Oct 10 (Reuters) - Dutch marine
salvage company Royal Boskalis Westminster won a 30 million dollar contract to
remove the wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia from the waters around the
Italian island of Giglio, the company said on Thursday.
Following the successful righting
of the gigantic floating hotel last month, Boskalis will load the 114,500-tonne
liner onto its vessel, the Dockwise Vanguard, the world's largest lift ship,
which will then take the liner away to be scrapped.
The Vanguard will take on water
into its ballast tanks, allowing it to sink beneath the water line. Then, the
Concordia will be manoeuvred to float above the lift ship, which will be
refloated, now with the Concordia aboard.
"The Concordia can be loaded
as a whole onto the Dockwise Vanguard and safely transported to a location
where she can be scrapped," the company said in a statement.
The company said its client,
cruise ship operator Costa Cruises, had not yet decided on where the scrapping
would take place, but said the removal operation would take place around
mid-2014.
"Alternatives under review
include scrapping the vessel in Italy," the company said.
Another Boskalis subsidiary, SMIT
Salvage, provided emergency response services immediately after the accident in
January 2012, which killed 32 of the 4,000 aboard. But Boskalis lost the main
salvage contract to a rival U.S.-Italian consortium. (Reporting By Thomas
Escritt; editing by Stephen Nisbet)
Source:
reuters. 10 October 2013
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