Able UK bosses say work to could go to Italy due to 'political pressure' for the job to be carried out in the stricken cruise liner’s home country
The wreck of the Costa Concordia could be dismantled in Italy instead of Teesside due to political pressure, Able UK bosses have claimed.
They say the Billingham-based company is one of two frontrunners for the work to scrap the vessel, which sank almost two years ago near an Italian island, killing 32 people.
Its rival - an Italian company - could win the contract due to political pressure for the work to be carried out in the stricken cruise liner’s home country.
The team leading the salvage operation has confirmed it will begin removing the ship from near the Italian island of Giglio in June, ready for demolition later this year.
View gallery The Costa Concordia
View gallery
But according to Italian media reports this week, Giglio’s mayor Sergio Ortelli has called for a delay amid concerns the timing of its removal clashes with the onset of the tourism season.
Executive chairman and founder of Able UK Peter Stephenson said: “There’s a lot of political pressure for [the dismantling] to be done in Italy.
“We need to know soon. It’s between us and an Italian company, so fingers crossed.
“They’re looking at floating it towards the end of this year before the winter weather starts.”
Able UK, which employs up to 200 at its Teesside sites and supports hundreds more supply chain jobs, applied for the work alongside companies from across Europe when the wreckage to be scrapped was put out to tender by London Offshore Consultants in January.
The decommissioning process would be carried out at Able’s Teesside Environmental Reclamation and Recycling facility (TERRC) at Able Seaton port.
The yard has been used previously by the French authorities to recycle the former French aircraft carrier Le Clemenceau, and the US Government for the US MARAD fleet, which finished in 2010 and employed more than 100 staff.
The facility, which has one of the world’s largest dry docks, has full planning permissions and environmental accreditations to undertake the activity.
The Costa Concordia had more than 4,000 passengers and crew on board when it capsized in January 2012 after hitting a rock.
The vessel was winched upright last September so damage could be assessed.
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