Authorities yesterday found a 17th body in the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia, which ran aground 15 days ago off the island of Giglio, and released the identity of another victim, officials said. Fifteen people remain missing.

Pumping fuel will take weeks

Italy’s civil defence organisation said divers were recovering a woman’s body found on deck six in the submerged part of the vessel.

Authorities said another woman, whose identity had not previously been released, was German passenger Inge Schall.

Preliminary operations to pump fuel out of the cruise liner were also suspended yesterday because of bad weather, the civil protection agency said.

Technicians from the Dutch salvage company Smit and Italy’s Neri decided the sea was too rough and that it would be dangerous to continue their work.

They decided to put into port on the barge serving as their operations base near the wreck of the Concordia until the weather improved.

Last Friday they attached valves to six of the stricken vessel’s 23 tanks as a first phase in syphoning off the estimated 2,380 tons of fuel remaining in theConcordia’s tanks, prompting fears of a spill would be environmentally disastrous in one of Europe’s biggest marine parks.

Pumping had been due to begin yesterday morning and is expected to take several weeks.