Costa Concordia departure delayed 24 hours

 GIGLIO ISLAND-Officials were due to make a decision late Monday evening as to whether or not the wreck of the Costa Concordia will be towed away on Tuesday.

 An action plan to refloat the ship that was wrecked in January 2012 after a rock collision that killed 32 people, has not yet been completed. A final decision on the departure time of the Concordia from the island of Giglio has now been made and it will leave on Wednesday.

 Civil protection chief Franco Gabrielli confirms this: "There is no longer any justification for not leaving tomorrow, except a metiorite. The weather is improving and we will have a good window until Sunday."

 The ship is now 12 metres higher than it was when resting on the artificial platform, which was implemented last year in an attempt to set it upright, and the whole of its deck four and the writing Costa Concordia are now above the water. However, the ship must still be lifted a few more metres and a metal box filled with air to float the ship still needs to be attached.

 The 114,500-tonne ship will be towed on an expected four day journey, by a convoy of 14 boats to Genoa, where it will be torn apart for scraps. Gian Luca Galletti, the environmetnal minister explains the process and expresses his desire to protect the environment in the best way possible: "The transfer process is complex and involves various dangers, however, for each hazard there is a solution. The ship, which contains substances such as copper, heavy hydrocarbons, anionic surfactants, will be disposed of safely as the protection of the sea is very dear to us."

 It will all be disposed of safely Ex Concordia captain Francesco Schettino is on trial in Grosseto, Tuscany on charges on homicide, causing the shipwreck by navigating the ship too close to the shore and for abandoning the ship before it was evacuated. Crew members and a Costa Cruise official have also been sentenced to up to 34 months in prison.

 Costa cruises have agreed to a pay a one million euro fine as an to avoid criminal prosecution however victims of those on board are seeking compensation in court.