The cruise ship Costa Concordia, which was wrecked off Giglio Island, Italy in January 2012 with 3,206 passengers and 1,023 crew on board, was safely moored at the Port of Genoa Voltri, Italy on 27 July at the end of her final journey from the island where she was wrecked, marking the completion of the largest maritime salvage job ever undertaken. Crowley Maritime Corp subsidiary TITAN Salvage and Micoperi led the efforts to right and then move the ship from Giglio. Preparations for the tow began on 13 July and the tow itself commenced nine days later.
Towing the disabled ship from the Tuscan Archipelago to Genoa involved a convoy of more than a dozen support vessels, led by the tug Blizzard and including two tugs with a combined 24,000hp and 275 tons of bollard pull at the bow for the hull, and two additional auxiliary tugs positioned aft. TITAN Salvage’s Nick Sloane, senior salvage master, and Rich Habib, salvage director, were on board the wrecked ship to monitor the vessel’s list, ballasting and speed.
The complex and challenging project to right and recover the ship has taken more than two years of difficult and sometimes dangerous work. Now the ship is in Genoa, she will be completely dismantled after being stripped for scrap metal and recyclable materials.
