The large-sized passenger ship Costa Concordia which capsized killing 32 people onboard is being torn apart 5 years after the tragedy.
The luxury Costa Cruises vessel was carrying 4,252 passengers and crew when it smashed into rocks and sunk near the Island of Giglio on January 13, 2012. The death toll made the tragic incident the worst maritime disaster in Italy since the Second World War.
Two years after the tragedy the cruise ship was towed away from Giglio to the port in Genoa for dismantling. Now the 144,500-tonne ship is being dismantled in the port of Genoa by the Ship Recycling Consortium (Saipem and San Giorgio del Porto) with 70% of materials set to be fully recycled.
The captain Francesco Schettino, who was dubbed Captain Coward for his actions, was sentenced to 16 years in jail for manslaughter last year. More than 4,000 passengers were evacuated from the stricken vessel - but the captain fled before everyone had made it safety.
Salvage and scrapping efforts are estimated to have cost roughly £1.2billion – making it the most expensive maritime wreck recovery in history.
Our review of Costa Concordia accident provides also technical information regarding the salvage plan and the ship removal operation.