More than two and a half years since it crashed near Isola del Giglio, Italy, the wreck of the Costa Concordia was successfully refloated this week, and has begun its final journey—a four-day trip to a scrap yard in Genoa. The cruise ship capsized after striking a reef on January 13, 2012, killing 32 passengers and crew members. The complex salvage operation was the largest and most expensive in history. Gathered here are images, including several interior shots, of the ship's time near Isola del Giglio—from the initial disaster to today's towing away of the Costa Concordia.
Final Voyage of the Costa Concordia
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The wreck of the Costa Concordia cruise ship in front of the harbor of Isola del Giglio, Italy, after it was refloated using air tanks attached to its sides, on July 22, 2014. The Costa Concordia is now being towed away from the spot where it crashed on the night of January 13, 2012 in a disaster that killed 32 people. The ship's final journey for scrapping in the port of Genoa in northwest Italy is set to take four days. #
Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images -
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A still image from video taken January 14, 2012, the night of the crash, shows passengers lined up on the side of the Costa Concordia, as they move down the side of the vessel during an evacuation. #
Reuters/Guardia Costiera -
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Members of the US salvage company Titan and Italian firm Micoperi work at the wreck of Italy's Costa Concordia cruise ship, on September 15, 2013. Salvage workers were preparing to right the ship in the largest and most expensive maritime salvage operation in history, so-called "parbuckling", to rotate the ship by a series of cables and hydraulic machines. #
Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images -
The upright -- but still partially submerged -- Costa Concordia, near the harbor of Giglio Porto, on September 17, 2013. The ship's horn sounded for the first time since the January 13, 2012 tragedy, its sound mixing with applause and cheers in the port in a dramatic climax to the massive salvage operation. #
Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images -
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An area inside the Costa Concordia cruise liner, in a handout picture taken on February 27, 2014 by the Italian Carabinieri and released to the media by the Court of Grosseto following the close of the official inquiry. #
Reuters/Carabinieri Police -
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An area inside the Costa Concordia cruise liner, in a handout picture taken on February 27, 2014 by the Italian Carabinieri and released to the media by the Court of Grosseto following the close of the official inquiry. #
Reuters/Carabinieri Police -
An area inside the Costa Concordia cruise liner, in a handout picture taken on February 27, 2014 by the Italian Carabinieri and released to the media by the Court of Grosseto following the close of the official inquiry. #
Reuters/Carabinieri Police -
An area inside the Costa Concordia cruise liner, in a handout picture taken on February 27, 2014 by the Italian Carabinieri and released to the media by the Court of Grosseto following the close of the official inquiry. #
Reuters/Carabinieri Police -
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An area inside the Costa Concordia cruise liner, in a handout picture taken on February 27, 2014 by the Italian Carabinieri and released to the media by the Court of Grosseto following the close of the official inquiry. #
Reuters/Carabinieri Police -
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In this framegrab made from an underwater video provided by the Costa Concordia wreck removal project information website "The Parbuckling Project", a diver secures one of the 56 chains which fasten huge tanks on the ship's flanks to float it on July 17, 2014. #
AP Photo/Courtesy of "The Parbuckiling Project" -
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The inscription Costa Concordia is visible from the submerged port side of the wrecked cruise ship as it sits in the water during the last stage of refloating operation on July 21, 2014. #
Laura Lezza/Getty Images -
A worker sprays water on a deck of the Costa Concordia as the vessel is refloated and almost ready to be towed away from the tiny Tuscan island of Isola del Giglio, on July 22, 2014. #
AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia -
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