Months before Costa Concordia is removed

Officials have said it could take upto 10 month before the capsized liner is removed.

Operations to remove 1.8 million litres of fuel and the search for those still missing had to be called off after officials reported the ship had moved 4cm in just six hours.

The most recent body to be discovered was that of the 17th victim, she has now been identified as Peruvian crew member Erika Soria Molina. According to the ship’s manifest sixteen crew and passengers reamin missing. There is now very little hope of finding anyone else alive.

"Our first goal was to find people alive," Franco Gabrielli, the national civil protection official in charge of the operation, told a daily briefing. "Now we have a single, big goal, and that is that this does not translate into an environmental disaster."

University of Florence professor Riccardo Fanti said the ship's movements could either be caused by the ship settling on its own weight, slipping deeper into the seabed, or both. He also could not rule out the ship's sliding along the seabed.

Franco Gabrielli also commented that it would take 28 days to remove fuel from all 15 tanks onboard Concordia accounting for 80% of all fuel onboard. The next task for the salvage operation would to then be concentrating their efforts on the main engine room which also contains a high quantity of diesel fule and other lubricants.

Only once all fuel is removed can the process of removing the ship be started. This will entail either re-floating her or dismantling her and towing sections away as a wreck. Costa Crociere have started taking bids for the recovery operation. The process is expected to take roughly 9 weeks.

Gabrielli said the removal will take from seven to 10 months. This meaning that the wreck will be visible from the coast of the island of Giglio for the entire summer tourism season.

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