Gregorio Borgia / AP

The cruise ship Costa Concordia lays on its side off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio, Italy, Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012.

AP reports from The Hague, Netherlands: The ship's owner and insurer have yet to decide which salvage company will be awarded the multimillion-dollar contract to remove the massive cruise ship, but experts are already speculating how the daunting task will be tackled.

"The scale of this vessel is unprecedented," former Smit executive Hans van Rooij told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. "It's 290 meters (950 feet) long and 35 meters (115 feet) wide, so it's enormous."

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