Costa Crociere company, owner of Costa Concordia cruise ship, which capsized after hitting rocks off the Italian island of Giglio, killing at least 25 people, invited salvage companies to tender for removal of Costa Concordia wreck from the sea.
The aim is to find a company which will employ adequate salvage methods and manage to pull out the hull in one piece, without endangering the environment or the local population of the Giglio Island.
In order to be able to find the best solution a technical committee has been founded, membered by representatives of all relevant stakeholders including competent authorities, university professors, engineers, representatives from Costa Crociere, Carnival Corporation & plc, Fincantieri shipyard and RINA (the Italian shipping register).
Several proposals on the possible manners for the removal of the shipwreck are being tabled at the moment, since this undertaking represents an extremely complex, time consuming process which could take up 10 to 12 months for implementation. The company announced its expectation for the best project proposal to be selected until the middle of April, when the contractor along with other details will be made public.
[mappress] World Maritime News Staff, April 3, 2012