship. The actual pumping of fuel from the vessel's tanks is not expected to begin "before Saturday," Italy's chief rescue official, Franco Gabrielli, said. The procedure to remove the 2,400 tonnes of fuel is expected to last around three weeks."

http://main.omanobserver.om/node/80749

Paoletti, 43, who specialises in cave diving, has pulled more than a few decomposing bodies from shipwrecked trawlers over the years, but has never had to tackle anything close to the the size of the vast 17-deck Concordia.

"Making our way through the debris is difficult and tiring. Visibility ranges from 80 centimetres (30 inches) to 10 centimetres, and we have to check everything -- floating tablecloths, discarded clothes -- for bodies," he said.

The divers search the ship in pairs for security reasons and inch their way through the murky waters at a painstaking pace, often having to squeeze into confined areas where the risk of becoming trapped is great.

They navigate in a zig-zag movement to make sure they cover every area.

"We go down for 50 minutes at a time, with three oxygen tanks strapped to us, and leave one or two along the way in case we start to run out of air. If we're not back in that time, our back up races to find us," Paoletti said.

The ruddy-faced diver from Viterbo near Rome said he has always had a passion for caving and he goes regularly in his spare time. He also attends rigorous training courses with the fire service six times a year.

"One of the biggest risks is that you get tangled up in electrical cables snaking in the water. Scissors are one of the most important bits of equipment. During training, they cover your eyes with a mask, and wrap ropes around you.

"You then have a really short amount of time to cut yourself free... without cutting through your own safety cord -- because that's your life-line, you have to follow that cord back to find your way out of the labyrinth," he said.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gfG37W1W1lWMmi157O5pvR_tksOw?docId=CNG.3c38858e7644657b6e98d9e3c9ade916.141

"The Costa Concordia ship’s doctor fears the wreck’s youngest victim - a 5-year-old girl named Dayana - died because her distraught dad went back to their cabin for his medication.

Sandro Cinquini told Italian TV he was one of the last to see William and Dayana Arlotti alive in a crowd of panicking passengers on Deck 4.

“He was very worried, he kept repeating that he had to retrieve his medication,” Cinquini told Canale 5 TV.

Arlotti had recently had an operation, Cinquini said.

“I tried to make him understand that we were steps from the island of Giglio, that if he had already taken his medicine that day we had time to get more,” he said. “The girl was crying constantly. You could not console her.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/costa-concordia-doctor-fears-5-year-old-died-dad-returned-cabin-article-1.1010485