Tourists offered boat tours to see the Costa Concordia cruise liner - Telegraph Italy Tourists offered boat tours to see the Costa Concordia cruise liner For £8 per person, individuals can go on a boat and see the giant cruise liner close up, which capsized off the island of Giglio, killing 32, in January 2012 Photo: EPA Follow Tourists are being offered boat tours of the rusted, battered hulk of the Costa Concordia, as it undergoes gradual demolition in the Italian port of Genoa. For €10 euros (£8) a head, curious Italians and foreigners can board a boat which takes them within 200 yards of the macabre spectacle. Thirty-two people lost their lives when the giant cruise liner capsized off the island of Giglio in January 2012. The 950ft-long cruise ship was towed away from Giglio in July, after a complex two-year engineering operation in which it was raised, refloated and finally removed from its resting place in shallow water just outside Giglio’s port.

The unprecedented salvage effort, which cost more than a billion euros, involved hundreds of engineers, mariners and divers from more than a dozen countries, including Britain. Related Articles Costa Concordia comes home to die 27 Jul 2014 Guides on the boats recount how the Concordia rammed into Giglio on the night of January 13, 2012, during an ill-judged attempt by its captain, Francesco Schettino, to sail close to the island to perform a “salute” for the benefit of passengers and crew. The hour-long tours, which leave Genoa ’s old harbour every afternoon, take visitors to the industrial port of Pra-Voltri, on the outskirts of Genoa, where the Concordia is moored. Passengers are promised an close-up view of the ship, which has giant hollow steel boxes clamped to its sides to give buoyancy. It is expected to take at least two years for the vast ship to be dismantled for scrap. Capt Francesco is on trial in Grosseto, Tuscany, on charges of manslaughter, abandoning ship and causing a maritime disaster. He denies all the charges.

Costa Concordia shipwreck pulled upright off Giglio, Italy - Framework - Photos and Video - Visual Storytelling from the Los Angeles Times This combination of photos shows the Costa Concordia cruise ship near the harbor of Giglio, Italy, on June 23, 2012, top, and after being pulled upright in the biggest project of its kind on Sept. 17, 2013. PHOTOGRAPH BY: Vincenzo Pinto / AFP Link This combination shows four photos of the Costa Concordia, after the cruise ship ran aground and keeled over off Giglio, Italy taken on January 14, 2012 (top left), beginning to emerge during the salvage operation on September 16, 2013 (top right and bottom left) and after it was turned upright (bottom right) on September 17, 2013. PHOTOGRAPH BY: AFP / AFP Francesco Schettino, captain of the Costa Concordia, third from left, arrives for questioning at the Law Court in Grosseto on Tuesday. Schettino was released and is currently under house arrest facing charges of manslaughter and abandoning ship.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: Giacomo Aprili / Associated Press Link Italian coast guard Capt. Gregorio De Falco, center, arrives at the Grosseto court to be questioned in the investigation of the accident. In a recording of a dramatic phone conversation released Tuesday, De Falco was heard ordering the captain of the Costa Concordia back on board to oversee the evacuation. But Capt. Francesco Schettino resisted the order, saying it was too dark and the ship was tipping dangerously. "You go on board! Is that clear? Do you hear me?" De Falco shouted as the captain of the grounded cruise liner sat safely in a life raft while frantic passengers struggled to escape after the ship rammed into a rocky reef and tipped on its side off the Tuscan coast. PHOTOGRAPH BY: Giacomo Aprili / Associated Press A fire department helicopter lifts a person from the Costa Concordia. Firefighters worked Sunday to rescue a crew member with a suspected broken leg from the overturned hulk of the luxury cruise liner 36 hours after it ran aground. PHOTOGRAPH BY: Gregorio Borgia / Associated Press Link Firefighters look at a rock emerging from the side of the Costa Concordia.

The Italian coast guard says its divers have found two more bodies aboard. That brings to five the number of known dead after the luxury ship ran aground with about 4,200 people aboard Friday night. PHOTOGRAPH BY: Andrea Sinibaldi / Lapresse Link A South Korean man steps from a rescue boat, left, with the help of emergency workers after he and his bride were saved from the listing vessel Saturday night. The newlywed couple were trapped in their cabin when the Costa Concordia rolled over. PHOTOGRAPH BY: MAURIZIO DEGL' INNOCENTI / ANSA Link A photo taken by a Spanish passenger shows an attempt to lower a lifeboat into the water after the Costa Concordia cruise ship ran aground off Italy's Tuscan coast. The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, has been taken into custody with three deaths reported and 17 people still unaccounted for.

PHOTOGRAPH BY: CARLOS CARBALLA / EFE Costa Concordia cruise ship runs aground off coast of Italy - Photos - The Big Picture - Boston.com Costa Concordia cruise ship runs aground off coast of Italy The search continued for those still missing after the Costa Concordia luxury cruise ship smashed into a reef off the coast of Giglio, Italy, and partially sank last weekend. Eleven deaths were confirmed on Tuesday. The shipâs captain, Francesco Schettino, has been accused of manslaughter by prosecutors after he left the ship before all passengers were evacuated. -- Lloyd Young ( 34 photos total ) A rescuer being lowered on the cruise liner Costa Concordia on Jan. 18 that ran aground in front of the harbor of the Isola del Giglio (Giglio island) after hitting underwater rocks on January 13. Emergency workers fear that the ship could slip from its resting place on a rocky shelf and slip into deeper waters. (Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images) 2 The luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia is shown run aground off the coast of Giglio in this Jan. 17, 2012 DigitalGlobe handout satellite photo.

Eleven people are confirmed dead and some twenty are still missing from more than 4,200 passengers and crew after the Concordia ran aground two hours into a week-long cruise of the western Mediterranean. (Digitalglobe/Reuters) # 3 Rescuers surround the luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia after it ran aground off the coast of Isola del Giglio island, Italy, gashing open the hull and forcing some 4,200 people aboard to evacuate aboard lifeboats to the nearby Isola del Giglio island, early Saturday, Jan. 14, 2012. About 1,000 Italian passengers were onboard, as well as more than 500 Germans, about 160 French and about 1,000 crew members. (Giorgio Fanciulli/Giglionews.it/Associated Press) # 5 The cruise ship Costa Concordia lies stricken off the shore of the island of Giglio as floating barriers are positioned to prevent pollution of the coasts on Jan. 18, 2012 in Giglio Porto, Italy. The official death toll is now 11, with some twenty people still missing.

The rescue operation was temporarily suspended earlier due to the ship moving as it slowly sinks further into the sea. (Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images) # 6 Rescue divers retrieve a body from the stricken cruise liner Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio on Jan. 17, 2012. Divers searching for survivors inside a stricken cruise ship off the Italian coast found five more bodies on Tuesday, as prosecutors grilled the arrested captain over his role. The death toll has now risen to 11, leaving some twenty still missing of the 4,200 people on board when the ship went down on Jan. 13. ( Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images) # 7 Captain Francesco Schettino (center) of cruise ship Costa Concordia is escorted into a prison by police officers at Grosseto, after being questioned by magistrates in this still image from a video Jan. 17, 2012. Italian coastguards pleaded angrily with the captain of the stricken super-liner to return to his ship, according to recordings released on Tuesday as divers found five more bodies in the half-submerged wreck of the Costa Concordia.

Taking the known death toll to 11, that some 24 people, including a number of German tourists, unaccounted for four days after the giant cruiser carrying more than 4,200 passengers and crew was ripped open by rocks off a Tuscan island. Schettino is accused of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck by sailing too close to shore and abandoning ship before all his passengers and crew scrambled off. (Reuters) # 8 A cameraman films on Jan. 18, 2012 a notice for a missing person from the stricken cruise liner Costa Concordia on the Tuscan island of Giglio. The captain of the Italian cruise liner, Francesco Schettino, returned home to the Amalfi coast under house arrest on Jan. 18, as fears grew that bad weather could hamper rescue efforts on the wreck. Divers, mountain rescue teams and soldiers have so far recovered 11 bodies from the turbid waters of the half-submerged hulk and the surrounding sea.

(Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images) # 9 Italian rescue personnel are seen atop the Costa Concordia cruise liner, two days after it ran aground off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Monday, Jan. 16, 2012. The captain of a cruise liner that ran aground and capsized off the Tuscan coast faced accusations from authorities and passengers that he abandoned ship before everyone was safely evacuated as rescuers found another body on the overturned vessel. (Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press) # 15 Underwater photo taken on Jan. 13, 2012, and released by the Italian Coast Guard on Jan. 16 shows a diver inside the cruise ship Costa Concordia, after it ran aground in front of the Isola del Giglio harbor. Pier Luigi Foschi, head of the Costa Crociere line, said the company had commissioned several firms to look at the best way to salvage the 114,500-ton vessel lying on its side.

The 290-meter (950-feet) long Costa Crociere, which is 17 decks high, has a large gash in its hull from running on to rocks before it capsized on Friday night. (Italian Coast Guard/AFP/Getty Images) # 19 An helicopter evacuates Marrico Giempietroni, the Costa Concordia's cabin service director after he was rescued from the Costa Concordia on Jan. 15, 2012, after the cruise ship ran aground and keeled over off the Isola del Giglio, late on Jan. 13. (Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images) # 20 Oil removal ships near the cruise ship Costa Concordia leaning on its side Monday, Jan. 16, 2012, after running aground near the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, last Friday night. The rescue operation was called off mid-afternoon Monday after the Costa Concordia shifted a few inches (centimeters) in rough seas. The fear is that if the ship shifts significantly, some 500,000 gallons of fuel may begin to leak into the pristine waters.

(Gregorio Borgia/Associated Press) # 22 Rescue workers climb on the Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground off the west coast of Italy, at Giglio island Jan. 16, 2012. Rescue workers searched the half submerged hulk of the Italian cruise ship for people still missing on Monday, more than 48 hours after the huge vessel keeled over. (Max Rossi/Reuters) # 23 Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground is seen off the west coast of Italy at Giglio island Jan. 14, 2012. At least eleven people were killed and rescuers were searching for other victims after the Italian cruise ship carrying more than 4,200 people ran aground and keeled over in shallow waters. (Remo Casilli /Reuters) # 32 This aerial black-and-white video image shot with an infrared camera and made available by the Italian Coastguard Tuesday Jan. 17, 2012 appears to show passengers of shipwrecked cruise liner Costa Concordia slipping down the belly of the luxury liner one-by-one using a rope to reach a lifeboat, bottom left, late Friday Jan.

13, 2012 off Giglio Island, Italy. (Italian Coastguard/Associated Press) # 33 An image grab taken from Sky TV Italy shows passengers and crew members wearing life jackets as they prepare to evacuate the Costa Concordia cruiseship on Jan. 13, 2012 after the ship ran aground and keeled over off the Isola del Giglio after hitting underwater rocks. (AFP/Getty Images) # 34 A cruise ship that ran aground is seen off the west coast of Italy at Giglio island Jan. 14, 2012. The Costa Concordia, a large Italian cruise ship, carrying more than 4,000 people ran aground overnight, took on water and tipped over. (Giorgio Fanciulli/Reuters) # More links and information Attempt to right Costa Concordia cruise ship begins FacebookEmail Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest Attempt to right Costa Concordia cruise ship begins A complex system of pulleys and counterweights on Monday began pulling upright the Costa Concordia cruise ship from its side on a Tuscan reef where it capsized in 2012.

Post to Facebook Attempt to right Costa Concordia cruise ship begins A complex system of pulleys and counterweights on Monday began pulling upright the Costa Concordia cruise ship from its side on a Tuscan reef where it capsized in 2012. Check out this story on USATODAY.com: CancelSend A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Posted! A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. 16 To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs Attempt to right Costa Concordia cruise ship begins Frances D'Emilio, Associated Press Published 4:39 a.m. ET Sept. 16, 2013 | Updated 12:29 p.m. ET Sept. 16, 2013 CLOSE x Share Desair Brown hosts USA NOW for Sept. 16, 2013, covering the attempt to raise the Costa Concordia ship. USA TODAY, USA NOW, Kaveh Rezaei, The Costa Concordia cruise ship capsized on a Tuscan reef in 2012. The Costa Concordia ship lies on its side on the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Italy, on Sept.

15, 2013. (Photo: Andrew Medichini, AP) Story Highlights Costa Concordia capsized on a Tuscan reef in 2012 32 people were killed after the captain steered the liner too close to the rocky coastline Concordia's captain is on trial on the mainland for alleged manslaughter GIGLIO ISLAND, Italy (AP) — A complex system of pulleys and counterweights on Monday began pulling upright the Costa Concordia cruise ship from its side on a Tuscan reef where it capsized in 2012, an anxiously awaited operation of a kind that has never been attempted on such a huge liner. Engineer Sergio Girotto said the operation began at about 9 a.m. local time on Monday, three hours late. By midday, Girotto said they have succeeded in wresting the hull of the shipwrecked Concordia from the reef and that cameras did not immediately reveal any sign of two bodies that were never recovered from the 32 who died during the disaster. RELATED: Inside a Costa ship The delay was due to an early morning storm that pushed back a floating command room center from its position close to the wreckage.

There, engineers using remote controls were guiding a synchronized leverage system of pulleys, counterweights and huge chains looped under the Concordia's carcass to delicately nudge the ship free from its rocky seabed perch just outside Giglio Island's harbor. The goal is to raise it from its side by 65 degrees to vertical, as a ship would normally be, for eventual towing. The operation, known in nautical parlance as parbuckling, is a proven method to raise capsized vessels. Posted! A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. The Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia sits in a dock inside of Voltri Port in Genoa. The Costa Concordia's dismantling operations are predicted to last two years. Luca Zennaro, epa Crews work to get the Costa Concordia into Genoa's port. Alessandro Di Meo, epa People relax on the beach as the refloated wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise liner is towed to the Italian port of Genova on July 27, 2014.

Marco Bertorello, AFP/Getty Images The Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia in Italy inside of Genoa's Voltri Port on July 27, 2014. Luca Zennaro, EPA The Costa Concordia arrives at Genoa's Voltri Port. Luca Zennaro, epa The Costa Concordia makes its way into Genoa's port. Luca Zennaro, epa The refloated wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship is being towed into the harbor of Voltri Port in Genoa. Marco Bertorello, AFP/Getty Images The wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship is towed by tugboats toward Genoa's harbor. Antonio Calanni, AP The refloated wreckage of the Costa Concordia cruise liner as it's being towed to the Italian port of Genoa. Costa Press office via AFP/Getty Images Fullscreen The Costa Concordia is towed by two tugboats as it leaves behind the tiny Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, Italy. The Costa Concordia cruise liner has begun its final voyage away from where it capsized on Jan. 13, 2012, killing 32 people.

Italian Civil Protection Department via AP People watch as the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia is towed by tugs away from Isola del Giglio, Italy. The ship is bound for it's home port of Genoa, where it will be dismantled. Laura Lezza, Getty Images The Costa Concordia is towed by tugs from the harbor of Isola del Giglio. Italian Civil Protection Department via AFP/Getty Images The wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship is towed from the harbor of Isola del Giglio, after it was refloated using air tanks attached to its sides. Tiziana Fabi, AFP/Getty Images Tugboats send up water sprays as the wrecked Italian cruise liner Costa Concordia begins its final journey to the port of Genoa. Riccardo Antimiani, epa The Costa Concordia is towed away from the tiny Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio. Gregorio Borgia, AP The Costa Concordia cruise ship is towed by two tugboats as it leaves behind the tiny Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, Italy. Gregorio Borgia, AP The Costa Concordia ship is towed from Giglio Island, Italy.

It is expected to arrive in Genoa on July 27. It capsized after crashing into rocks in January 2012. Riccardo Dalle Luche, European Pressphoto Agency A worker cleans the Costa Concordia after the crusie ship was refloated on July 22 off Giglio Island, Italy. Thirty-two people were killed when the ship ran aground and capsized on Jan. 13, 2012. Gregorio Borgia, AP The sunken cruise ship Costa Concordia is slowly raised off a reef on July 21 off Giglio Island, Italy. Thirty-two people were killed when the ship ran aground and capsized on Jan. 13, 2012. Alessandro Di Meo, European Pressphoto Agency The Costa Concordia cruise ship is refloated off Giglio Island.The ship will be towed to Genoa, Italy, where it will be scrapped. Tiziana Fabi, AFP/Getty Images A water line marks the hull of the refloated ship. Tiziana Fabi, AFP/Getty Images Massive air tanks flank the cruise ship after it was raised off a reef near Giglio Island.

Tiziana Fabi, AFP/Getty Images The Costa Concordia cruise ship rests between huge air tanks. Tiziana Fabi, AFP/Getty Images The Costa Concordia is raised off the reef. Tiziana Fabi, AFP/Getty Images Salvage vessels swarm around the refloated Costa Concordia off Giglio Island. Protezione Civile Italiana via AFP/Getty Images The Fagioli installations, a mechanism used to raise the ship, slowly raise the sunken cruise liner. Costa Crociere Press Office via AFP/Getty Images Fullscreen Salvage workers refloat the sunken cruise ship Costa Concordia on July 15 off Giglio Island, Italy. The massive salvage operation to refloat and move the ship will take one week. Thirty-two people were killed when the ship ran aground and capsized on Jan. 12, 2012. Vincenzo Pinto, AFP/Getty Images A floating barrier surrounds the Costa Concordia cruise ship. The entire operation to refloat the ship and tow the wreck to the Italian port of Genoa, where it will be scrapped, will cost $2 billion. Costa Press Office via epa The rusted superstructure of the cruise ship.

Costa Press Office via epa Salvage vessels surround the Costa Concordia. Alessandro La Rocca, AP Salvage workers slowly raise the grounded cruise ship by pumping air into massive tanks attached to the ship. Alessandro Di Meo, epa People take selfies in front of the wrecked ship. Laura Lezza, Getty Images The grounded ship is slowly raised off a reef near Giglio Island. Laura Lezza, Getty Images The grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia is surrounded by salvage vessels on Sept. 18, 2013, off Giglio Island, Italy. The vessel, which sank on Jan. 12, 2012, was successfully rolled upright during a Sept. 17 salvage operation. Marco Secchi, Getty Images Police conduct a patrol around the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia on near Giglio Island. Marco Secchi, Getty Images Engineers inspect the Costa Concordia. Marco Secchi, Getty Images Engineers begin their inspection of the Costa Concordia. Marco Secchi, Getty Images A worker stands on the cruise ship. Marco Secchi, Getty Images Workers from the U.S. salvage company Titan and the Italian firm Micoperi inspect the Costa Concordia after it was raised off the seabed.

Vincenzo Pinto, AFP/Getty Images A man works on a painting of the Costa Concordia at the harbor on Giglio Island. Vincenzo Pinto, AFP/Getty Images A ship floats near the cable structures that were used to raise the capsized cruise ship. Vincenzo Pinto, AFP/Getty Images A view of the Costa Concordia's wrecked superstructure. Vincenzo Pinto, AFP/Getty Images Workers motor past the raised cruise liner. Andrew Medichini, AP The grounded cruise liner Costa Concordia is upright after a salvage operation was completed on Sept. 17 off Giglio Island, Italy. Thirty-two people were killed when the vessel sank on Jan. 13, 2012. Marco Secchi, Getty Images People look at the wreckage of the cruise ship. Vincenzo Pinto, AFP/Getty Images Fullscreen People at the harbor on Giglio Island watch salvage operations around the refloated Costa Concordia cruise ship. The ship's horn sounded for the first time since the 2012 sinking, mixing with applause and cheers in a dramatic climax to the massive salvage operation. Vincenzo Pinto, AFP/Getty Images Members of the U.S.

company Titan Salvage and Italian firm Micoperi look at the damaged side of the Costa Concordia. Vincenzo Pinto, AFP/Getty Images The wreck of the cruise ship emerges from the water. Vincenzo Pinto, AFP/Getty Images The severely damaged side of the Costa Concordia is visible after the successful salvage operation righted the capsized ship. The procedure, known as parbuckling, has never been used on a vessel as large as Costa Concordia. Marco Secchi, Getty Images The wreck of Italy's Costa Concordia is pulled upright. Andreas Solaro, AFP/Getty A damaged section of the ship is visible after the salvage operation. Vincenzo Pinto, AFP/Getty Images The Costa Concordia sits upright after the salvage operation. Marco Secchi, Getty Images The capsized cruise ship is pulled upright. Vincenzo Pinto, AFP/Getty Images The Costa Concordia cruise ship emerges from water near Giglio Harbor. Andreas Solaro, AFP/Getty Images The Costa Concordia slowly rolls upright during the salvage operation. Vincenzo Pinto, AFP/Getty Images Salvage operations continue at sunset at the wreck of the cruise ship Costa Concordia on Sept. 16 near Giglio Island, Italy.

Engineers are using a series of cables, pulleys, counterweights and huge chains to pull the ship upright. Andreas Solaro, AFP/Getty Images People watch the ongoing salvage operation off the Giglio Island at sunset. Angelo Carconi, epa Salvage personnel work at the wreck of the cruise ship Costa Concordia. Vincenzo Pinto, AFP/Getty Images People watch the salvage operation. Thirty-two people were killed when the ship ran aground and sank on Jan. 12, 2012. Vincenzo Pinto, AFP/Getty Images The ship begins to emerge from the water. Abdreas Solaro, AFP/Getty Images The Costa Concordia begins to rise off the sea bottom. Andrea Sinibaldi, AP Salvage workers slowly raise the cruise ship. Claudio Giovannini, epa Salvage workers begin to raise the grounded cruise liner Costa Concordia off Giglio Island. Andreas Solaro, AFP/Getty Images Salvage personnel work on the Costa Concordia. Andrew Medichini, AP Cables are secured to the hull of the Costa Concordia. The operation, known as parbuckling, will pull the ship upright. Marco Secchi, Getty Images Members of the U.S.

salvage company Titan and Italian firm Micoperi work at the wreck of Italy's Costa Concordia. Andreas Solaro, AFP/Getty Salvager workers watch the Costa Concordia as the salvage operation begins. Laura Lezza, Getty Images The wreck begins to emerge from the water. Andreas Solaro, AFP/Getty Images The Costa Concordia is readied for a salvage operation on Sept. 16, 2013. Marco Secchi, Getty Images Engineers work on the bow of the Costa Concordia. Marco Secchi, Getty Images The sunken cruise ship begins to emerge from water. Andreas Solaro, AFP/Getty Images Workers prepare the Costa Concordia. Laura Lezza, Getty Images Salvage operations begin on the sunken cruise ship off Giglio Island. Riccardo Dalle Luiche, epa If the salvage operation is successful, the Costa Concordia will be towed away and scrapped. Marco Secchi, Getty Images Workers prepare to raise the Costa Concordia. Marco Secchi, Getty Images Salvage boats surround the grounded Costa Concordia. Marco Secchi Getty Images Salvage workers prepare the Costa Concordia on Aug. 23.

Vincenzo Pinto, AFP/Getty Images Senior salvage master Nick Sloane talks to journalists on July 15. Sloane said the Concordia has compressed 10 feet since ramming a jagged reef. Michele Barbero, AP A giant crane floats near the Costa Concordia. Michele Barbero, AP Salvage ships float around the grounded cruise ship on July 8. Paolo Santalucia, AP Salvage workers on a tugboat use a crane to lower an enormous rock that was removed from the hull of the Costa Concordia on Jan. 13. Alberto Pizzoli, AFP/Getty Images Workers stand on the hull of the Costa Concordia on Jan. 8. Filippo Monteforte, AFP/Getty Images Italian police divers swim up to the cruise ship's bell on Jan. 19, 2012, off Giglio island. AP A huge rock is embedded in the side of the grounded cruise ship on Jan. 15, 2012. Andrea Sinibaldi AP Italian firefighters approach the cruise ship on Jan. 15, 2012, after it ran aground.

Gregorio Borgia, AP Passengers and crew abandon the cruise ship Costa Concordia on Jan. 13, 2012, as it begins to sink after running aground off Giglio Island. Giuseppe Modesti, AP Like this topic? You may also like these photo galleries: Replay NBC News Email Print 1. People on lifeboats evacuate the Costa Concordia after it ran aground on Jan. 13, 2012, killing 32 people. The cruise ship is the subject of the biggest salvage operation in maritime history Giuseppe Modesti / AP 2. Passengers arrive at Porto Santo Stefano on Jan. 14 after the Costa Concordia ran aground off the Italian island of Giglio. Reuters 3. Costa Concordia cruise liner captain Francesco Schettino is escorted by Italian police on Jan. 14, 2012, in Grosseto. Schettino was arrested on charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship, police said. Reuters advertisement 4. Firefighters on a dinghy look at a rock emerging from the side of the Costa Concordia on Jan. 15, 2012.

Andrea Sinibaldi / Lapresse via AP 5. A woman looks at the wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise liner on Jan. 16, 2012. Gregorio Borgia / AP 6. A satellite image shows the wreck of the Costa Concordia off the island of Giglio on Jan. 17, 2012. DigitalGlobe advertisement 7. Search and rescue teams continue the search for survivors on the Costa Concordia on Jan. 19, 2012. Tullio M. Puglia / Getty Images 8. Police divers look at the bell of the stricken Costa Concordia luxury liner during their underwater search on Jan. 19, 2012. Carabinieri via AFP - Getty Images 9. Divers make their way into a flooded cabin of the Costa Concordia cruise ship In this undated photo released by the Italian Navy on Jan. 24, 2012. Italian Navy / AP advertisement 10. The capsized Costa Concordia cruise ship lies off the snow-covered island of Giglio on Feb. 11, 2012. Giampiero Sposito / Reuters 11.

A boy prepares to snorkel in front of the wreckage of the capsized cruise liner Costa Concordia on Aug. 28, 2012. Alessandro Bianchi / Reuters 12. The Costa Concordia cruise ship lays near the harbor of Giglio on Oct. 14, 2012. The luxury cruise ship capsized and sank on Jan. 13, 2012, after approaching the Tuscan island of Giglio to perform a manuever close to the shore known as a "salute." Filippo Monteforte / AFP - Getty Images Anniversary of Costa Concordia cruise disaster Picture | Costa Concordia Cruise Ship - ABC News ABC News − Anniversary of Costa Concordia cruise disaster The division Gruppo Operativo Subacquei of the Italian Military Marine inspects the inside of the stranded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Italian island of Giglio, Jan. 15, 2012. Sestini/ABACAUSA/Newscom Salvage operation to happen this week. An aerial view taken from an Italian navy helicopter shows the Costa Concordia as it lies on its side next to Giglio Island, Italy, Aug. 26, 2013.

The wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship could be upright again by mid-September 2013, nearly two years after the liner capsized and killed 32 people off the Italian coast. Reuters Salvage operation to happen this week. The Costa Concordia cruise ship, which ran aground off the west coast of Italy at Giglio Island, lies on its side, half-submerged and threatening to slide into deeper waters, Jan. 23, 2012. Tony Gentile/Reuters Anniversary of Costa Concordia cruise disaster The division Gruppo Operativo Subacquei of the Italian Military Marine inspects inside of the stranded cruise ship Costa Concordia near the Italian island of Giglio, Jan. 15, 2012. Sestini/ABACAUSA/Newscom Anniversary of Costa Concordia cruise disaster Tourists swim in the sea in front of the wreckage of capsized cruise liner Costa Concordia near the harbour of Giglio Porto, Aug. 28, 2012.

Tourists on the Tuscan coast were taking part in a rather macabre form of sightseeing by taking boat trips to view the wreckage of the shipwrecked cruise liner, where 32 people lost their lives after it hit rocks on January 13. Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters Anniversary of Costa Concordia cruise disaster The division Gruppo Operativo Subacquei of the Italian Military Marine inspects the inside of the stranded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Italian island of Giglio, Jan. 15, 2012. Sestini/ABACAUSA/Newscom Anniversary of Costa Concordia cruise disaster Waves crash on the shoreline near the cruise liner Costa Concordia off the west coast of Italy at Giglio Island, Jan. 29, 2012. Darrin Zammit/Reuters Anniversary of Costa Concordia cruise disaster A satellite image captured by Digital Globe shows the Costa Concordia, a luxury cruise ship that ran aground in the Tuscan waters off of Giglio, Italy, Jan. 13, 2012.

ABACAPRESS/Newscom Anniversary of Costa Concordia cruise disaster A thin film of oil spreads from the Costa Concordia cruise ship after it ran aground off the west coast of Italy, at Giglio Island, Feb. 3, 2012. Max Rossi/Reuters Salvage operation to happen this week. A view of the area above the Costa Concordia's emergency generator, which experts suspected did not work correctly after the the cruise liner collided with rocks, is seen on July 25, 2012 in Giglio Porto, Italy. Laura Lezza/Getty Images Anniversary of Costa Concordia cruise disaster In this undated photo provided by Ufficio Stampa Gruppo Carabinieri Subaquei, Carabinieri frogmen dive on the cruise ship Costa Concordia, January 2012 in Giglio Porto, Italy. Ufficio Stampa Gruppo Carabinieri Subaquei via Getty Images Anniversary of Costa Concordia cruise disaster The Costa Concordia cruise ship lays aground near the port on the Italian island of Giglio, Jan. 9, 2013.

Filippo Monteforte/AFP/Getty Images Anniversary of Costa Concordia cruise disaster The cruise ship Costa Concordia lies stricken off the shore of the island of Giglio, Jan. 19, 2012. Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images Raw: Underwater video shows capsized cruise ship FacebookEmail Twitter Google+ LinkedIn Pinterest Raw: Underwater video shows capsized cruise ship Italian police released footage of the interior of the capsized Costa Concordia showing the underwater interior of the cruise ship. The Concordia slammed into a reef off the island of Giglio in January 2012, killing 32 people. (July 3) Post to Facebook Raw: Underwater video shows capsized cruise ship Italian police released footage of the interior of the capsized Costa Concordia showing the underwater interior of the cruise ship. The Concordia slammed into a reef off the island of Giglio in January 2012, killing 32 people. (July 3) Check out this story on USATODAY.com: CancelSend A link has been sent to your friend's email address. Posted! A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.

Join the Nation's Conversation Costa Concordia accident witnesses testify at captain's trial - CNN.com Costa Concordia accident witnesses testify at captain's trial By Barbie Latza Nadeau, Hada Messia and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN updated 2:36 AM EDT, Wed October 30, 2013 STORY HIGHLIGHTS Prosecution witnesses describe chaos aboard the Costa Concordia after it hit rocks Crew member Ciro Onorato says he was disappointed by captain's handling of crisis Ship's head waiter says the captain invited him to the bridge to see Giglio Island close-up Capt. Francesco Schettino is accused of manslaughter; he says his actions saved lives Rome (CNN) -- Prosecution witnesses at the trial of Capt. Francesco Schettino painted a picture of chaos aboard the Costa Concordia on the night the cruise liner sank, as they testified Tuesday in Italy. The cruise liner capsized after it struck rocks off Italy's Giglio Island in the Tyrrhenian Sea in January 2012, killing 32 of the 4,200 people on board. Schettino faces charges of manslaughter, causing a maritime disaster and abandoning ship with passengers still on board. He denies wrongdoing.

Costa Concordia captain's guest to testify Remains found on the Costa Concordia The refloated wreck of the Costa Concordia is towed to the Italian port of Genoa on Sunday, July 27, to be scrapped, ending the ship's final journey two and a half years after it capsized at a cost of 32 lives. The Concordia is towed into the port of Genoa on July 27. Tugboats tow the wreck of the Costa Concordia as it leaves Italy's Giglio Island on Wednesday, July 23. A view from a porthole shows the wreck of the Costa Concordia as it's being towed on July 23. It'll take about two years to dismantle the massive cruise liner. The Costa Concordia cruise ship sits in front of the harbor of Giglio Island after it was refloated using air tanks attached to its sides on Tuesday, July 22. Environmental concerns prompted the decision to undertake the expensive and difficult process of refloating the ship rather than taking it apart on site. The ship's name appears above the water on Monday, July 21. The ship is expected to arrive in Genoa on Sunday, August 27.

Tugboats pull the Costa Concordia after the first stage of the refloating operation on Wednesday, July 16. A small boat passes by the wreckage on Tuesday, July 15. Water is expelled from the caissons hooked onto the Costa Concordia on Monday, July 14. The ship will be towed north to the port in Genoa, Italy. Thirty-two people died when the 114,000-ton vessel, seen here on July 14, ran aground off Giglio in January 2012. In December 2013, crews managed to rotate the ship into an upright position. To float the ship, seen here on Thursday, June 26, crews attached 30 steel tanks to fill with compressed air. Ship captain Francesco Schettino, left, returned to the Concordia in February for the first time since he ran the liner aground. He is on trial on charges of manslaughter, causing a maritime disaster and abandoning ship with passengers still on board. He denies wrongdoing. Experts inspect the ship's damage in January. They boarded the vessel to collect new evidence, focusing on the ship's bridge and the onboard elevators.

The wreckage of the Costa Concordia cruise ship sits near the harbor of Giglio on Tuesday, September 17, after a salvage crew rolled the ship off its side. The ship had been lying on its side for 20 months off the island of Giglio. Here, members of the U.S. company Titan Salvage and the Italian marine contractor Micoperi pass by the wreckage. Damage to the right side of the ship is apparent in September. Using a vast system of steel cables and pulleys, maritime engineers work on Monday, September 16, to hoist the ship's massive hull off the reef where it capsized. The project to upright the Costa Concordia continues on September 16. The nearly $800 million effort reportedly is the largest maritime salvage operation ever. A water line marks the former level of the stricken Costa Concordia as the salvaging operation continues on September 16. The procedure, known as parbuckling, has never been carried out on a vessel as large as Costa Concordia before. Members of Titan and Micoperi work at the wreck site early on September 16. Technicians work to salvage the half-submerged ship in July 2013.

Giant hollow boxes have been attached to the side of the ship, seen here in May 2013. Attempts to refloat the ship will be aided by the compartments. A commemorative plaque honoring the victims of the cruise disaster is unveiled in Giglio on January 14, 2013. Survivors, grieving relatives and locals release lanterns into the sky in Giglio after a minute of silence on January 13, 2013, marking the one-year anniversary of the shipwreck. The 32 lanterns -- one for each of the victims -- were released at 9:45 p.m. local time, the moment of impact. A man holds an Italian flag on his balcony overlooking the port of Giglio on January 13, 2013. A man works in front of the shipwreck on January 12, 2013. A couple walks along the port of Giglio at night on January 12, 2013. A man sits in his boat in front of the half-submerged cruise ship on January 8, 2013.

Cranes and floating decks surrounding the ship light up the dusk sky on January 9, 2013. Workers stand on the edge of the ship on January 8, 2013. A crew passes by the hulking remains on January 7, 2013. People enjoy a day in the sun with a view of the cruise liner on July 1, 2012. Military rescue workers approach the cruise liner on January 22, 2012. Members of the Italian coast guard conduct a search-and-rescue mission on January 21, 2012. Rescue operations to search for missing people resumed on January 20, 2012, after being suspended for a third time as conditions caused the vessel to shift on the rocks. The Costa Serena, the sister ship of the wrecked Costa Concordia, passes by on January 18, 2012. A bird flies overhead the Costa Concordia on January 18, 2012. Rescue operations were suspended as the ship slowly sank farther into the sea. The ship was sailing a few hundred meters off the rocky Tuscan coastline.

An Italian coast guard helicopter flies over Giglio's harbor on January 16, 2012. Rescuers search the waters near the stricken ship on January 16, 2012. The Concordia, pictured on January 15, 2012, was on a Mediterranean cruise from Rome when it hit rocks off the coast of Giglio. The ship starts keeling over early on January 14, 2012. Evacuation efforts started promptly but were made "extremely difficult" by the position of the listing ship, officials said. Rescued passengers arrive at Porto Santo Stefano, Italy, on January 14, 2012. The Costa Concordia was carrying 3,200 passengers and 1,000 crew members. The Costa Concordia disaster Photos: The Costa Concordia disaster Captain blames faulty ship Among several key witnesses Tuesday, on the second day of prosecution testimony against Schettino, was Moldovan dancer Domnica Cemortan, who dined with the captain and was with him on the command bridge at the time of the accident.

Cemortan, who boarded the ship as a passenger but had worked on another Costa Cruises ship captained by Schettino a few weeks earlier, conceded under questioning that she had been romantically involved with him. Everything seemed normal at first on the bridge, she told the court, but then she heard Schettino giving orders, and then "speaking angrily, yelling, to another officer" and telling him to obey the order. She heard the alarms go off on the bridge, triggering chaos and confusion. She heard a call from the engine room that "water had entered the ship." The dancer left the bridge with Schettino and crew member Ciro Onorato, she said, following them around the vessel because she wasn't sure where they were going. They ended up near some lifeboats, where "it was very slippery," she said. She and Onorato helped other passengers for about half an hour while the captain returned to the bridge, she said. Then Onorato pulled her into a lifeboat that also held other crew members. The boat hung over the side, and some panicked passengers fell into the water, she said.

Cemortan said she has suffered psychological issues and taken medication to deal with the mass media attention after the wreck. She is also a party to the civil case against the captain. Disappointed by captain's actions Onorato, who had dined with the pair, earlier told the court he was disappointed by Schettino's handling of events during and after the accident. Under cross-examination, Onorato was quizzed about Schettino's movements around the cruise liner and about how they both came to leave the ship. Onorato gave the same account as Schettino has given -- that the ship was falling on top of them and that they had no choice but to "fall" into a lifeboat. READ: Costa Concordia: Has master mariner in charge of salvage met his match? The prosecution also focused on why Schettino decided to sail so close to the island's rocky coastline. Another witness, ship's maitre d' Antonello Tievoli, a Giglio resident, said he had asked the captain to do the "flyby" a week earlier -- and he acknowledged feeling guilty about having done so.

He testified that Schettino had told him that he was going to do a "close passage to the island" on the day of the crash, and that the captain had invited him on to the bridge so he could see it. Tievoli messaged his sister on Facebook to tell her the ship would be passing by moments before the accident. He was planning to point out where his house was on Giglio to Schettino and other guests on the bridge. READ: Costa Concordia salvage: Island celebrations and relief 'It is going to end up in the rocks' Schettino asked him to call a retired Costa Cruises captain, Mario Palombo, who lived on Giglio to say they'd be passing close by, Tievoli said. Palombo was not on the island that night, but he and Schettino spoke by telephone. Tievoli told the court that he had done previous "close passages to the island," but none that close. Schettino had to ask the Costa Cruises company before changing his route and had done so before on a previous voyage, Cemortan said.

Palombo, who took the stand after Cemortan, described Schettino as insincere and always hiding the truth, adding that he did not respect him. The retired captain said he had been surprised to get a call from Tievoli and then Schettino that evening because it was winter, so there were few people on Giglio to see the "salute," or close passage to the shore. Schettino had asked him on the call about the waters around the island, he said. Palombo said a friend had then rung him, who said, "I saw a ship passing by so close, it is going to end up in the rocks ... I've never seen a ship passing by so close. The lights are off." Palombo said there was no set procedure for doing a "salute" and that the cruise line had never asked him to do one to publicize the brand. He'd done them only for his own sense of pride and seamanship, he said -- and always in summer and never with any "risky maneuvers." Plates, glasses flying Tievoli testified that after the ship hit the rocks and alarms started blaring, he ran down to the restaurant to check the situation.

He found a scene of chaos -- terrified passengers, with plates, food and glasses on the floor as the ship listed. The maitre d' told the court he left panicked elderly passengers in safe places where they wouldn't be hit by flying plates. He heard a message from the loudspeakers that the ship was suffering a blackout but did not hear the coded message for crew members only to prepare for emergency, Tievoli said. Once the general alarm was sounded, he and other crew members started preparing lifeboats so those on board could abandon ship, he said. He described lifting a man on crutches onto his back to carry him to safety. READ: Costa Concordia underwater: What's inside of wrecked cruise ship? Questioned by the defense, the maitre d' said he'd crawled down a ladder to jump on the roof of a lifeboat on the ship's upright side. Tievoli said he met the island's deputy mayor climbing onto the ship to save passengers, which could undermine Schettino's argument that he could not get back on board after "falling" into the lifeboat. Hero or villain?

The trial is expected to last through the fall with a string of witnesses, including passengers, crew members and islanders, who say they saw the captain on shore looking for dry socks before all the passengers had been safely evacuated. Schettino argues that he is a hero who saved the lives of more than 4,000 people, not a villain whose negligence led to the deaths of 32. His defense is trying to prove, among other things, that the ship's watertight doors did not function properly, and that is the reason the ship sank, leading to all 32 deaths during evacuation. The captain also has told the court that the ship would not have crashed had his helmsman turned it in the direction that Schettino told him to 13 seconds before impact. The helmsman, Jacob Rusli Bin, and four others were convicted in a plea deal in July for their role in the disaster. A Florence court is considering the validity of those plea bargain agreements. CNN's Hada Messia and journalist Barbie Latza Nadeau reported from Rome. CNN's Laura Smith-Spark wrote in London.

Part of complete coverage on The Costa Concordia disaster Sep 16 2013 05:43 PM EDT Associated Press GIGLIO ISLAND, Italy -- Engineers on Monday succeeded in wresting the hull of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia from the Italian reef where it has been stuck since it capsized in January 2012, leaving them cautiously optimistic they can rotate the luxury liner upright and eventually tow it away. Never before has such an enormous cruise ship been righted, and the crippled Concordia didn't budge for the first three hours after the operation began, engineer Sergio Girotto told reporters. But after some 6,000 tons of force were applied using a complex system of pulleys and counterweights, "we saw the detachment" from the reef thanks to undersea cameras, he said. Girotto said the cameras did not immediately reveal any sign of the two bodies that were never recovered from among the 32 who died Jan. 13, 2012 when the Concordia slammed into a reef and capsized after the ship's captain steered the luxury liner too close to Giglio Island.

Images transmitted by robotic diving vehicles indicated that the submerged side of the hull had suffered "great deformation" from all its time on the granite seabed, battered by waves and compressed under the weight of the ship's 115,000 tons, Girotto said. The initial operation to lift the Concordia from the reef moved the ship just 3 degrees toward vertical, leaving the vessel some 62 degrees shy of being pulled upright. While a seemingly small shift, the movement was significant enough to be visible: A few feet of slime-covered hull that had been underwater became visible above the waterline. Engineers were waiting for the operation's completion before declaring success: The entire rotation was expected to last as long as 12 hours, with crews prepared to work into the night if need be. So far, "rotation has gone according to predictions," and no appreciable pollution from inside the ship has spewed out, said Franco Gabrielli, chief of Italy's Civil Protection agency, which is overseeing the operation. Giglio is part of a Tuscan archipelago in a marine sanctuary where dolphins romp and fish are plentiful.

The operation, known in nautical parlance as parbuckling, is a proven method to raise capsized vessels. The USS Oklahoma was parbuckled by the U.S. military in 1943 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. But the 300-meter (1,000-foot), 115,000-ton Concordia has been described as the largest cruise ship ever to capsize and subsequently require the complex rotation so it can be towed away in one piece and dismantled for scrap. (MORE: Costa Concordia Remembered ) The operation involves engineers using remote controls to guide a synchronized leverage system of pulleys, counterweights and huge chains looped under the Concordia's carcass to delicately nudge the ship free from its rocky seabed and rotate it upright. During the rotation process, a series of tanks fixed on the exposed side of the hull will be filled with water to help pull it down. Once the ship is upright, engineers hope to attach an equal number of tanks filled with water on the other side to balance the ship, anchor it and stabilize it during the winter months.

The flat-keeled hull itself will be resting on a false seabed some 30 meters (100 feet) underwater, made out of a platform and cement-filled sandbags that fill in the gaps of the sloping, jagged reef. When it comes time to tow the ship in spring, the tanks will gradually be emptied of the water so the ship becomes buoyant enough to float off the seabed, working like a giant pair of water wings. For over a year, residents of the fishing island have watched from shore as cranes and barges have moved into place to try to remove the hulk from their port. A few dozen gathered Monday morning on a breakwater to witness the operation getting underway, while others glimpsed it from shore as they went about their daily business. One woman walking her dog near the harbor sported a T-shirt with "Keep Calm and Watch the Parbuckling Project" written across it in English. A variation on other T-shirts read: "Keep calm and think of Giglio Island." Gigliese, as locals call themselves, had raced to the aid of the survivors who staggered shivering from the sea that wintry night, bringing them blankets, warm clothing and invitations into their homes.

"There is a little tension now. The operation is very complex," said Giovanni Andolfi, a 63-year-old resident who spent his career at sea working on tankers and cruise ships and watched the operation from port. Others watched from afar. Kevin Rebello, whose brother Russell was a waiter on the ship and was never found, said he was in constant touch with the project managers as he monitored news reports. "I haven't slept since yesterday," he told The Associated Press in an interview in Rome. "It's taken 20 months. If it takes another 20 hours, for me it's worth the wait." Rebello plans to travel to Giglio Island on Tuesday, even though he knows there's no certainty his brother's remains will be found. His hope is that someday he can bring his brother's remains home to Mumbai "to give him a decent burial. "That's what me, my family, his wife and all of us are hoping for," he said. Engineers have dismissed as "remote" the possibility that the Concordia might break apart and no longer be sound enough to be towed to the mainland to be turned into scrap.

Should the Concordia break apart during the rotation, or spew out toxic materials as it is raised, absorbent barriers were set in place to catch any leaks. The reef sliced a 70-meter-long (230-foot) gash into what is now the exposed side off the hull, letting seawater rush in. The resulting tilt was so drastic that many lifeboats couldn't be launched. Dozens of the 4,200 passengers and crew were plucked to safety by helicopters or jumped into the sea and swam to shore. Bodies of many of the dead were retrieved inside the ship, although two bodies were never found and might lie beneath the hulk. The Concordia's captain is on trial on the mainland for alleged manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship during the chaotic and delayed evacuation. Capt. Francesco Schettino claims the reef wasn't on the nautical charts for the liner's weeklong Mediterranean cruise. Parbuckling was supposed to begin before dawn, but the operation was pushed back by an overnight storm that delayed the positioning of a barge near the wreckage that serves as the command control center. After the storm blew away, seas were calm.

Costa Crociere SpA, the Italian unit of Miami-based Carnival Corp., is picking up the tab for the parbuckling and its intricate preparation. The company puts the costs so far at 600 million euros ($800 million), though much of that will be passed onto its insurers. Despite the disaster, locals have come to appreciate the crews who have spent more than a year working on the wreckage; they have mingled with locals and contributed to their economy, renting out hotel rooms and vacation apartments that would otherwise have gone vacant during the winter months. Andolfi, the seaman, called the crews "the best brains in the field." But he was eager to see them finish. "I would like Giglio to return to what it was before, a beautiful place of uncontaminated nature," he said. MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Photos from Costa Concordia Up to 10 months to remove capsized cruise ship Up to 10 months to remove capsized cruise ship COLLEEN BARRY and FULVIO PAOLOCCI Share View photos An Italian Coast Guard dinghy sails around the grounded cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Sunday, Jan.

29, 2012. Rough seas off the Tuscan coast have delayed for a second day the start of operations to remove half a million gallons of fuel from the grounded Costa Concordia. Officials called off both the fuel removal and search operations Sunday after determining the ship had moved 4 centimeters (an inch and a half) over six hours. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito) More GIGLIO, Italy (AP) — The cruise ship that capsized off Italy's coast will take up to 10 months to remove, officials said Sunday, as rough seas off the Tuscan coast forced the suspension of recovery operations. Officials called off both the start of operations to remove of 500,000 gallons of fuel and the search for people still missing after determining the Costa Concordia had moved four centimeters (an inch and a half) over six hours, coupled with waves of more than one meter (three feet). A 17th body, identified as Peruvian crew member Erika Soria Molina, was found Saturday. Sixteen crew and passengers remain listed as missing, with one body recovered from the ship not yet identified.

Officials have virtually ruled out finding anyone alive more than two weeks after the Costa Concordia hit a reef, but were reluctant to give a final death toll for the Jan. 13 disaster. The crash happened when the captain deviated from his planned route, creating a huge gash that capsized the ship. More than 4,200 people were on board. "Our first goal was to find people alive," Franco Gabrielli, the national civil protection official in charge of the operation, told a daily briefing. "Now we have a single, big goal, and that is that this does not translate into an environmental disaster." University of Florence professor Riccardo Fanti said the ship's movements could either be caused by the ship settling on its own weight, slipping deeper into the seabed, or both. He also could not rule out the ship's sliding along the seabed. Gabrielli noted that the body of a man recovered from the ship remains unidentified, despite efforts to obtain DNA samples from all of the missing, meaning that officials cannot preclude that the deceased is someone unknown to authorities. Costa has said that it runs strict procedures that would preclude the presence of any unregistered passengers.

Experts have said it would take 28 days to remove fuel from 15 tanks accounting for more than 80 percent of all fuel on board the ship. The next job would be to target the engine room, which contains nearly 350 cubic meters of diesel, fuel and other lubricants, Gabrielli said. Only once the fuel is removed can work begin on removing the ship, either floating it in one piece or cutting it up and towing it away as a wreck. Costa has begun the process for taking bids for the recovery operation, a process that will take two months. Gabrielli said the actual removal will take from seven to 10 months — meaning that the wreck will be visible from the coast of the island of Giglio for the entire summer tourism season. Residents of Giglio have been circulating a petition to demand that officials provide more information on how the full-scale operations can coexist with the important tourism season. At the moment, access to the port for private boats has been banned and all boats must stay at least one mile (1.6 kilometers) from the wrecked ship, affecting access to Giglio's only harbor for fishermen, scuba divers and private boat owners.

"We are really sorry, we would have preferred to save them all. But now other needs and other problems arise," said Franca Melils, a local business owner who is promoting a petition for the tourist season. "It's about us, who work and make a living exclusively from tourism. We don't have factories, we don't have anything else." ___ Colleen Barry reported from Milan. Reblog

Question: Which cruise liner capsized off the island of Giglio in 2012?
Answer: COSTA CONCORDIA