Costa Concordia to be refloated and towed away...

[ASIWISH]

GENOA, Italy -- The shipwrecked Italian cruise liner the Costa Concordia will be refloated and towed away in one piece by a US-owned salvage firm, the ship's owners announced Saturday.

Costa Crociere said Florida-based Titan Salvage will work with Italian marine contractors Micoperi to remove the wreck from waters off the island of Giglio, where it crashed Jan.13, killing 32 people.

Italian authorities must first approve the work, which is expected to begin in early May and take around a year to complete, Genoa-based Costa Crociere said in a statement.

Pier Luigi Foschi, the chief executive of the British-American owned Italian cruise line said, "We are very pleased to announce another important step towards salvaging the wreck from Giglio island."

He thanked Dutch company Smit and Italian firm Tito Neri for successfully pumping fuel from the ship in a six-week operation, completed March 24, Italian newspaper Liguria Notizie reported.

Foschi added, "As was the case with the removal of the fuel, we have sought to identify the best solution to safeguard the island and its marine environment and to protect its tourism."

Once the wreck is floated, it will be towed to an Italian port, where authorities will decide on its fate, Costa said. The sea bottom will then be cleaned and marine flora restored.

The operational base will be located outside the island on the nearby port of Civitavecchia, to lessen the impact on Giglio's port activities and tourism, Costa added.

The Costa Concordia had 4,229 people on board -- including 3,200 passengers from 60 countries -- when it capsized.

The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, and three Costa Crociere executives are among nine people being investigated over the disaster.

[sail7seas]

That is HAPPY, HAPPY news for the salvage company.

They make serious money if they can tow it to a boatyard...... not nearly so much if it had to be cut up and scrapped.

 

[sail7seas]

It is a big relief to me to read the fuel was all successfully pumped before it could spoil that beautiful Italian coastline.

 

[IRL_Joanie]

Great to hear Kevin. Thank you for posting this here as I never go to the Costa boards anymore.

 

Great to hear that Titan will be able to make some money on it after all their hard work so far.

 

God Bless to everyone involved and may they stay safe in the continuing salvage process!!

 

May the people of Italy, most especially "The Lily" be happy with the results:)

 

Joanie

[cmdchiefthom]

That will be quite an interesting, as well lengthy project. I do hope, for the islander's sakes, Titan can get this done without additional enviornmental impact.;)

[ASIWISH]

Wasn't there a CC Member who's brother was working on the salvage..?

 

I'd love an update from him!

[jtl513]

Wasn't there a CC Member who's brother was working on the salvage..?

 

I'd love an update from him!

Brother-in-Law:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=31966532&highlight=titan+salvage#post31966532

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=31971435&highlight=titan#post31971435

 

I'm still looking to see if I can find anything more recent ...

[sail7seas]

His posts were so interesting when the incident first occurred.

He stopped posting early after but it would be great to hear from him again.

Must be some really fascinating stories to tell.... along with some really sad ones.

 

[jtl513]

RunsWithFlyingDolphins last posted on Feb 4 and was last active on Feb 8. No further info on the salvage.

 

The Titan Salvage website says nothing about Concordia that I can see:

http://www.titansalvage.com/

[kazu]

Thanks for posting this Kevin - it's good to hear - and they will be working on fixing the environment too:) The sooner they get it out of there the better:)

 

it's been a real tragedy for people, the environment and all because of one man's foolish decision (my opinion of course).

 

I'm sure the people there will be relieved when it is moved (hopefully it can be done!)

[DFD1]

Interesting news. Thanks for posting it. There are two webcams that include views of the ship in its present position. They operate 24/7, for those interested in watching the work over the coming months.

 

I will try to post the link. http://www.giglionews.it, then click on the webcam prompt. Remember they are 7 or 8 hours ahead of US eastern time.

[CruiserBruce]

Interesting news. Thanks for posting it. There are two webcams that include views of the ship in its present position. They operate 24/7, for those interested in watching the work over the coming months.

 

I will try to post the link. www.giglionews.it, then click on the webcam prompt. Remember they are 7 or 8 hours ahead of US eastern time.

 

Should be 6 hours ahead of Eastern Time.

[PathfinderEss]

Great news. So much better for the environment to refloat the ship then to cut her up.

[sail7seas]

Interesting news. Thanks for posting it. There are two webcams that include views of the ship in its present position. They operate 24/7, for those interested in watching the work over the coming months.

 

I will try to post the link. www.giglionews.it, then click on the webcam prompt. Remember they are 7 or 8 hours ahead of US eastern time.

 

 

Thanks for the link.

I'm going to bookmark it.

 

There are a number of webcam choices..... which is the one to click?

 

[LordSpain]

For anyone interested here is one that does a 24 hour time lapse for any given day. Click on the play icon and you'll see the sun rise with Concordia in its place.

 

http://www.kielmonitor.de/kino.php?cam=concordia

 

Bruce

[Cindy]

I think the process of removing the ship is going to be fascinating. I'm sure it will be well documented...I will be interested in watching as the Concordia is refloated.

[KirkNC]

This also probably means she will sail again after repairs.

[serendipity1499]

Wasn't there a CC Member who's brother was working on the salvage..?

 

I'd love an update from him!

 

I keep thinking about the ones who were still missing..Did they ever find them? If not perhaps they will recover them when they float the ship..

[Krazy Kruizers]

I read about the Conrdia this morning.

Sure hope that they don't run into any problems.

[DFD1]

The prompt marked "Panorama" gives you a wide look, including Concordia.

 

The prompt marked "Puerto" give you a closer look across the port. There is a ferry which arrives and leaves here two or three times a day. It is including in this view.

[sail7seas]

This also probably means she will sail again after repairs.

 

 

I can tell you two people who will never sail that ship no matter where it is sailing and under whatever flag/company. I suspect we are not the only ones. :eek:

 

[sail7seas]

The prompt marked "Panorama" gives you a wide look, including Concordia.

 

The prompt marked "Puerto" give you a closer look across the port. There is a ferry which arrives and leaves here two or three times a day. It is including in this view.

 

 

Thank you. :)

[Cindy]

I can tell you two people who will never sail that ship no matter where it is sailing and under whatever flag/company. I suspect we are not the only ones. :eek:

 

 

+2! :eek:

[3rdGenCunarder]

I can tell you two people who will never sail that ship no matter where it is sailing and under whatever flag/company. I suspect we are not the only ones. :eek:

 

 

+2!

 

 

 

And add two more.

 

It will be a huge task to get her into shape for sailing again. In addition to furnishings, carpet, and so forth, there's probably damage to wiring, fire sprinkers, plumbing, all sorts of things. What happens to engines, generators, elevator motors, etc when they've been under water and on their sides for several months?

 

Costa says they'll evaluate the situation after they get her floated off the rocks. I'm still thinking that "Toyotas and razor blades" could still be in her future.

[Cindy]

And add two more.

 

It will be a huge task to get her into shape for sailing again. In addition to furnishings, carpet, and so forth, there's probably damage to wiring, fire sprinkers, plumbing, all sorts of things. What happens to engines, generators, elevator motors, etc when they've been under water and on their sides for several months?

 

Costa says they'll evaluate the situation after they get her floated off the rocks. I'm still thinking that "Toyotas and razor blades" could still be in her future.

 

If they salvage the ship, the only thing that could be reused at this point is the hull and parts like the propellors, anchors, chains, etc. I think the ship would have to be completely stripped of everthing mechanical and electrical. I'm really not sure there would be any significant financial benefit to trying to reuse the hull vs. just starting from scratch on a new build.