Italy's wrecked ship removal works suspended

The works to remove the wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise liner from Italy's Giglio Island were suspended on Wednesday as a decision has not been made on where the vessel will be taken to be demolished, local reports said. An overseeing committee established to stop the works because "it was still unknown how the Costa Concordia will be transported away from Giglio nor where it will be taken to be towed away and destroyed," according to Florence-based La Nazione newspaper. A representative of the salvage company in charge of clearing the wreckage, Italian-U.S. consortium Titan Micoperi, said later in the day he was optimistic that the works will restart soon. "The committee asked for further information from the environmental point of view, considering that the documentation on one of the two options for removing the wreckage was scarce," Sergio Girotto was quoted as saying by local media. Italian officials had previously said the Costa Concordia, which has been lying on its side since Jan. 13, 2012 when it capsized with 4,252 passengers on board leaving 32 dead, would be removed from Giglio in June. The wrecked cruise liner, which weighs around 114,500 tons and is 290-meter long, was lift upright in September 2013 after an unprecedented salvage operation. A Spanish diver died in February while he was working at the wreck, while another worker was found dead at the site last year due to natural causes. The Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino is on trial on charges of having brought the cruise liner very close to shore, which triggered a crash against rocks that tore a long hole in its side. If found guilty of charges including manslaughter, negligence, incompetence, abandoning the ship and failing to be the last person to leave the wreck, Schettino could face up to 20 years in prison.