The Tuscan island of Giglio
lost at least 40,000 pleasure boaters as a result of the 2012
Costa Concordia accident, a port official said at a court
hearing on Tuesday.
"There has been an estimated loss of at least 40,000
boaters who stopped over en route to Sardinia or Corsica,"
Alvaro Andolfi said.
Spin-off activities have also been damaged due to the
absence of regattas and fishing competitions, he added during
testimony at the manslaughter and dereliction of duty trial of
former Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino, in which
Tuscany and islanders are civil plaintiffs.
Schettino was at the helm of the cruise liner when it
crashed into rocks off Giglio in January 2012, partly capsizing
and killing 32 in what was Italy's worst maritime disaster since
World War II.
Also on Tuesday, an architect speaking on behalf of
islanders said Giglio housing prices had dropped more than 34%
since the fatal incident.
Schettino's lawyer rejected claims by Tuscany Governor
Enrico Rossi that the region suffered material damages as a
result of the Concordia disaster and that "Schettino and his
obscenities" have harmed the region's image.
The Concordia shipwreck spent over two years aground near
Giglio's coast prior to being moved in July to Genoa to be
dismantled for scrap.
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