Concordia crash 'harmed Giglio economy'

(ANSA) - Grosseto, November 18 - 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.