Costa Concordia's Movement to Genoa Approved
Work is under way July 1 to install the next-to-last sponson on the ship's port side. It will be refloated within two weeks.
The final voyage of the Costa Concordia cruise ship is now less than two weeks away, according to reports posted by the companies involved in the mammoth salvage effort. One report announced that the Italian Cabinet on June 30 authorized the wreck to be towed to Genoa -- a four-day trip -- for dismantling and recycling; the July 1 report indicates the next-to-last sponson is being installed on the ship's port side.
"The cabinet's approval of the project for transportation of the Concordia to Genoa for dismantling and recycling means that achievement of the goal we set ourselves two and a half years ago – namely the safe and definitive removal of the wreck from Giglio Island – is now well within sight," said Costa Crociere CEO Michael Thamm. "We are now just two weeks away from refloating of the ship. We will supervise the final phase of the Concordia project with the same commitment and attention that we have put into this challenge since the very beginning, using the best expertise and technologies, in compliance with the highest environmental safety standards and in full cooperation with the authorities."
The salvage firms are installing a total of 30 in order to refloat the ship. Refloating is scheduled to start by the middle of July upon authorization of the Monitoring Observatory, and the departure from Giglio Island is planned by the end of this month. "The Concordia's last voyage will be provided by Titan Micoperi, the consortium commissioned to carry out the salvage operation on Giglio Island," Thamm said. "Once the ship is in Genoa, we will be able to count on the cutting-edge technical and management skills of the consortium formed by Saipem, dealing with the environmental aspects of the Concordia dismantling operations, and San Giorgio del Porto, the first shipyard in Italy to be included in the Special Register of Environmental Ship Reclamation & Recycling Facilities, which has many decades of experience in ship repairs and refitting. The technical and financial solidity of Saipem/SGdP represents an important guarantee for the project."
To keep tabs on the project, visit its website.