Costa Concordia, the cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Isola del Giglio on 13 January 2012 is to be re-floated, intact, before being towed to an Italian port for break up.





Half submerged, the US based salvage company 'Titan Salvage' working with Italian underwater ship repair specialists 'Microperi' will repair the damaged hull before re-floating the 114,000 tonne, 952 foot long ship using air bags. Once re-floated Costa Concordia will be towed to a port on the Italian mainland where she will be broken up as scrap. The operation, still to be approved by authorities and expected to start in June 2012, will take upwards of a year to complete.





Once moved, the seabed below the stricken cruise liner will be cleaned and measures taken to help damaged marine flora to regenerate.





The ships Captain, Francesco Schettino, along with eight other people are being investigated in connection with the disaster in which 32 people died.