Rome, July 24 (IANS) The wreck of Costa Concordia luxury cruise liner left the Italian island of Giglio and began its final journey towards the port of Genoa Wednesday, where it will be dismantled.
Its departure, more than 30 months after a shipwreck that killed 32 people aboard, was accompanied by the sirens of the tugboats and vessels sailing around Giglio port, Xinhua reported.
Even the church bells chimed on the island to mark a moment both tense and highly symbolic for Giglio's residents, survivals and relatives of the victims, and also for the mixed community of Italian and foreign experts who had been working for the removal of the huge wreck since April.
"This is a big day for Giglio Island and its people. As for us, we will really relax only when the ship has reached its final destination in Genoa," senior salvage master Nick Sloane said.
The departure had been delayed by one day. Previously planned for Tuesday, it was postponed to Wednesday due to difficult sea and weather conditions.
Operations began Wednesday morning with technicians operating last checks aboard. When they returned to the island, before the Concordia's departure, the salvage team workers were applauded warmly by dozens of people gathered on the shores and at the port to watch the ship leaving.
The Concordia's last journey began around 9 a.m. when the ship was first rotated and its prow pointed towards north. Then, a convoy of 14 vessels started to tow it to the port of Genoa some 200 nautical miles farther north.
Two main tugboats are actually dragging the wreck at a 700-800 metres distance, with the other vessels sailing at a double distance for security reasons.
The 114,500 tonnes, 290-metre long Costa Concordia struck rocks off the island of Giglio in January 2012, and capsized few dozen metres off the shores, killing 32 people.
The huge wreck had to be first hauled up, then settled on submerged artificial platforms and secured in this position, and finally refloated. This entire operation was carried out by the Titan-Micoperi consortium and paid by Concordia's owning company Costa/Carnival.
Due to the wreck's size and the overall complexity of the task, the removal of Concordia was regarded as an unprecedented maritime salvage operation.
The convoy will now be sailing at a 2.5 knots speed, the salvage team had anticipated earlier this week, and it is expected to reach Genoa in four to five days. In that port, the huge rotten wreck of Concordia will be finally demolished and scrapped.