Concordia Wreck Set Upright
- September 17th, 2013
- Posted by EU Australia
The hulk of the great cruise liner Costa Concordia, wrecked off the Italian island of Giglio in January last year, has been set upright, in a feat of engineering.
It does not mean the heavily damaged ship, of 114.500 tonnes, can be salvaged; but it may now, eventually, be towed away for scrapping in a nearby port, and fears of an environmental disaster, should it break up where it is, have been allayed. Additional to the sheer bulk of the wreck; while oil from its tanks has been removed, several potentially dangerous substances remain on board.
Heavy cables and jacks were deployed to rectify the crazy tilt of the wrecked ship, and let it slip onto a submarine platforms, sitting on the ocean floor.
They got it done at 4 am on Tuesday morning, local time.
Estimates of the cost of that task have run up to €200-million (A$286-million; xe.com, 17.9.13), and much remains to be done, preparing for the move back to the coast, sometime, it is projected, before June next year.
- See the ship righted, AZC News, video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPQ5gq7UUQk
- Engineers on site, explaining the operation, AFP video: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/17/us-italy-ship-idUSBRE98F02T20130917
The Costa Concordia foundered on the night of Friday 13.1.12, while attempting a spectacular in-shore sail-past, too close to the island of Giglio off the Western Italian coast.
It struck rocks, then made a hard landfall, crashing onto a reef where it settled, half capsized.
In a confused and disorganised evacuation of the vessel, of over 4200 people on board, 32 lost their lives.
The captain of the ship is on trial for manslaughter; other officials have received gaol sentences for related offences.
See also, EUAustralia Online, Sinking of Superliner Concordia, 16.1.12.
Reference
AFP, Paris, Teams battle to remove Costa Concordia shipwreck from ocean, 22.10.12. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydKlChe6jjo&feature=youtu.be, (17.9.13).
AZC News, Denver, Costa Concordia Salvage Operation Completed, 17.9.13. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xPQ5gq7UUQk, (17.9.13).
James Mackenzie, Wrecked cruise ship Costa Concordia raised off rocks in Italy, Reuters, London, 17.9.13. http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/17/us-italy-ship-idUSBRE98F02T20130917, (17.9.13).