from Trade Winds
Greenpeace is sending a ship to the site of the Costa Concordia wreck in a protest at plans to move it to Genoa for scrapping.
The international protest group says the five-day voyage to the Italian port is a “potential environmental disaster”.
Greenpeace Italy claims the voyage to Genoa is fraught with danger because of the risk that toxic fluids still in the wreck could leak into the marine environment.
“We cannot permit another environmental disaster,” Luca Lacoboni, of Greenpeace Italy told UK newspaper The Daily Mail.
“To drag the wreck to Genoa would mean five days at open sea. The environmental risks are enormous in terms of leaking of poisonous fluids from the ship and in terms of the structure breaking down.
“There are nearer ports that can be reached easily and with less risks.”
Genoa beat off many other contenders including ports in Turkey and the UK to win the lucrative contract, which will provide hundreds of jobs over two years.
A spokesman for Costa Cruises said that technical and engineering assessments have confirmed that the wreck removal plan was safe, even in severe weather conditions.
“The wreck will be towed at low speed – average of 2 knots – and will be escorted by other vessels, with equipment and specialised personnel,” he told the Mail.
