ITALY: Day-trippers flock to see Costa Concordia wreck.

Record ID: 863389

  • Title: ITALY: Day-trippers flock to see Costa Concordia wreck.
  • Date: 28th August 2012
  • Summary: VARIOUS TOURISTS ON TOP DECK OF FERRY IN HARBOUR TOURISTS WALKING QUICKLY TOWARDS FERRY TOURISTS WALKING ONBOARD FERRY
  • Embargoed: 12th September 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • City:
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Disasters,Economy,Travel / Tourism
  • Reuters ID: LVACPZVQA0TBC6NXFLOV2EK6THP1
  • Aspect Ratio:
  • Story Text: Day-trippers are flocking to Giglio island for some macabre sight-seeing, to view the wreck of the Costa Concordia cruiser where 32 people lost their lives.
    Tourists on the Tuscan coast on Tuesday (August 28) were taking part in a rather macabre form of sightseeing, taking boat trips to view the wreckage of the cruise liner Costa Concordia where 32 people lost their lives.
    Day trips across to the island of Giglio from the port of Santo Stefano have always been a popular tourist attraction but now there is an added element to woo holiday makers. For the price of a 10 euro a ticket, boat trips pass close by the 114,500-tonne vessel still lying on its side as it has since it hit the rocks on January 13.
    British tourist Peter Davey said he decided to take the day trip whilst on holiday with his wife and two children in Tuscany. Asked whether he would be taking photographs he said:
    "No, no, no I don't think so, I think where people die is not really something to glorify."
    Two bodies have never been recovered since the tragic accident and salvage work is still underway to remove the wreck.
    Captain Francesco Schettino is the man largely held responsible for the tragedy. He is currently keeping a low profile in southern Italy and faces charges of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship before all 4,200 passengers and crew were off.
    Italian tourist Suzana Bina traditionally takes her holiday down by the coast on the mainland at Porto Santo Stefano. She had her own reasons for making the day trip.
    "Today we have decided to take a trip to Giglio for the day to take my nephew to see one of the biggest tragedies of modern times, above all because it made a huge impression on him not just the tragedy but also how people behaved about it" Bini said.
    Some families have specifically chosen to holiday on Giglio island and swim off the rocks next to the wreck.
    "I'm on holiday and I have come to see the ship" said Fabrizio, a pizza-maker who has chosen to have his 10-day holiday in the area in order to see the wreck.
    "It is something that doesn't happen every day, it is very particular to see a ship on its side like that, you don't see that every day, that's why I am here," he said.
    Salvage work to remove Concordia's wreckage is now not expected to be completed until spring 2013.
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