Costa Concordia Update: 5 More Bodies Discovered, Oil Removal Almost Complete

A dive team searching the now two month old Costa Concordia shipwreck has located five more bodies. The capsized cruise liner is still semi-submerged off the Italian coast.

Reportedly, the bodies were discovered in an area of the ship’s hull that was previously more difficult to access. The total body count from the January 13th accident now reaches 30 passengers found onboard. Two people remain unaccounted for and are presumed dead.

There were a total of 4,200 passengers and crew onboard the Costa Concordia as rocks tore open its hull near Giglio Island. The ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, continues to deny accusations of causing the accident by steering the ship too close to the island’s shore.

Salvage officials are almost complete with the removal of all the oil from the 17 tanks on the ship; the estimated completion date is this Friday night. The operation began over a month ago on February 12th. Some fuel still remains in the bulkheads of the tanks, but officials say that the small amounts of oil involved pose no major environmental threat.

The next step in the salvage operation concerns cleaning the sea bed and areas around the ship’s hull before the wreck can be lifted. The Costa Concordia removal is expected to take about one year.