Re-floated Costa Concordia cruise ship to be towed to Genova for scrapping

Salvage crews refloated the shipwrecked Costa Concordia Monday in the latest course of an effort that will see the cruise ship towed and scrapped in Genova in late July.

The 115,000-ton cruise liner struck a reef in January 2012 and capsized off the Tuscany coast, killing 32 people. After righting the massive ship in September atop an underwater platform, salvage operators re-floated the Concordia by attaching 30 air chambers to its flanks to lift it. The added support will help increase the ship’s buoyancy enough to be transported to Genova for dismantling. On July 21, the Concordia will travel 200 nautical miles, 320 kilometers, over five days.

Costa Crociere SpA CEO Michael Tamm said the entire operation of removing the Concordia from the reef will cost a total of 1.5 billion euros, or $2 billion.

Italian captain Francesco Schettino is on trial for manslaughter, after abandoning the Concordia before all its passengers were evacuated.

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