Dutch, US and Danish marine salvage experts are among the firms lined up to break up or salvage the wrecked ocean liner Costa Concordia, news agency Reuters reports.

A salvage expert appointed by one of the ship’s insurers said companies likely to bid include Smit Salvage, an arm of Dutch group Boskalis-Westminster, Titan Salvage, owned by Crowley Maritime Corp of the US and Denmark’s Svitzer, owned by Maersk.
‘The ship is definitely re-floatable, but it’s a question of cost-benefit about whether that is worth it,’ he told the news agency.
Track record
Smit has already been asked to pump the 2,300 tonnes of fuel from the ship. ‘Our involvement is limited to fuel extraction and does not pertain to the eventual removal of the vessel, but our track record shows we are also capable of doing that,’ said spokesman Martijn Schuttevaer.
Smit led the salvage of the Herald of Free Enterprise ferry which sank 25 years ago just outside the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, killing 193 passengers and crew.
Smit was also involved in lifting Russian nuclear submarine Kursk from the Barents Sea in 2001.