Italians launch rescue bid after cruise liner runs aground About 1,800 passengers were being evacuated by lifeboat from a cruise ship off Italy on Friday last night after it ran aground and started taking in water. The Costa Concordia got into difficulties and began listing near the island of Giglio, off Tuscany, after leaving Civitavecchia near Rome. "The passengers are not in danger, a rescue mission is underway," a coast guard at Giglio port told the AFP news agency. One passenger told the Italian news agency ANSA that the first thing those on board knew was when they heard a large boom. To start with they were told the ship had come to a halt for electrical reasons, before being told to put on their life-jackets. There were no injuries reported. The vessel is one of the largest the 27-ship fleet operated by Costa cruises, which describes it as a "floating temple of fun" containing 1,500 cabins, 13 bars and five restaurants. The coast guard said in a statement: "At around 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) the 290-metre-long Costa Concordia cruise ship... began taking on water and tilting over by around 20 degrees." The Costa Crociera company, which owns the vessel, released a statement saying it was not yet possible to say what caused the problem, but that the evacuation had been begun as quickly as possible and was winding up. "The ship was on a cruise in the Mediterranean, leaving from Savona with planned stops in Civitavecchia, Palermo, Cagliari, Palma, Barcelona and Marseille," the company said. There were around 1,000 Italian passengers on board, as well as 500 Germans and around 150 French people.