By Associated Press
GENOA, Italy--The shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner has
completed its final journey, reaching Genoa's port, where it will
be scrapped.
Pulled by tugboats and nudged by winds, the wreck was eased
Sunday into the port. The Concordia liner struck a reef when its
captain sailed too close to Giglio Island off Tuscany's coast Jan.
13, 2012, and capsized, killing 32 people.
A spectacular operation set the wreck upright in September 2013.
On Wednesday, tugboats towing the wreck began the slow, five-day
journey to Genoa, headquarters of ship owner Costa Crociere SpA and
the port where the luxury vessel first set sail, after construction
in 2005.
"Our big ally has been the ship," said Franco Gabrielli, the
Italian government official overseeing the operation. "The vessel
has shown an impressive robustness."
Coast guard Capt. Gianluca Agostino told Sky TG24 TV the
180-nautical-mile voyage from Giglio to Genoa went so smoothly that
one night, crews in a control room attached to the Concordia lit up
the lights along the uncrushed side as if it were making one last
Mediterranean cruise.
Demolition and scrapping will take an estimated two years.
But first, the wreck will be searched for any remains of an
Indian waiter, the only body never found despite repeated missions
by divers who swam through the ship when it lay on its side outside
the port of Giglio, a fishing and tourism island in pristine
waters, which are home to dolphins. One diver perished during
search efforts.
Ship captain Francesco Schettino is being tried for alleged
manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning ship with many
passengers and crew still aboard. Dozens of people dove into frigid
waters and after the Concordia started listing, lifeboats could no
longer be launched during the chaotic and delayed evacuation.
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