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Final voyage of Concordia wreck completed

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Concordia wreck entering Genoa's drydock 4 for final dismantling
What is left of the Concordia wreck was towed yesterday from its dismantling site in the port of Genoa less than two miles to a drydock where the final operations will be conducted by the Ship Recycling Consortium, headed by Saipem and including subsidiaries from San Giorgio del Porto.

The towing operations started around 9:15 in the morning from Molo ex Superbacino dock on September 1, and involved a fleet of five tugs that transferred the 60,000gt wreck to the nearby Drydock 4, accompanied by a small fleet of anti-pollution boats and Coast Guard patrol vessels.

Due to speed restrictions, the transfer was planned to last more than six hours, with a final speed calculated of one meter per minute in pushing the wreck inside the dock.

'Thanks to detailed and lengthy planning the operations went smoother than expected and the tugs completed the job at 11:20 a.m.,' said John Gatti, the head of Genoa’s port pilots, who directed the towing operations from on board the wreck, together with master salvage commander Antonio Lo Curzio, under the supervision of Adm. Giovanni Pettorino, head of Liguria’s maritime region.

'When entering the drydock we had only around a 40-centimetre gap on each side of the wreck and beneath it, in addition to limited visibility due to the wreck size and the vessels involved in the towing operations,' said Gatti, adding that alignment manoeuvres were supported by laser measuring devices.
 
Notwithstanding these difficulties and limitations, thanks to the team of Genoa’s port pilots and mooring personnel on board and ashore, Genoa port's Rimorchiatori Riuniti tugs, plus staff at the drydock and ship recycling consortium, the wreck entered into the floated dock at the first attempt and the pushing operation was quicker than expected, he added.

Once the wreck was inside, the drydock was sealed and water pumped out and the operation was completed at 6 p.m.

The Concordia wreck was originally transferred from Prà Voltri port to Genoa’s Molo ex Superbacino May 11, 2015, after furnishings and fittings of the decks above the water were removed to reduce the draft.

For the past 14 months all decks from 14 to 2 have been dismantled, including stripping of the furnishings. The work was conducted to ensure it did not adversely affect the stability or longitudinal strength of the hull, according to the Ship Recycling Consortium.

Making the lowest deck watertight restored autonomous buoyancy to the hull, and the removal of the last two of 30 sponsons was completed on August 24 enabling the wreck to be transferred.

Planning and approval of this work was conducted by RINA Services and the Italian Coast Guard gave the green light for the final transfer date on August 30.

The final phase of Concordia’s wreck dismantling is expected to last about six months.