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Costa Concordia to be refloated
Some two and a half years after she sank, the wreckage of the Costa Concordia cruise ship is being raised in one of the biggest maritime salvage operations in history.
Workers today began slowly lifting the ship by pumping air into tanks attached to the hull to refloat the vessel.
The operation is expected to take six or seven days, after which she will be towed to her home port, Genoa, where the ship will be scrapped.
The Concordia capsized in January 2012 after hitting a reef off the Italian island of Giglio, killing 32 people. Her captain, Francesco Schettino is on trial for manslaughter and abandoning the ship. He denies the charges.
The ship was hauled upright last September, but remained partially submerged, resting on six steel platforms. The first phase of the floatation, which involves detaching the ship from the platforms, will be the most dangerous, the head of the salvage operation Franco Gabrielli told the BBC.
He added that a search for the remains of Indian waiter Russel Rebello, whose body was not recovered from the wreck, would be carried out after the vessel was moved.
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Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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