Cruise Ship Wreck: Search Suspended After Ship Moves

Authorities in Italy suspended search operations today after the rough seas apparently shifted the grounded Costa Concordia cruise ship.

"As a precautionary measure, we stopped the operations this morning, in order to verify the data we retrieved from our detectors, and understand if there actually was a movement, and if there has been one, how big this was," Coast Guard Cmdr. Filippo Marini told the Associated Press.

It is unclear when divers will be able to resume their search of the partially submerged cruise liner.

Divers found five more bodies Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 11. The bodies were found at the ship's stern, which was underwater.

More than two dozen people remain missing, including Minnesota couple Jerry and Barbara Heil.

Officials had planned to search the wreckage as a salvage company prepared to pump the millions of gallons of fuel from the ship, a process that could take weeks, the New York Times reported.

Focus on Ship's Captain

A media frenzy developed overnight at the home of captain Francesco Schettino, with crowds watching as he returned to serve his house arrest.

Schettino could face criminal charges, including manslaughter and abandoning ship.

PHOTOS: Inside the Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Tragedy

Genoa-based Costa Cruises, which operates more than a dozen Italian-flagged ships, is controlled by Carnival Corp. of Miami.

The company released a statement Tuesday, saying, "We are deeply saddened by the reports of additional deaths following the grounding of the Costa Concordia. On behalf of the entire Carnival Corporation & plc team, [we] ... offer our heartfelt condolences to all of those families affected by this tragedy."

Audio tapes released Tuesday captured a conversation between Schettino and Coast Guard officials.

On it, coast guard captain Gregorio Defalco shouts at the captain, ordering him back on the ship.

"Captain, this is an order, now I am in charge. Get back on that ship and coordinate the operations. There are already casualties," the port authority official told Schettino.

But Schettino resists and later offers reasons why he won't get back on the ship.

"You do realize it's dark here and we can't see anything?," he said.

PHOTOS: Cruise Ship Runs Aground Off Italy

The coast guard official yells back, "and so what? You want to go home, schettino? It's dark and you want to go home? Get on the boat ? and tell me what can be done.... Now!"

Schettino's wife believes the call doesn't tell the whole story. "The many people who know him well testified that he was absolutely dedicated to his job and was a professional," she said in a statement.

But crew member Sandra Villalon said it was clear the situation wasn't under control.

Villalon said she didn't hear the captain say abandon ship.

"When I listen, it was the alarm of general emergency. Seven short blasts followed by one long blast," she said.

Survivor Alex Beach, back home in New Mexico, described the chaotic scene.

"My lasting memory will be of those who were standing on the deck with their life jackets on waiting to be rescued and there were no more boats," Beach said.

Survivor Valerie Ananias said people were screaming as they tried to get off the sinking ship

"There was complete chaos. It really was like the Titanic," Ananias said. ABC News' Chris Cuomo, Phoebe Natanson, Clark Bentson, Sharde Miller, Andreena Narayan and ABC News Radio contributed to this report.

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  • ArmySarge  •  3 months ago
    "The many people who know him well testified that he was absolutely dedicated to his job and was a professional,". Let's see....It was the 2nd time he deviated from a designated course, abandoned ship and left passengers onboard and REFUSED to go back when ordered to do so by the coast guard! Doesn't sound very "PROFESSIONAL" to me!!!
    • chuck 3 months ago
      Developing into a first class Professional Butt Coverer, most likely.
    • Blue G 3 months ago
      Coward!!!!!
    • ChaoticPoetry 3 months ago
      He should be held accountable for 2 things...1. He deviated from the planned course WITHOUT permission from the cruise line (taking on a risk he had no right to take on as he does not own the cruise line) and 2. Cowardly behavior of abandoning the ship. A real Captain would have stayed until the end and even if he "fell off" he would have demanded to go back with spotlights and ladders and megaphones to make order of the chaos. He is directly responsible for the deaths and should rot in jail.
  • john b  •  Minneapolis, Minnesota  •  3 months ago
    Nice move on the captains part -doesnt seem like HE had much of a problem finding a life boat...Think he's toast...
    • macky 3 months ago
      Toast, only if he were in the U.S. court system.
    • Roy 3 months ago
      Remember the part about electrical failure? Captain knows his huge blacked out ship, passengers do not. No safety drills conducted before diaster struck. Not guilty there. Captain allows courese change so a crew member can waive to his family? Shot at dawn, no blindfold, no last cigarette.
    • chicky 3 months ago
      I read that as well Roy .He did change courses to allow a crew memo to salute to a family member who was a retired Italian admiral bring the ship 150 metre close to shore when it was suppose to be at least 500 metres away from the coast line! It was not equipment error it was having a dumb idiot operating the vessel
  • Flareside  •  3 months ago
    While his wife may be correct that he may have been dedicated to his job in the past, when he heard the first scrape he knew his job was over. So beyond that point he didn't care anymore and was only looking out to save himself.
    • Richard B. 3 months ago
      i find it funny they mention his wife when in the other articles they said he was "quite popular with the ladies onboard" and that he was at dinner with a woman demanding her desert after the accident. So we have a dedicated professional CHEATER
    • Rick 3 months ago
      "...a dedicated professional CHEATER." In other words, your average Italian male.
    • aware 3 months ago
      remember world war II
  • David C  •  3 months ago
    Former-Captain Schettino is swine. Let us all hope he does life in prison for this foul abdication of his duty.
    • Robert 3 months ago
      If this happened in America that would been one sure bet...he'd be put on trial first then off to the big house he goes
  • al  •  3 months ago
    This captain most definitely should be held accountable. Everyone knows that no matter if it is military or civilian, the captain stays till the end. The fact that he was hiding under something in a lifeboat leaves no room fro a dispute by him! Cruise ships are safe, the problem is what we humans do on them and in this case with them. His refusal to go back
    just blows my mind.
    • Use Your Head 3 months ago
      Yes, he should have stayed on board but once he is not, it is sheer stupidity for the Italian Coast Guard to send someone back into harm's way with no safety equipment. Once the Coast Guard arrives, they should take command and send people with proper equipment on board to help direct operations regardless of whether the captain is on board or not. This is a ship that is sideways and dark within their reach not a ship in the middle of the ocean. Screaming at the captain, as much as may deserve it, accomplishes nothing of value. The idiot Coast Guard officer should be doing something more useful than trying to coax a man armed with a only flashlight back on ship which one cannot even walk or maneuver on. Get some rescue people on the thing and command operations for goodness sakes!
    • - 3 months ago
      You're the idiot. Do you think the CG knows the ship better than the captain.
    • bill22 3 months ago
      Cruise ship lifeboat drills are a joke. Been there, do that!
  • Napkin  •  3 months ago
    His new nickname is "Chicken of the Sea"
  • Dobbie  •  3 months ago
    Right wifey,the only thing this Coward was dedicated to was saving his own butt...
  • M  •  3 months ago
    find and listen to the shore to ship transmission. The Port Authority person is enraged. The transcript comes across as a gentle, polite conversation, and it is all but. He is screaming at the 'captain' (coward), and you can tell he is practically spitting and foaming at the mouth, he is so livid. And the Captain is all calm, making excuses. Of course! He is safe and he is not going back!
  • Occupie DeezNutts  •  3 months ago
    "The many people who know him well testified that he was absolutely dedicated to his job and was a professional," she said in a statement


    He was "dedicated to the paycheck, prestige & ego."
  • tyler  •  3 months ago
    he should be made to search for the missing.
  • Olivier  •  3 months ago
    Not only did he find a life boat, he also found a taxi to take to a hotel!
  • boiledcrabs  •  3 months ago
    He was dedicated to dressing up in the little Captain's uniform and flirting with all the ladies on board I bet. He probably enjoyed all the worship he received at the Captain's table for dinner. And he could still be doing all of that had he not purposely ventured off course to impress the villagers. If he wasn't a coward he would still be on the ship refusing to leave. Hell he should have handcuffed himself to a railing and announced he wouldn't leave until everyone was accounted for.
  • Lori  •  3 months ago
    Like I said before nothing like Titanic , it hit ice , this one hit's Italy , the T. sank in 1,000 ' s of feet of water this one sank in Ft. of water , T. lost of life in the 1,000's , this one not so much !! this one had all the bell's , and whistle's a ship could have too tell them if it was going nto dangers waters , or too close the shore , the T. on the othere hand had just Bell's , and whistle's . Of course there's one thing the T. had that this one did not . A Capt. , and the othere one had Charle Tuna , or in othere words THE CHICKEN OF THE SEAS !
  • -  •  3 months ago
    Jail ! Everyone is talking about jail. This Captain not only over rode the ships computer navigation system and stir to close to shore, he abandon his ship as well and left people to die. Hang by the neck until dead...
    Galera! Tutti parlano di carcere. Questo capitano non solo ha guidato sopra il computer navi sistema di navigazione e mescolare per chiudere a riva, si abbandona la sua nave come persone bene e lasciati morire. Appendere per il collo fino alla morte ...
  • TheTruth  •  3 months ago
    This was not the titanic. If the captain would have stayed aboard and if they had all worked to get people topside and also make everyone understand that they are in shallow water and only grounded people could have been kept more calm. But obviously the captain himself was a complete and total moronic idiot, not realizing that he would be OK if he just stayed on board. The ship wasn't sinking! Only grounded!
  • Leon  •  3 months ago
    What happened to Captians that would stay with their ship until the end? Ones that would even go down with their ship if need be?
  • Beauty  •  3 months ago
    Maybe the panic was like the Titanic but it stops there. Titanic Captain went down with his ship. People were dead two minutes after they hit the water, the captian knew his ship was going down and tried to get everyone he could off, and it wasn't sitting on a ledge, it went down in over a mile of water and it was April 15 1912. One thing stays the same though, a ship like this goes down and it always human error.
  • Tawni  •  3 months ago
    TOTALLY like the Titanic. Minus the thousand people that died and the ICEBURG filled waters people jumped into in hope to save themselves. And that the ship totally sank. And that the people weren't anywhere near shore. And that there was actually a coast guard to come save as many people as possible.
    I really feel for these people, but their ignorance scares me.
  • angelinohio  •  3 months ago
    Schettino was in every way a coward and an insubordinate! nothing he can say will ever make it right in why all those people had to die or be injured or even to have to live with the memory now of being on a sinking ship! i heard the tape and was in shock at what came out of his mouth in his responses to why he would not get back on ship. his wife doesn't need to make up excuses because there are none for a coward captain like this! he should have been somewhere in a safe place ON THE SHIP coordinating the rescue efforts with everyone involved! the crew that left too are also cowards because if there ever was a time that they should have went against a ship captain's order this surely would been one, people could have forgiven them for the fact that they stayed to help but no...again people cant use their own brains to make sensible decisions! such #$%$ this happened COWARDS all of them! My thoughts are with all who are involved in this an hope they will be able to live a "normal" life after such a tragedy
  • A Yahoo! User  •  3 months ago
    And look at the ship, it didn't even sink. The captain could have and SHOULD have stayed aboard with the passengers! What a pathetic man. Definately NOT a hero!