The Wrecked Italian Cruise Ship.


The wrecked Italian cruise ship Costa Concordia is due to be raised and towed away in one of the biggest maritime salvage operations in history.

  
Workers will slowly lift the vessel by pumping air into tanks attached to the ship.

The refloating operation is expected to take six to seven days.  

The ship will then be taken to its home port, Genoa, where it will be scrapped.  

The wreck was hauled upright in September but is still partially submerged, resting on six steel platforms.   

The head of the civil protection agency overseeing the salvage,Franco Gabrielli,  said  a search for the remains of Indian waiter Russel Rebello, whose body was not recovered from the wreck would be carried out  after the vessel is moved. 

Hundreds of divers and engineers have been involved in operations to salvage the Concordia, which is twice the size of the Titanic.  

Local residents say they are glad the wreckage will be removed.

Source:  BBC