Rescuers found the bodies of two women in the wreck of an Italian ship yesterday, bringing the death toll to 15, as a Dutch company was given the go-ahead to pump out its 2,380 tons of fuel.

The grim discovery near the Costa Concordia cruise liner’s internet cafe came after navy frogmen used explosive to blow open more access points for divers.

“Two more bodies, two women, were found,” said Franco Gabrielli, who is overseeing search and rescue operations on the Tuscan island of Giglio.

“We cannot tell what nationality they were. They haven’t been extracted” from the half-submerged vessel, he told reporters on the scene.

Gabrielli said that DNA from the corpses would be compared to that of relatives of the missing, some of whom are awaiting anxiously on the shore with no news of their loved ones 10 days after the night-time disaster.

Seventeen people are officially still missing, although officials have emphasised there could have been at least one stowaway, a Hungarian woman, who was noton the list of people on board and isunaccounted for.

Gabrielli said the search of the 114,500-ton ship would continue “until all parts of the vessel that can be inspected have been checked out” and that a complex operation to empty the fuel tanks could be carried out at the same time.

“We have given authorisation for the pumping to begin,” he said.

Bart Huizing, a representative of Smit Salvage on the island, said: “We are ready to go. We are ready to start working. If possible tomorrow.”

The operation, known as “hot-tapping”, involves pumping the fuel out into a nearby ship and replacing it with water so as not to affect the ship’s balance.

Environmentalists say the fuel tanks have to be emptied as soon as possible to avert an environmental catastrophe in Europe’s biggest marine sanctuary.

Gabrielli said there has already been some contamination of the sea from toxic substances on board although tests carried out by the environmental agency on samplesof sea water near the wreck showed no hydrocarbon pollution.

The coastguard said that emptying the fuel tanks would take 28 days and was expected to start as early as today. There will be three lines of booms around the ship while the operation is going on to avoidpossible spills.

Gabrielli also said that emergency workers were trying to clear out the inside of the wreckage, saying that the decomposition of food products, the clutter of furniture and the turbid waters were complicating the work.

“The ship is stable so there is no need for outside intervention. There is no problem,” he added, in response to fears that the vessel, lying on its side, was slowly slipping into the open sea.

Navy divers set off small quantities of explosives at depths of up to 18 metres to allow access to decks four and five of the luxury cruise ship.

Italian media meanwhile reported that the ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, who faces charges of multiple manslaughter, had tested negative for drugs, while his lawyer said there could be other suspects in the tragedy.

“The investigations are in full flow also to determine possible other responsibilities of third parties who could at least have had a role” in causing the shipwreck, Bruno Leporatti was quoted as saying.

Schettino has claimed that the risky route he took close to Giglio in what he admitted was a showboating manoeuvre was agreed beforehand with his superiors at Costa Crociere – a subsidiary of US-based giant Carnival Corp.

He has also said that he kept the company’s crisis officer fully informed about the scale of the disaster within minutes of hitting rocks, while the order to abandon ship was only given more than an hour later.

The shipping line declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

Navy spokesman Alessandro Busonero also said an oceanographic ship, the Galatea, had arrived on Giglio to help search for more bodies on the sea bedwith the help of high-resolution imaging equipment.

The Costa Concordia had 4,229 people on board from more than 60 countries when it hit rocks and keeled over, prompting a chaotic evacuation.

Confusing reports also emerged over Schettino’s actions in the hours after the crash as the owner of a hotel on the island said he saw him hand over what looked like a personal computer to an unknown blonde woman.

Paolo Fanciulli, 45, who owns the Hotel Bahamas, said the woman swept intothe lobby, took the bag and ushered Schettino away from journalists at around 11.30 a.m. last Saturday, the morning after theshipwreck.