Divers searching the sunken cruise ship Costa Concordia have found another body.

The discovery on the third floor deck brings the number of bodies found since the January 13 accident to 16.

The body was found as a large platform carrying a crane and other equipment hitched itself to the ship, signalling the start of preliminary operations to remove a half-million gallons of fuel from the its tanks.

Actual pumping of the oil is not expected to begin until Saturday, and will continue in tandem with search and rescue operations.

Six tanks will be tapped initially, located in a relatively easy-to-reach area of the ship.

The pumping will continue 24 hours a day barring rough seas or technical glitches in this initial phase

Divers, meanwhile, continued blasting holes inside the steel-hulled ship to ease access for searchers. The operation will continue in tandem with the fuel removal.

Costa has blamed the captain, Francesco Schettino, for the disaster, saying he made an unauthorized and unapproved deviation from the route. Schettino remains under house arrest facing accusations of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship before all passengers were off.

Meanwhile amid continued outrage by passengers of the chaotic evacuation, Costa promised to refund the full cost of the cruise, reimburse all travel expenses to and from the ship, all on-board expenses and any medical expenses incurred as a result of the grounding.

"Every effort will be made to return the valuables left in the cabin safe," Costa said.