Tag Archives: Costa Concordia

Concordia to be refloated by June

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By Hollie-Rae Merrick 

Concordia to be refloated by JuneThe shipwrecked Costa Concordia could be re-floated by June, the engineer overseeing the salvage operation has said.

Franco Porcellacchia has reportedly told the residents of the Italian island of Giglio that giant floats will be fixed on to the sides of the ship by April, allowing the ship to float again.

Porcellacchia said he was “extremely confident” about the operation according to Zee News.

After re-floating the ship it will be towed to a nearby port were it will be scrapped. No decision has been made on which port it is taken too.

The Costa Concordia ran aground and partially sank in January 2012 with the loss of 32 lives.

In October the bodies of the two remaining missing victims were found by divers searching the ship.

Divers arrested for stealing Concordia souvenirs

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Divers arrested for stealing Concordia souvenirs

A group of four people, including a British man of 42, have been arrested by Italian police after they were caught hunting for souvenirs aboard the wreckage of the Costa Concordia.

None of the men have been named, but it appears that the group – which also included an Irish man aged 35 and two younger South African men – were all members of the Titan salvage crew tasked with raising the vessel from the seabed.

According to the Daily Mail, the men were spotted during the early hours of Saturday morning by CCTV cameras that have been set up around the ship.

All four men have been dismissed by the company and will now face prosecution on charges of theft and breaching a sealed crime scene by the Tuscan authorities, although they have been bailed until the case is heard.

Carabinieri police officer Lt Elisabette Spoti said: “They were caught red handed with the rucksack and the suspicion is they were trying to take items from the ship as souvenirs.

“They should not have been anywhere near the vessel as it is still a crime scene and as such sealed off.”

Concordia captain’s lover admits to being on bridge

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Concordia captain’s lover admits to being on bridge

A woman claiming to be the lover of Captain Francesco Schettino has told the court in his manslaughter case that she was on the bridge with him when the Concordia ran aground last January.

The tragedy resulted in the deaths of 32 people when the ship veered too close to the coast of the island of Giglio and a large hole was ripped in the hull.

Subsequently, the ship partially sank and reports suggest that a series of errors were made in the immediate aftermath of the accident and in the way that the evacuation was handled.

Schettino is currently on trial for manslaughter and abandoning ship, with his first mate already testifying that it was immediately clear the ship would need to be evacuated, even though the captain took no such action for approximately one hour following the collision.

Now, further damning evidence has come to light, with Moldovan dancer Dominica Cemortan testifying that she was in a romantic relationship with the captain and was present on the bridge when the Concordia ran aground.

She claims that she was invited to join the captain as he oversaw a close sail-past the island that ultimately resulted in tragedy, and media outlets in Italy have been quick to suggest that Captain Schettino may have been distracted by her presence or, worse, even showing off in order to impress her.

Ms Cemortan added while on the stand that she had joined the ship hours before the collision without paying for a ticket, stating: “When you are someone’s lover, no-one asks you for a ticket.” However, she then dismissed the comment, claiming it was a joke to her translator.

She told the court that once the evacuation started, the captain told her to “save herself”, and that she helped other passengers into lifeboats before evacuating herself. The case is on-going.