High seas halt Concordia operations

Rough seas and strong winds hit the Italian island of Giglio.

The severe weather has stalled salvage and operations on the half-submerged cruise ship Costa Concordia.

Salvage crews had hoped to begin pumping the 2,300 tonnes of diesel fuel from the stricken ship this week - but the weather has caused repeated delays.

On Tuesday Italian authorities ended the search for bodies in the submerged sections of the cruise liner - more than two weeks after it hit rocks off the Tuscan coast.

But the search will continue in other parts of the boat.

A total of 17 bodies have been recovered since the accident on January 13.

Fifteen people are still missing.

Travis Brecher, Reuters