Firefighters continue search of cruise ship; European Union mission arrives

(28 Jan 2012) SHOTLIST 1. Moving shot of Costa Concordia seen from an Italian police boat 2. Wide of Costa Concordia 3. Mid of police diver looking at Costa Concordia 4. SOUNDBITE (Italian), Mario Giambalbo, Italian Police Diver : "The situation underwater is different in different points of the ship. Some points are not accessible, both where the ship lies on the rocks - the cabins there are not reachable - while the majority of the other cabins could be opened and freed by furniture, mattresses and bed nets. We could check if there were missing people. In the majority of cases the outcome was negative. In others, we found bodies." 5. Mid of rescue workers walking on the Costa Concordia deck 6. Wide of Costa Concordia wreck, showing the rock that is still stuck in the body of the ship 7. Mid of the rock 8. Close of the Costa Concordia funnel with Costa logo 9. Mid of rescue worker climbing up the deck of Costa Concordia 10. Wide of the divers on their boat next to Concordia swimming pool deck 11. Wide of basketball court on top of deck 9 in the Costa Concordia 12. Close of Costa Concordia ship aground and observation point on the land 13. Top shot of the Costa Concordia 14. Mid of rescue workers on dinghy coming back in from an operation 15. Mid of rescue workers walking towards camera 16. Various of rescue workers 17. SOUNDBITE (English), Laurent de Pierrefeu, European Union mission member and Liaison Officer of Monitor and Information Centre, ECHO: "It's a very unusual situation, where it's a combination of search and rescue operation, maritime pollution, consular operation, and other assistance operations for the people. So it's a very unusual operation and we want to share this new experience, we want to share the way we can face such a situation better in the future if it happens again." 18. Wide of the opposite side of Costa Concordia, showing the ponton where Dutch company SMIT is preparing to start pumping fuel off the ship STORYLINE Two weeks after the luxury liner Costa Concordia struck a reef off Italy's Giglio Island, divers are continuing their search for missing passengers. The ship's captain - Francesco Schettino - who is under house arrest, deviated from the ship's charted course to bring the Concordia closer to Giglio, gashing the hull on a reef a few hundred metres (yards) offshore. He has said the reef wasn't on his nautical charts. Sixteen passengers have found dead and 16 more are missing and presumed dead. "Some points are not accessible," said police diver Mario Giambalbo. A six-strong team of experts from the European Commission arrived on Friday following an official invitation from the Italian authorities. They will observe the ongoing operations, along with the measures taken to avoid damage to the environment. The main goal is to learn as much as possible from an event that has no precedent. Laurent De Pierrefeu, Liasion Officer of the Monitor and Information Centre of the European Commission, said there are many different issues to face in this kind of event. It was, he said, a combination of many different problems such as the environmental issue, the diplomatic issue, and the responses that needed to be taken for saving lives. "It is a very unusual situation and we want to share this new experience, we want to share the way we can face such a situation better in the future if it happens again", he said. Pumping fuel from the Costa Concordia hinges upon the completion of rescue operations an inspections. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...