The Italian government has officially put back its decision on the removal and dismantling of the wreck of Costa Concordia to 26 June.
The Italian government has officially put back its decision on the removal and dismantling of the wreck of Costa Concordia to 26 June.
A decision was due today, but the Italian cabinet has accepted a recommendation from Franco Gabrielli, commissioner for the Concordia emergency, to postpone the decision for 10 days.
The ship owner, Costa Cruises, favours removing the wreck to the port of Genoa but this choice has been challenged, notably by Tuscany regional governor Enrico Rossi, who argues that it would be environmentally safer to break up the wreck in the Tuscan port of Piombino, which is much closer to the wreck site on the island of Giglio.
According to The Parbuckling Project official website, however, a number of local authorities and other public bodies potentially affected by the Costa Cruises project have asked for more time to examine the details, notably with reference to the risks involved and the measures proposed to deal with them.
In the meantime, at the wreck site, 370 technicians are continuing to work round the clock to install 30 sponsons along the sides of the vessels in preparation for its refloating.
The website said on Saturday that three sponsons were still to be installed on the starboard side, and four on the port side.
Source IHS
Topic: Costa Concordia removal decision delayed (Read 2603 times)