Reuters
The rusty hulk of the Costa Concordia began its journey to the scrapyard on Wednesday, after a two-year salvage operation off the Italian island of Giglio where the cruise liner capsized two years ago, killing 32 people.
Boats sounded horns and church bells rang as a tug boat slowly pulled the wreck of the liner, which was around two-and-a half times the size of the Titanic, away from the holiday island, accompanied by a convoy of 14 vessels.
Salvage workers gathered in bars at the port, drinking beer and smoking huge cigars, to celebrate after completing one of the largest maritime salvage operations in history.
"It gives us great satisfaction, but obviously a measured satisfaction, a sober satisfaction, a satisfaction that cannot overshadow why we are here," Franco Gabrielli, the head of Italy's Civil Protection Authority, told reporters after the ship began its final voyage.
The 114,500-tonne wreck is due to arrive at a port near Genoa in northern Italy on either Saturday or Sunday, before being broken up for scrap. The once-gleaming white luxury liner sank off Giglio in January 2012 after sailing too close to shore.
Despite intermittent bad weather over the past week, the salvage crews have slowly lifted the Concordia from underwater platforms by pumping air into 30 large metal boxes, or sponsons, attached to the hull.
Franco Porcellachia, the engineer in charge of the operation, said on Tuesday that his team had done everything in their power to make sure the massive ship was structurally sound for the four-day journey.
