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Latest News...Queen Anne, the 249th ship to sail under the Cunard flag, set sail just after 9 pm local time as thousands of spectators gathered on the shores to watch the departure from vantage points across the city and along Southampton water. Guests on board the 3,000-guest, 113,000-ton ship are set to enjoy a spectacular sail away party, with celebrations continuing throughout...
Latest News...Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024 and provided guidance for the second quarter and full year 2024. First Quarter 2024 Highlights: Generated total revenue of $2.2 billion, a 20% increase compared to the same period in 2023 on 8% capacity growth, with GAAP net income of $17.4 million, or EPS of $0.04...
Latest News...The countdown is on for the next big thing coming to vacations, the ultimate short getaway: Royal Caribbean International’s Utopia of the Seas is almost ready for its debut. Starting today, the next in the lineup of game-changing Oasis Class ships is making its way to the open ocean for the first time to begin five days of testing....
Costa Concordia to be scrapped in Italy
UPDATED: An Italian port has beaten off foreign competition to scrap the hulk of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that sank off the Tuscan coast in 2012, leaving 32 dead.
"I can confirm that... the dismantling of the ship will take place in an Italian port," Transport Minister Maurizio Lupi said on Friday.
Several ports had been bidding to win the contract to dismantle the wrecked ship, including ports in Britain, France, Norway and Turkey.
Italy's Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper reported that the ship would be scrapped in Genoa, though Lupi said the final decision was still to be taken on which of several possible Italian ports would get the bid.
According to Il Sole 24 Ore, the ship's owners have chosen a consortium consisting of oil service company Saipem and Genoa-based companies Mariotti and San Giorgio.
It added that Costa Cruises, Europe's biggest cruise operator, had decided to begin the delicate operation to re-float the vessel on July 20th.
The stricken ship would then be towed 280 kilometres (170 miles) to Genoa.
The ship was hoisted upright from its watery grave in September in the biggest-ever salvage operation of its kind, during which the remains of one of two missing victims were discovered.
Costa has already spent €1.1 billion on the salvage operation and scrapping the wreck in Genoa is likely to cost in the region of €100 million, according to Italian media reports.
The trial of the ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, for manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the vessel before all its passengers had been evacuated, started in July last year.
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