The wreck of the Concordia cruise liner that partially sank after hitting rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio in January 2012, killing 32, was transferred from the Seawall pier in Genoa's Port of Prà Voltri to the nearby Molo Ex Superbacino dock on Tuesday in readiness for the second phase of dismantling and recycling.
Navigation over the 10-mile course was "slow and calm" according to the captain who oversaw the operation. The Concordia was towed to Prà Voltri in July 2014 following a delicate operation to right and refloat the wreck.
There, the furnishings and fittings of the decks above water were stripped to obtain a reduced draft, enabling the ship to be moved to the Superbacino.
Now work will continue to remove the deck structures pending transfer of the wreckage to a dry dock for final dismantling operations to be carried out. In total 55,000 tonnes of steel and 2,000 tonnes of copper will be recovered from the wreck according to Ferdinando Garrè, CEO of the Ship Recycling Consortium that is overseeing operations. Over 250 people will be involved in the second phase of what Garrè described as a "complex" operation.
"In all we will be able to recover and recycle 100% of the steel and metals and 80% of everything that made up the ship," he said.
In February a court in the Tuscan coastal town of Grosseto found former Concordia skipper Francesco Schettino guilty of various charges related to the January 2012 disaster and sentenced him to 16 years and one month in prison.
The court also banned Schettino from commanding a ship for five years and banned him from holding public office indefinitely.
Schettino and his former employers Costa Criuses were also ordered to pay massive damages to a long list of civil plaintiffs, including Concordia passengers, central government, the civil protection department, the Tuscan regional government and the municipality of the Giglio.
Schettino, who is not in jail, is appealing against the verdict.
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