Italy Port to Dismantle Crippled Costa Concordia

The Italian government has sided with cruise ship owner Costa Crociere and selected its home base of Genoa as the port where the crippled Costa Concordia ship will be dismantled for scrap.

The Tuscan port of Piombino had hoped to win the contract, given the jobs that would be created. But Costa, the consortium handling the project and several ministries said Genoa’s port was better suited. Premier Matteo Renzi said Monday the government agreed.

The Concordia slammed into a reef off the island of Giglio in January 2012 and capsized, killing 32 people.

Last September, engineers wrenched it back upright and have been attaching huge tanks to its sides to float it off the reef so it can be towed away, a project expected to begin in the coming weeks.