Costa Concordia Wreck : The final days before Genoa recycling
The wreck of the Costa Concordia has completed its final voyage to the port where it will be broken up for scrap metal, two-and-a-half years after the cruise liner ran aground and sank, killing 32 people.
Five days after she was finally moved off the Tuscan island of Giglio, the Concordia arrived this outside the port of Genoa on schedule and without incident during her 240km navigation up the Tyrrhenian Sea.
As with every aspect of the Concordia salvage operation, this last phase is highly complicated. Given the difficulties of manoeuvering a 114,000 ton weight vessel which, of course, does not have its own engine power, the ship will have to be backed into port.
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.