Some 3,000 survivors of Italy's cruise ship disaster will receive a basic 11,000 euros each plus expenses, negotiators announced Friday two weeks after the accident which is feared to have killed up to 32 people. Navy divers blew new holes in the side of the beached vessel to search previously unexplored parts of the ship for missing people, though officials said there was now no chance of finding survivors.
The known death toll is 16, with another 16 people still missing. While relatives of those lost waited for news of their loved ones, Dutch company Smit Salvage prepared to pump 2,380 tonnes of fuel out of the vessel. Smit and Italian company Neri attached valves to six of the Costa Concordia's 23 fuel tanks in a first phase to syphon off around 50 percent of the ship's oil, amid fears that a spill would be environmentally disastrous. Salvage workers will carry out a so-called "hot-tapping" operation, which involves pumping the fuel out and replacing it with water so as not to affect the ship's balance and stop it from slipping into the open sea.
Despite earlier reports that the operation could be brought forward, the head of Italy's civil protection agency, Franco Gabrielli, said Friday that it may be delayed until Sunday. The whole process is expected to take weeks. Tuscany's environmental agency (ARPAT) said white strands seen floating in the sea were no cause for environmental alarm and were likely to be fibres from the ship's sofas. Tests would be performed to confirm the hypothesis, it said. Passengers of the stricken cruise liner learnt they will get at least 11,000 euros each from its Costa Crociere operator under a deal struck after the January 13 disaster.
"This deal concerns some 3,000 passengers from 60 countries, including some 900 Italians," Adoc, one of several consumer advocacy groups that negotiated the agreement, said. The group said it thought around 85 percent of them would agree to the deal, and that even children who were travelling for free would get 11,000 euros ($14,400) each.
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