Costa Concordia arrives in Genoa to be dismantled.
The global rescue effort is expected to cost Carnival Corp (owner of the ship's operator), Costa Cruises, and insurers more than 1,5 billion euros.
GENOA (Reuters) - The Costa Concordia cruise ship arrived this Sunday in the Italian city of Genoa, where it will be dismantled for scrap, two and a half years after it sank near the Tuscan island of Giglio, killing 32 people.
Prime Minister Matteo Renzi is expected to travel to Genoa later on Sunday to welcome the completion of the operation, which has restored some pride to Italy after the disaster was widely interpreted as a national humiliation.
In contrast to the calamitous night of January 13, 2012, when the Concordia came too close to the coast during a performance, the rescue operation was considered a technical success.
"This is not a celebration. We must think of the victims, but it must be said that keeping the Concordia in Italy is a great occasion for our country," Environment Minister Gian Luca Galletti told reporters. "We have excellent technology and we are capable of achieving great things," he added.
The global rescue effort is expected to cost Carnival Corp. --owner of the ship's operator, Costa Cruises-- and insurers more than 1,5 billion euros ($2,14 billion).