Shipwrecked Costa Concordia Refloated Off Italian Coast
The cruise ship Costa Concordia, which wrecked in 2012 killing 32 people, is floating again off the coast of Italy's Giglio Island. Thanks to a salvage operation that's cost more than 1 billion euro so far, the ship is now floating three feet above the undersea platform it had been resting on for the past year.
The ship will be towed 150 miles to Genoa in the next few days, depending on port restrictions. The whole operation is delicate — CNN reports that the bottom of the ship is rotting, and "there's a real risk ... it could give way."
In addition to towing the ship, Italian officials said crews will search for 33-year-old Russel Rebello's remains. He is the only victim of the wreck whose body hasn't yet been found.
The ship's captain, who allegedly caused the wreck by trying to showboat for a friend onshore, is currently being tried in Tuscany. He's been charged with manslaughter, causing the shipwreck, and abandoning the ship before all were evacuated. In a rare public interview over the weekend, captain Francesco Schettino blamed the wreck on a helmsman who didn't "follow orders."