Salvage crews will begin Wednesday pumping thousands of tons of oil from the cruise ship Costa Concordia, which lies half-submerged on its side in Giglio Porto, Italy.
The 951-foot long cruise ship ran aground off the Island of Giglio, on the west coast of Italy on Jan. 13 with over 4,000 people aboard.
“We can now start the defueling process,” said Franco Gabrielli, head of Italy’s Civil Protection Department (CPD), at a press conference, according to national broadcaster Rai News 24. The CPD is responsible for providing Italy with emergency relief services in the event of natural disasters.
“The removal of fuel from the tanks of the Costa Concordia will not in any way hinder the ongoing search” for missing bodies, Gabrielli assured the public.
The actual emptying of the fuel, believed to date to be incompatible with the work of the divers because of safety reasons, will begin Wednesday, said Bart Huizing, salvage master at SMIT Salvage, the Dutch company in charge of defueling operations, reported Italian news agency ANSA.
The 2,000 tons of heavy crude and 200 tons of diesel in the ship’s hull poses the risk of environmental disaster if it spills into what is considered the most beautiful islands in the Tuscan Archipelago National Park, which is also Europe’s largest marine reserve.
“We are trying to prevent the fuel from leaking,” said Italy’s Environment Minister Corrado Clini, reported ANSA.
The Tuscan Regional Environmental Protection Agency has been testing the water around the ship since the accident. Samples show small amounts of detergents and disinfectants, but “toxicity tests were negative,” the agency reported.
The presence of bad weather over the past few days proved to be very worrisome for the emergency rescue teams. However, Gabrielli assured that “the ship is in stable condition and does not require any outside intervention to stabilize it. There is no danger of the ship sinking to lower depths,” reported Rai News 24.
Rescue teams have reaffirmed their commitment to recovering the missing bodies from the wreck, which has risen to 16 with the discovery Monday of two women on deck four.
“The search will continue until it’s possible to inspect the entire ship,” Gabrielli said.
