You raise me up

Well they're finally getting their act together and getting the Concordia off the reef and intot the breakers yard. Part of me wonders at the expense of it and if they shouldn't just use the money saved by leaving it there to become an artificial reef and clean up the environment and surrounding area.

 Link: HERE

The Costa Concordia will finally be righted next week in the largest and most expensive maritime salvage operation in history. The cost of lifting the giant cruise liner, which sank off the coast of Tuscany in January 2012, off the sea bed, has ballooned to £500million - a figure that could rise if there are problems, organisers admitted.

The greatest fear for environmentalists is that the ship will break up under the massive force needed to haul it upright. The Italian Department for the Environment have also highlighted the danger of pollution as thousands of tonnes of water inside the ship pours out.

The ship’s fuel has been removed over months by divers and construction workers toiling 24 hours a day, but chemicals and toxins from rotting food and drink remain.
Arpat, the Regional Environmental Agency of Tuscany, said it ‘will provide a sampling of the water in the affected area both during the rotation and in the days to follow, in order to identify the extent, the extension and duration of pollution.’