It has taken two and a half years and one of the biggest maritime salvage operations in history, but the Costa Concordia finally docked in Genoa on Sunday.

Towed into the Italian port where she began life nine years ago the hulk of the luxury liner will now be broken up for scrap.

32 people died after the Concordia hit a reef off Italy’s Island of Giglio in 2012.

There to witness the ship’s final voyage, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi praised the salvage operation, but said the disaster remained a tragedy.

“This extraordinary engineering success of so many people cannot erase the memory of what’s happened or bring back the ship. It seemed all hope was lost, especially considering the potential damage to the environment,” Renzi said.

The cost of the disaster, including the salvage operation could finally reach 1.5 billion euros.

The ships captain Francesco Schettino still faces multiple manslaughter changes and a possible 20-years in jail.