Concordia starts final voyage

(ANSA) - Giglio Island, July 23 - The Costa Concordia left the Tuscan island of Giglio, where it capsized after crashing into rocks in January 2012 in a disaster in which 32 people died, and set off on its final voyage Wednesday. The wreck is being towed to Genoa, where it will be broken up for scrap, at a speed of two knots. It is expected to arrive in Genoa Sunday.
    It was initially scheduled to depart on Monday, but the move was postponed twice due to bad weather and delays in the process to refloat the ship, which had been sitting on an artificial platform after last year's unprecedented parbuckling operation to set it upright.
    The 114,500-tonne liner, which is floating thanks to huge metal boxes filled with air attached to it, is being towed by a convoy of 14 boats.
    The departure was greeted by applause in the control room and on the shore in Giglio, and the honking of sirens from the tugs and boats in the area.
    But officials insisted the job will not be considered completed until the Concordia is safely in Genoa. "It's satisfying, but this satisfaction must be measured and sober and it cannot be detached from the reason we are here," said Franco Gabrielli, the head of Italy's Civil Protection Department. In addition to the 32 people killed in the disaster, a Spanish diver working for the firm Titan Micoperi died while assisting with the salvage operation early this year. Nevertheless, many of the officials at a press conference given following the Concordia's departure struggled to keep a lid on their emotions.
    "It's difficult not to be moved, so let's move to the data," said Franco Porcellacchia, Costa Cruises chief official involved in the salvage operation.
    "The ship is sailing at two knots and everything is working perfectly. "Between Saturday night and Sunday morning it will arrive in Genoa and it will enter the post on Sunday morning.
    "Italian engineering deserves great credit for this job, although our striker was (South African salvage master) Nick Sloane". Former Concordia captain Francesco Schettino is on trial in the Tuscan city of Grosseto on charges of multiple homicide, causing a shipwreck by sailing too close to shore to "salute" Giglio, and abandoning the ship before it was evacuated.
    Schettino is the only person on trial after four crew members and a Costa Cruises official were sentenced to terms of up to 34 months in prison following plea bargains. Costa Cruises avoided criminal prosecution by agreeing to pay a one-million-euro fine, but victims are seeking compensation in civil courts.