Divers inspect the Costa Concordia on Sunday. The death toll from the disaster off the Tuscan island stands at five.
NEW: Rescue work is temporarily suspendedSix are dead, about 16 are still missing, officials sayWater has become rescuers' biggest obstacle The Concordia is practically a skyscraper in two directions: 17 decks high and 951 feet long
(CNN) -- Mammoth cruise ships can be difficult to get around, even in the best of circumstances. In the worst -- which is how one might describe the situation aboard the listing Costa Concordia -- they are near impossible.
Yet even before the sun rose Monday morning, about 120 rescue personnel were out in or around the liner that hit rocks near Tuscany and rolled spectacularly on its side.
They were in a race against time, and in a battle with numerous challenges, to try to save or at least recover the bodies of the passengers and crew members who are still missing.
By noon, the search was temporarily suspended. The vessel had begun to sway and move, making it dangerous for the crews, authorities said.
"(They are) working in very, very bad conditions," said Luciano Roncalli of Italy's national fire service. "It's cold, of course. It's dark during the day and the night... It's really, really dangerous."
Authorities have said that at least six people died after the Concordia hit rocks Friday night off the tiny island of Giglio, where nighttime temperatures have recently dipped below freezing.
Authorities are reviewing passenger lists to confirm the exact number of missing people, but about 16 are believed still unaccounted for.
Among them are two of the 120 Americans who were aboard the ship, the U.S. Embassy in Italy said.
Water, which makes many cruises serene and unique, has become rescuers' biggest obstacle.
Now turned on its side, the ship is roughly half submerged.
The hope is that a survivor has found refuge in a part that is not underwater, or perhaps in an air pocket, and can be brought out alive
In its current state, the Costa Concordia resembles a dark, convoluted cave -- with its countless nooks and crannies and few ways to easily escape for air.
Rescue personnel working off the coast of Tuscany include about six underwater cave rescue divers.
They are likely equipped with twice as much oxygen as regular scuba divers, have a guideline nearby in case they need help finding a way back to safety, and have knives and whatever lights they can carry or wear, said Robert Laird, a co-founder of the International Underwater Cave Rescue and Recovery group.
Still, whatever equipment and precautions they take, "what they are doing is extremely difficult," he said.
"If you do not have the right frame of mind to deal with being in the dark and in tight closed spaces, then you're (in trouble)," said Laird, who has himself dived in many caves and ships, though neither he nor his group are involved in the Italian operation.
Unlike open water divers, these divers don't have the luxury of simply coming up for air anytime they want. Nor can they count on sunshine beaming down, to give them some semblance of light.
Laird said he expects that, besides being pitch-black, the water in the ship is riddled with debris.
"They could swim right by a dead body, and not even see it," Laird said.
Rescuers are navigating a seeming labyrinth.
The Concordia is practically a skyscraper in two directions: 17 decks high and 951 feet long.
Emergency personnel are aiming to look into 1,500 cabins and all around the ship's many other public spaces, including eight bars, five restaurants, four swimming pools, a casino and more.
"It's enormous," said Richard Bordoni, another member of the Italian national fire corps. "They have to stay safe, and it takes them a long time to go down a corridor."
Late Sunday, the cruise line said the ship's captain may have made "significant" errors that led to the wreck.
The Costa Concordia, owned by Genoa-based Costa Cruises, ran aground on a sand bank off the island of Giglio on Friday,
Firemen search for missing people in and around the partially submerged Costa Concordia cruise ship on Monday, January 16.
Firemen work on the Costa Concordia cruise ship on Monday. The captain may have made "significant" errors that led to wreck, the cruise line said late Sunday.
Military rescuers patrol next to the listing Costa Concordia on Sunday January 15. A spiraling water slide can be seen on the deck.
Boats patrol near the Costa Concordia on Sunday. Divers searched for people who were still missing after Friday's accident.
Rescuers search the Costa Concordia on Sunday.
Emergency services work from the island of Giglio on Sunday, near where the cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground.
The ship has a breach on the hull about 90 meters (300 feet) long, according to Officer Emilio Del Santo of the Coastal Authorities of Livorno.
On Saturday, January 14, crowds prepare to leave the island of Giglio, where passengers were staying after the ship ran aground.
The Concordia, built in 2006, was on a Mediterranean cruise from Rome with stops in Savona, Cagliari and Palermo, Italy; Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca, Spain; and Marseille, France.
Passengers arrive at Porto Santo Stefano, Italy, on Saturday after being evacuated from the ship.
Costa says the emergency operation continues and that it is helping passengers and crew return home.
Italian police assist in the rescue after the cruise ship ran aground near the Italian island of Giglio.
The huge ship, which which is now lying on its side in shallow water, was carrying about 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members when it ran aground at about dinner time.
Passengers arrive on land after they were rescued. There was chaos as passengers scrambled to get off the ship.
Evacuation efforts started promptly but were made "extremely difficult" by the position of the listing ship.
The Costa Concordia cruise ship is pictured in March 2009 in Civitavecchia, Rome's tourist port.
Cruise ship runs aground off Italy Event.
Map shows location of disaster
"The route of the vessel appears to have been too close to the shore, and the captain's judgment in handling the emergency appears to have not followed standard Costa procedures," Costa Cruises said in a statement.
Authorities told Italy's ANSA news agency the captain, Francesco Schettino, has been detained for alleged manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship, while passengers were still on board.
Speaking on Italian television, Schettino insisted the rocks were not marked on his map.
"On the nautical chart, it was marked just as water," Schettino said, adding that the ship was about 300 meters (1,000 feet) from shore.
But the Italian coast guard insisted that the waters where the ship ran aground were well-mapped. Local fishermen say the island coast of Giglio is known for its rocky sea floor.
"Every danger in this area is on the nautical chart," Coast Guard Capt. Cosimo Nicastro said. "This is a place where a lot of people come for diving and sailing. ... All the dangers are known."
Italian prosecutors seized the ship's data recorders Saturday, and expect to analyze them within days.
Survivors recounted a frantic rush by passengers to get on lifeboats, while the crew appeared helpless and overwhelmed to cope.
"There wasn't anybody to help you," passenger Vivian Shafer said. "I mean, the passengers were loading the lifeboats by themselves."
Compounding the evacuation problems was that only one side of the boat's lifeboats was available, as the ship was listing.
Passenger Laurie Willits, from Ontario, Canada, said some lifeboats on the higher side got stuck, leaving people suspended in mid-air amid the sounds of children crying and screaming.
"It was so crowded, and there was no room for us," said Brandon Warrick, who was sailing with his siblings. "It was just bad, like mad scrambles to get into the lifeboats. Nobody followed any procedure."
Passenger Benji Smith on Saturday recounted making his own rope ladder to save himself and his wife.
"It was the Marx brothers, watching these guys trying to figure out how to work the boat," he said. "I felt like the disaster itself was manageable, but I felt like the crew was going to kill us."
Costa Cruises is owned by Carnival Corporation. Carnival issued a statement Saturday saying it was "deeply saddened" by the "terrible tragedy."
"We are working to fully understand the cause of what occurred," the statement said.
Many questions remain: Why was the ship -- with 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members -- so close in to shore in an area where the sea bed is pockmarked with rocks? What happened in the minutes after the ship ran aground? Why was no "mayday" distress signal sent?
"Looking at the pictures of the damage, it almost looks as if they saw it at the last minute, and they tried to swing the ship to the right to miss," said Chris McKesson, professor of naval architecture at the University of New Orleans.
"But just like when you're driving an R.V. or something, when you swing the nose to the right, the tail swings little to the left. If you look at the photos of the ship, you can see that the rock embedded in the side of the ship's left port side... as if exactly that happened. She swung her tail over and kissed that rock."
Once the rescue efforts resume, the rescue crew will have to deal with not just logistical difficulties but also physical and mental challenges.
Emergency personnel in the open-air part of the ship need ropes to get around, because they can't walk around. Whether they are rappelling or swimming, doors may have to be opened upwards, not the standard way, given the awkward position of the ship.
"The doors are very heavy, and the windows are very thick, so it's quite difficult to break them," said Roncalli of the fire service.
Making one's way around such a surreal place, without light and where everything is literally turned on its side, can test even the toughest person's mental makeup.
Laird, of the International Underwater Cave Rescue and Recovery group, notes that many cave diver deaths "are attributed to panic." Even those not above water are in a situation unlike any other they have experienced, with even a small slip-up being potentially life threatening, he said.
Despite such challenges, Roncalli vowed that rescue personnel were prepared and intent on continuing their mission as long as necessary.
"They keep on working until we are sure that no person is missing," he said. "The conditions are very tough, but we can manage it."
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