The operators of the Costa Concordia faced questions over their share of the blame for the shipwreck, as divers recovered another body from the stricken liner Sunday, bringing the known death toll to 13.

Captain Francesco Schettino is accused of steering the 290 meter-long cruise ship too close to shore while performing a maneuver known as a "salute" in which liners draw up very close to land to make a display.

Schettino, who is charged with multiple manslaughter and with abandoning ship before the evacuation of 4,200 passengers and crew was complete, has told prosecutors he had been instructed to perform the maneuver by operator Costa Cruises.

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Prosecutors say he steered the massive ship within 150 meters of the Tuscan island of Giglio, where it struck a rock that tore a large gash in its hull, letting water flood in and causing the 114,500-tonne ship to capsize.

It is now lying on its side on an undersea ledge, half-submerged and posing a growing environmental threat with the risk that it could slide into deeper waters.

As the search continued into a ninth day, divers found the body of a woman on a submerged deck near the bow of the vessel, bringing the total number of known dead to 13, only eight of whom have been identified.

As the days have passed, there have been growing questions about the ultimate responsibility for the accident, which Costa Cruises has blamed on "unfortunate human error" and placed firmly on the shoulders of the captain. It has suspended Schettino and will not be paying his legal fees.

Costa chief executive Pier Luigi Foschi has said that ships sometimes engage in "tourist navigation" in which they approach the coast but that this is only done under safe conditions and he was not aware of any riskier approaches so close to the shore.

Costa is a unit of Carnival Corp, the world's largest cruise line operator.

According to transcripts of his hearing with investigators leaked to Italian newspapers, Schettino told magistrates Costa had insisted on the maneuver to please passengers and attract publicity.

"It was planned, we were supposed to have done it a week earlier but it was not possible because of bad weather," Schettino said, according to the Corriere della Sera daily.

"They insisted. They said: 'We do tourist navigation, we have to be seen, get publicity and greet the island'."

He said he had performed similar maneuvers regularly over the past four months on the Costa Concordia and on other ships in the Costa fleet along the Italian coast line which is dotted with small islands that are popular with tourists.

"But we do it every time we do the Sorrento coast, Capri, we do it everywhere," he said.

Foschi, who visited Giglio Sunday, declined to respond to Schettino's comments.

"As an investigation by magistrates is currently underway, we cannot give out any information," he said.

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