Costa Concordia Environmental Impact: What Will The Disaster Mean For The Mediterranean?

As Italian rescue crews dealt with a major cruise ship wreck Tuesday, the tragedy of missing persons and rising casualties from the Costa Concordia were not their only concerns.

The ship, which is foundering within Italy's largest protected marine area, also contains several thousand gallons of heavy fuel oil and diesel.

Officials in the area say that a potential fuel spill from the ship "would be a disaster," reports BBC News.

The waters and Tuscan Archipelago near the wrecked ship contain rare and important plants and animals, including the critically endangered Mediterranean monk seal.

So far, no fuel has spilled from the wreck and officials are racing to keep it that way. According to The Guardian, booms have been staged around the wreck and a Dutch salvage firm has been hired to extract the ship's fuel.

The salvage team may begin inspecting the ship on Wednesday and, according to The Washington Post, complete the fuel extraction within two to four weeks.

The Washington Post reports the salvage company's manager of operations, Kees van Essen, said "The vessel is stable and we feel confident that removal can be done in a fairly rapid way." He added that a salvage operation won't "increase the chance of leaks."

Despite the integrity of the ship's fuel tanks thus far, environmental groups are still concerned. CNN reports Greenpeace expert Alessandro Gianni said, "If all this fuel is lost it is going to be a serious disaster."

In the past, Greenpeace has warned against Mediterranean ship congestion and, according to CNN, "a lack of management of the sanctuary" where the ship lies.

Others share a broader concern over cruise ships. Alessandra Motola Molfino, president of Italy's national conservation group, told Reuters, "These monstrous floating cities pollute the scenery with their very presence and the rivers, seas and cities where they stop with the refuse that they produce."

She added, "The disaster of the Costa Concordia unfortunately proves the insubstantiality of the type of tourism that exploits and tramples on Italy's beauty and cultural heritage and does not produce any growth or wellbeing."

WATCH an Al Jazeera video about Costa Concordia environmental fears (scroll down for photos):

Comments

[actual2]

12:49 PM on 01/18/2012

Why Captain Francesco Schettino said, "I tripped". That kind of stuff was not think careful though.

[forgetdc]

12:34 PM on 01/18/2012

Italy should be the poster child for why Socialism is dangerous. Socialist systems de-masculenize men like it did this ship captain. The wimp jumped ship leaving women and children to fend for themselves. This is not the first time you have seen this happen. Places like Italy and Greece have ruined their culture. No one wants to work hard or take a risk and no one wants to be responsible for anything. Before this ends, this captain will be some kind of victim in the whole story and be subject to no accountability.

[keep it solid]

12:57 PM on 01/18/2012

"No one wants to work hard or take a risk and no one wants to be responsibl­e for anything"
You can keep your r@cist g1bber!sh to your self :)

[forgetdc]

04:04 PM on 01/18/2012

So I am racist for pointing out how socialism has destroyed a culture. Thats a stretch. Why don't you splain to me how great socialism is and what a great success it has been to the cities of the US which are now crime, drug and poverty ridden places.

[ohohyeah]

10:09 PM on 01/17/2012

Shit.

[mbkeefer]

09:22 PM on 01/17/2012

2 to 4 weeks, why so long? Cannot they use existing piping to pump in water at a low point and pump out oil from a vent on the high side. Granted, will probably have to take the guts out of the float valve. But, for a high priority 24/7 operation would expect it to get done in 2 to 4 days not 2 to 4 weeks.
The weather can turn and send the ship sliding into deeper water in 2 to 4 weeks. Or worse, break it up releasing the oil.