Oil to be pumped off grounded cruise ship
Source: Agencies |
January 26, 2012, Thursday
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A barge carrying a crane and other equipment hitched itself to the toppled Costa Concordia, signaling the start of preliminary operations to remove a half-million gallons (1.9 million liters) of fuel from the grounded cruise ship before it leaks into the pristine Tuscan sea.
Actual pumping of the oil isn't expected to begin until Saturday, but teams from the Dutch shipwreck salvage firm Smit were working on the bow of the Concordia on Tuesday and divers were to make underwater inspections to identify the locations of the fuel tanks.
They were at work on the now-hitched Meloria barge as divers who blasted through a submerged section of the third-floor deck located another body from the wreckage, bringing the death toll to 16.
The Concordia ran aground and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio on January 13 after the captain veered from his approved course and gashed the ship's hull on a reef, forcing the panicked evacuation of 4,200 passengers and crew.
The 16 bodies found so far include the one located on the third-floor deck Tuesday. Seven of the badly decomposed bodies remain unidentified and are presumed to be among the 17 passengers and crew still unaccounted for. On Tuesday, the US ambassador to Italy, David Thorne, was at Giglio's port where he had lunch with relatives of two missing Americans, Gerald and Barbara Heil of Minnesota.
"It's a tragedy. We feel very badly for all the families," Thorne said after the meeting.
Giglio and its waters are part of a protected seven-island marine park known for its clear waters and porpoises, dolphins and whales.
"At this stage we don't see a big risk in an oil spill, but if weather deteriorates nobody can tell what the vessel will do," said Bart Huizing, head of operations at Smit.
The disaster prompted the UN cultural organization to ask the Italian government to restrict access of large cruise ships to Venice, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. UNESCO charged that the liners cause water tides that erode building foundations, pollute the waterways and are an eyesore.
Italy's environment minister, Corrado Clini, appeared to take up the cause Tuesday. "The aim is to free St. Mark's basin from the big ships once new canals have been dug," Clini was quoted as saying by the Italian news agency ANSA.
Actual pumping of the oil isn't expected to begin until Saturday, but teams from the Dutch shipwreck salvage firm Smit were working on the bow of the Concordia on Tuesday and divers were to make underwater inspections to identify the locations of the fuel tanks.
They were at work on the now-hitched Meloria barge as divers who blasted through a submerged section of the third-floor deck located another body from the wreckage, bringing the death toll to 16.
The Concordia ran aground and capsized off the Tuscan island of Giglio on January 13 after the captain veered from his approved course and gashed the ship's hull on a reef, forcing the panicked evacuation of 4,200 passengers and crew.
The 16 bodies found so far include the one located on the third-floor deck Tuesday. Seven of the badly decomposed bodies remain unidentified and are presumed to be among the 17 passengers and crew still unaccounted for. On Tuesday, the US ambassador to Italy, David Thorne, was at Giglio's port where he had lunch with relatives of two missing Americans, Gerald and Barbara Heil of Minnesota.
"It's a tragedy. We feel very badly for all the families," Thorne said after the meeting.
Giglio and its waters are part of a protected seven-island marine park known for its clear waters and porpoises, dolphins and whales.
"At this stage we don't see a big risk in an oil spill, but if weather deteriorates nobody can tell what the vessel will do," said Bart Huizing, head of operations at Smit.
The disaster prompted the UN cultural organization to ask the Italian government to restrict access of large cruise ships to Venice, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. UNESCO charged that the liners cause water tides that erode building foundations, pollute the waterways and are an eyesore.
Italy's environment minister, Corrado Clini, appeared to take up the cause Tuesday. "The aim is to free St. Mark's basin from the big ships once new canals have been dug," Clini was quoted as saying by the Italian news agency ANSA.
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