The wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship has been safely towed to the Port of Genoa where it will be dismantled.
The stripped wreck has been towed from the port of Pra’ Voltri following the first stage of the wreck’s dismantling project that saw over 5,700 tons of materials removed from the ship.
The material was removed so the wreck could attain the necessary draft for its 10-mile transfer, which took around 24 hours to complete.
The wreck was maneuvered into place at Molo ex Superbacino dock early this morning (8.a.m.), under the vigilant eye of a convoy of 11 vessels, where it was moored.
The demolition work that will last over the following 14 months is about to start in the next couple of days and will be lead by two Italian firms-Saipem and San Giorgio del Porto.
Ferdinando Garre, naval architect at the San Giorgo del porto, said that around 55,000 tons of steel and 2,000 tons of copper will be recovered from Concordia.
The work to dismantle the ship will meet the highest environmental standards, according to Italian authorities. It is estimated that the dismantling process will cost EUR 100 million.
Costa Concordia sank in January 2012 killing 32 people. The grounding of the cruise ship, carrying 4,252 people at the time, is believed to had been caused by the captain’s recklessness, as the ship came too close to the Giglio island where it got stuck and later collapsed.
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