GIGLIO ISLAND (AFP) - Bad weather forced divers Monday to temporarily suspend the search for survivors in the wreckage of the Costa Concordia, the head of the coastguard's diving team said.

Rodolfo Raiteri told AFP that a storm was on the way and "so we have removed all units ... It is impossible to work... The conditions are disastrous. It is very difficult as the corridors are cluttered with so many objects."

"The ship has shifted nine centimetres (three and a half inches)," in building seas, and the body of the sixth known victim found early Monday could not be recovered.

"The body is still on board," said Raiteri.

"We're waiting to be sure that the ship is stable before resuming operations."

Six people are known to have died in the disaster when the monster cruise ship hit a rock off the Tuscan island of Giglio on Friday night, and around 15 others are still missing.