Stricken Costa Concordia cruise liner freed from rocks in Italy

The previously capsized cruise liner Costa Concordia is seen at the end of the "parbuckling" operation outside Giglio harbour this morning. Credit: Reuters

The operation to shift the stricken Costa Concordia ship from the rocks off the Italian island of Giglio has been completed.

The head of Italy's civil protection authority confirmed it took 19 hours to raise the capsized cruise liner onto its side.

The Costa Concordia was wrecked in January 2012 after colliding with a rock off the coast of Isola del Giglio, Tuscany, in the Tyrrhenian Sea.

ITV News Europe Correspondent Emma Murphy reports:

Watch dramatic timelapse footage taken at the scene of the successful salvage operation to move the stricken cruise liner onto its side.