Divers search cruise ship as Italy moves to prevent fuel leak TODAY's Natalie Morales talks with the Ananias family, who were among the last to leave the grounded Costa Concordia, as they describe the chaos of the accident. Story updated at 12 p.m. ET: While the hunt continues for missing passengers, including an American couple from Minnesota, Italian authorities have declared a state of emergency in a bid to prevent an environmental disaster. The country's environment minister says liquid has started to emerge from the stricken Costa Concordia, but it is not known whether the substance is the vessel's 500,000 gallons of fuel. Protective barriers are being put in place to contain a potential fuel leak, Reuters reports. Story updated at 11:45 a.m. ET: The total cost to insurers could be up to $1 billion, depending on liability claims, Joy Ferneyhough, an insurance analyst at Espirito Santo Investment Bank in London, told Bloomberg. That figure would exceed the financial loss from the Exxon Valdez disaster. Lloyds of London confirmed it was the underwriter for XL Group, one of a number of firms sharing the $512 million insurance burden of the ship itself. Other insurers, including Standard Club, could be liable for any compensation payouts. XL Group told msnbc.com it would not be commenting, while Standard Club could not be reached on Monday night. Minn. couple missing in Italian ship disaster Story updated at 10:50 a.m. ET: Among those still missing in the Italian cruise ship disaster are an American couple from Minnesota. Family members issued a statement Monday confirming that Barbara and Jerry Heil of White Bear Lake, a suburb of St. Paul, are the two Americans missing. Sarah Heil, a daughter of the couple, told WBBM radio in Chicago that her retired parents were on a 16-day trip. Story updated at 10:45 a.m. ET: Rescue divers have resumed their search of the stricken vessel, after they were earlier evacuated from the site due to safety concerns. Story updated at 6:03 a.m. ET: NBC News is reporting all rescue divers have been evacuated from the Costa Concordia. NBC's Laura Saravia in Porto Santo Stefano, Italy said the ship is rocking slightly due to choppy seas. The movement is affecting divers working on rescue efforts inside, and they have been evacuated as a precaution. Rescue operations are suspended at this moment," Saravia said. "There was a slippage of 9 centimeters (3.5 inches) vertically and 1.5 centimeters (0.6 inches) horizontally," firefighters' spokesman Luca Cari told Reuters. We evacuated immediately. This is something we have been worried about. Operations are suspended. We will have to monitor the stability of the ship and we don't know when we will resume operations," he said. Fears have been expressed that the ship's 500,000 gallons of fuel may begin to leak into the pristine waters around the island of Giglio. Story updated at 5:55 a.m. ET: The chief executive of Costa Crociere Pier Luigi Foschi blames "human error" on the part of the captain for the grounding of its cruise ship off Tuscany. He says the liner had passed all safety and technical tests in its 2011 evaluation. He said Costa ships have their routes programmed, and alarms go off when they deviate. This route was put in correctly. The fact that it left from this course is due solely to a maneuver by the commander that was unapproved, unauthorized and unknown to Costa," he said. He says the company's main concern was the safety and well-being of the passengers and crew, as well as to ensure fuel doesn't leak out from the upended hull. Story published at 2 a.m. ET: GIGLIO, Italy - Rescue workers searching the half-submerged hulk of a capsized Italian cruise ship found the body of an adult male just before dawn Monday, according to Italian television. Max Rossi / Reuters The Costa Concordia ran aground Jan. 13 off the coast of Italy, resulting in the evacuation of thousands of passengers as the ship began heavily listing.