The unprecedented shipwreck
removal is expected to start this
week and last until next year.
THE salvage of Costa Concordia will be the
largest-ever ship removal by weight – and
then the superliner will be demolished.
Originally revealed by the two companies in
charge of the operation (CW, 26 Apr), the project
is set to commence off the Tuscan coast in the
next few days and cost approximately $300m.
According to American-owned Titan Salvage,
and Micoperi, an Italian underwater construction
contractor, the half-submerged vessel will be
lifted off the rocks and onto a platform and
then towed to another port in Italy.
Costa Crociere, the company which operated
the Concordia, confirmed the details at a news
conference in Rome on Friday.
Costa president Gianni Onorato said the
priorities were the protection of the environment
as well as the local tourist industry.
In a statement, Costa revealed that the first
step would be to slowly stablise the ship using
chains attached to posts constructed nearby.
This part of the process could take up to
three months.
Massive cranes will then hoist the ship, in
one piece, to a custom-built subsea platform
before turning it upright, with extra buoyancy
provided by water-filled steel boxes welded to
the side of the ship.
When the boxes are emptied of water and
filled with air, the ship will rise and free itself
of the seabed.
Once properly afloat, it can then be towed
to the unnamed port to be broken up.
The companies aim to have the ship upright
by January or February and to start towing in
early 2013.
“This will be the largest refloat in history but
we think it’s entirely possible,” Richard Habib,
president of Titan Salvage, told reporters.
