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costa concordia salvage
Costa Concordia is about to arrive in the port of Genoa for scrapping after a two-year salvage operation.
The wrecked cruise ship’s removal was one of the biggest ever maritime salvage operations.
Costa Concordia struck a reef off the Italian island of Giglio in January 2012 and capsized, killing 32 people.
Captain Francesco Schettino has denied charges of multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship, which could see him jailed for up to 20 years.
Italian PM Matteo Renzi is expected in Genoa in the afternoon to see the end of the complex docking procedure, which is expected to take several hours.
Costa Concordia is about to arrive in the port of Genoa for scrapping after a two-year salvage operation
“The operation to recover the Concordia was not easy. Italy carried it out, the Italy that, when it sets out to, is capable of doing anything, even of surprising us,” Matteo Renzi said.
Antonio Benvenuti, the head of Genoa’s harbor workers’ union, told AP that there was no “precise schedule” for each stage of dealing with the wreck.
Tests will be carried out first to monitor for potential pollution problems, Antonio Benvenuti said, before the first stage of the operation would begin, reducing the weight of the ship in order to lift it.
The Costa Concordia was re-floated nine days ago and was kept above the surface by giant buoyancy chambers. More than a dozen vessels helped to tow the ship after it was pulled away from Giglio on Wednesday.
The wreck was hauled upright in September last year but was still partially submerged, resting on six steel platforms.
Investigators are still looking for the body of Indian waiter Russel Rebello, whose body is the only one not to have been found.
The Costa Concordia’s owners, Costa Crociere, estimate the operation to remove the wreck from the reef and tow it for scrapping will cost 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion) in total.
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The wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship is being towed on its final journey to the port of Genoa for scrapping.
Its removal is one of the biggest ever maritime salvage operations.
Costa Concordia struck a reef off the Italian island of Giglio in January 2012 and capsized, killing 32 people.
It was re-floated nine days ago and is being kept above the surface by giant buoyancy chambers. Over a dozen vessels will help to tow the ship.
The wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship is being towed on its final journey to the port of Genoa for scrapping (photo Getty Images)
The wreck was hauled upright in September last year but was still partially submerged, resting on six steel platforms.
The cruise ship is being towed to Genoa at two knots, almost at walking pace, with an escort of more than a dozen tug boats.
The journey, which is expected to take four days, began shortly before 09:00 local time.
Senior salvage master Nick Sloane said early on Wednesday that everything was going according to plan.
However, French ecology minister Segolene Royal has said she will monitor the ship’s movement from Corsica. Residents on the island fear that any oil leak from the cruise ship could cause significant environmental damage.
The Concordia is set to sail 15 miles from Corsica and close to the islands of Elba and Capri before its expected arrival in Genoa late on Saturday.
Investigators are still looking for the body of Indian waiter Russel Rebello, whose body is the only one not to have been found.
The Costa Concordia’s owners, Costa Crociere, estimate the operation to remove the wreck from the reef and tow it for scrapping will cost 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion) in total.
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Costa Concordia has been successfully raised from the under-sea platform it has been resting on for the past year, salvage workers say.
The wrecked cruise ship – the target of one of the biggest maritime salvage operations in history – is now floating about 3ft off the platform.
In all, the refloating operation is expected to take six or seven days.
The cruise liner will then be towed to its home port, Genoa, where it will be scrapped.
Costa Concordia struck a reef off the Italian island of Giglio in January 2012 and capsized, killing 32 people.
Costa Concordia has been successfully raised from the under-sea platform it has been resting on for the past year
Workers are slowly lifting the vessel by pumping air into tanks attached to the ship. The wreck was hauled upright in September but was still partially submerged, resting on six steel platforms.
Salvage workers cheered with delight as they returned to Giglio’s port.
“The ship is upright and is not listing. This is extremely positive,” the engineer in charge of the salvage, Franco Porcellacchia, told a news conference.
A search for the remains of Indian waiter Russel Rebello, whose body was not recovered from the wreck, will be carried out after the vessel is moved.
The Costa Concordia’s owners, Costa Crociere, estimate the operation to remove the wreck from the reef and tow it for scrapping will cost 1.5 billion euros ($2 billion) in total.
An engineer with Costa Crociere described the salvage efforts as “unprecedented”.
“As with anything being done for the first time, there are risks. But we are confident,” Franco Porcellacchia said.
Hundreds of divers and engineers have been involved in operations to salvage the Concordia, which is twice the size of the Titanic.
Towing the ship to Genoa – about 200 nautical miles away – is due to begin on July 21 and take about five days.
“The operation began well but it will be completed only when we have finished the transport to Genoa,” Italian Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti told reporters on Monday.
Costa Concordia’s captain Francesco Schettino is on trial for manslaughter and abandoning ship, charges he denies.
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The wrecked Costa Concordia is being raised in one of the biggest maritime salvage operations in history.
Workers are slowly lifting the vessel by pumping air into tanks attached to the ship. The refloating operation is expected to take six or seven days.
The wreck will then be towed to its home port, Genoa, where it will be scrapped.
Costa Concordia struck a reef off the Italian island of Giglio in January 2012 and capsized, killing 32 people.
The ship was hauled upright in September but is still partially submerged, resting on six steel platforms.
The wrecked Costa Concordia is being raised in one of the biggest maritime salvage operations in history
“It’s a very complex operation,” Franco Gabrielli, the head of the civil protection agency overseeing the salvage, told reporters.
“The first phase of the operation will be the most dangerous because the vessel will be detached from the platforms.”
Franco Gabrielli added that a search for the remains of Indian waiter Russel Rebello, whose body was not recovered from the wreck, would be carried out after the vessel was moved.
An engineer with Costa Crociere, the cruise operator, described the salvage efforts as “unprecedented”.
“As with anything being done for the first time, there are risks. But we are confident,” Franco Porcellacchia said.
Hundreds of divers and engineers have been involved in operations to salvage the Costa Concordia, which is twice the size of the Titanic.
Local residents have said they are glad the wreckage will be removed.
Costa Concordia’s captain, Francesco Schettino, is on trial for manslaughter and abandoning ship, charges he denies.
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Italian police have released an eight-minute footage with underwater images from within the Costa Concordia wreckage, two and a half years after it capsized.
Several scenes are spookily reminiscent of James Cameron’s recordings from the Titanic wreck.
Italian police have released an eight-minute footage with underwater images from within the Costa Concordia wreckage
The 950-foot liner, which ran aground off the Italian island of Giglio with the loss of 32 lives in 2012, has lain on the seabed since it capsized. The hull of the ship was righted last September, allowing police divers to record the extraordinary scenes. Splashing into the water beside the discolored wreck, the divers are seen swimming through eerily empty corridors and public areas, past shop fronts and desks with computers still standing, and floating by balconies on which sunbathers would once have stretched.
Paintings are slowly being turned green by algae.
Since the tragedy, Costa Concordia Captain Francesco Schettino has been on trial for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship.
Costa Concordia ship will be refloated within 7-10 days and towed to Genoa, where it will be dismantled for scrap.
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