Tag Archives: Italian Civil Protection agency

Concordia salvagers pull ship upright

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Concordia salvagers pull ship upright

By Phil Davies

Concordia salvagers pull ship uprightImage credit: Rex/Olycom SPA

The hull of stricken Costa Concordia has been set upright in a salvage operation which took all of Monday and most of last night.

Franco Gabrielli, the head of Italy’s Civil Protection Authority, said the vessel was now sitting on a platform built on the sea bed.

Experts used cables and metal boxes filled with water to roll the ship onto a platform 20 months after it ran aground off the Italian island of Giglio killing 32 people. Two remain unaccounted for.

Concordia was declared completely upright shortly after 4am local time today.

Engineers originally planned to complete the operation by Monday evening, but were forced into a three-hour delay due to a storm.

The procedure was carried out gradually to avoid further damage to the hull, which spent months partially submerged in 50ft of water and fully exposed to the elements.

The 114-tonne vessel will be inspected, prepared for repairs and refloated before being towed away to be dismantled.

Costa Concordia set to be pulled upright

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Costa Concordia set to be pulled upright

By Phil Davies

Costa Concordia set to be pulled uprightA delicate operation to try to pull the shipwrecked Costa Concordia upright is going ahead today.

This morning’s work was delayed by two hours due to an overnight storm.

But the Italian Civil Protection agency said sea and weather conditions were right to start the salvage attempt off the island of Giglio.

Salvage teams are attaching giant metal chains and cables to the ship, which weighs more than 114,000 tonnes and is roughly the length of three football fields.

Head of the operation, Nick Sloane, told AFP news agency that it was now or never for the Costa Concordia, because the hull was gradually weakening and might not survive another winter.

Engineers will try to roll the ship up using cables and the weight of water contained in huge metal boxes welded to the ship’s sides – a process called parbuckling.

Costa Concordia capsized killing 32 people in January 2012 when the vessel hit rocks.

Five people have already been convicted of manslaughter over the disaster, and the ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, is currently on trial accused of manslaughter and abandoning ship.