Costa Concordia Two Years Later

Latest Image from Parbuckling Project Site

  Tomorrow marks the two year anniversary of the Costa Concordia disaster in which 32 people lost their lives, many more were injured, family and friends were devastated, the world watched and the cruise industry was impacted forever.  The image above is a live feed from the salvage site.  It shows the Costa Concordia, now righted, awaiting the next phase of the salvage operations.  Tanks must be put in place so that they can be filled with air to raise the ship off the sea bed.  The ship has been winterized and nothing will be done until April.

Costa Concordia wreck 2nd anniversary marked by survivors

Watch the vigil live at 3:45 p.m. ET

Salvage Operations

View these amazing images of Costa Concordia today.
 
The parbuckling phase of the salvage operations has been successful, with the Concordia now upright.   The next phase will be to re-float the ship so that it can be removed.  This is expected to be completed in June this year barring any unforeseen weather or other delays.

Eight ports are bidding for to be the site of the dismantling of the ship.  In addition 12 companies are bidding for the job of breaking up, scrapping and recycling the vessel.  Total cost of the operations is expected to be €600m (£496m).

Costa Concordia Removal Plans

Costa Concordia Salvage Begins

Parbuckling of Costa Concordia Approved 

Parbuckling of Costa Concordia Begins 

Main article: Costa Concordia Listing after Deadly Accident 

Costa Concordia Salvage Begins

See photos of the salvage plan

Titan Salvage of Pompano Beach and its Italian partner Micoperi were awarded the Costa Concordia salvage operations back in April.  Plans called for the salvage teams to upright and remove the  114,500-ton ship which ran aground January 13, 2012, off the coast of Giglio, Italy, taking the lives of 30 people, two of which remain missing to this day, more than five months later.

Main article: Costa Concordia Listing after Deadly Accident

As salvage begins, let's take another look at what happened that fateful night in January:
Graphic: The final moments of the Costa Concordia

The Parbuckling Project: Concordia wreck removal project informative website Re-floating Concordia    Courtesy: Parbuckling Project UPDATE: 13 July 2014: Refloating to commence:  Costa Concordia the Final Journey UPDATE 03 July 2014: Costa Crociere: installation of all sponsons completed, ten days to possible refloating Genoa, Italy has been selected to receive the vessel for salvage “Following installation of the last sponson, we can start the countdown to refloating and final departure of the wreck from Giglio Island,” said Costa Crociere CEO Michael Thamm. “Now all our energies are focused on the successful conclusion of this unprecedented engineering challenge to respect a precise commitment: remove the Concordia wreck as soon as possible, in compliance with the highest environmental and safety standards.” Watch footage from Italian police divers in the sunken ship just before it is scheduled to be towed:  Inside Costa Concordia Now & Before

Update: July 9, 2013 - Project 68% Completed

The engineers of the Titan-Micoperi consortium confirm that the "parbuckling” of the Concordia can be completed by the end of summer 2013, at the beginning of September.

Update: Sept. 6, 2013 - Parbuckling of Costa Concordia Approved

The Parbuckling Project: Concordia wreck removal project informative website UPDATE 16 Sep 2013: Parbuckling of Costa Concordia Begins  Watch Live Costa Concordia Parbuckling project has begun. Watch Live: http://mashable.com/2013/09/16/costa-concordia-salvage-video/ Latest Image from Parbuckling Project Site    10 PM Central 16 Sep - Concordia is Upright Graphic on How Costa Concordia will be Raised    Civil Protection Gallery 16 Sep Parbuckling Project Multimedia Parbuckling phase - update on the beginning of operations 17 Sep 2013 The morning after In this BBC article, there is a time-lapse video of the parbuckling.  There are also several pictures from the morning after.   The night image didn't show the extent of the damage to the side of the vessel but that is made clear in daylight.  There is also graphics showing how the process was completed. Costa Concordia: Stricken ship set upright in Italy (BBC) 14 Dec 2013 - Costa Concordia Stable / Winterizing in Progress According to the press release issued by the salvage companies, The Concordia is stable: after the minor movements registered in the 15 days following the parbuckling the wreck has settled on the platform and seabed. Since then, the monitoring systems active 24/7 have not indicated any significant movement. The winterization operations are almost completed and the last details will be finished next week.  The next phase: Installation of caissons on starboard side then other 15 refloating sponsons will be attached to the starboard side of the wreck. These caissons will be used during the subsequent re-floating stage. It is anticipated that this next phase will begin in April, 2014.   The caissons and sponsons are being built in Genoa and Livorno shipyards.

Update: 60 Minutes takes you inside the salvage operations



Update:  Salvage to continue through Spring 2013 
Costa Concordia Wreck Removal Engineering Plan Presented to the Osservatorio (14 Aug 2012)

Raising the Costa Concordia: Italian sunseekers look on as salvage team start

The following schedule, provided by the salvage companies to the SunSentinel in Florida, calls for the work to be completed approximately one year from the award of the contract.


Schedule of Salvage Operations

• Site inspections of the Concordia through July 31
• securing and stabilizing of the ship by Aug. 31
• installation of caissons (watertight chambers) on left side of ship and construction of submarine platforms done by Nov. 15 
• rotation of the wreck to start with installation of boxes on the ship's right side on Dec. 1
• ship to be up-righted by Jan. 15 and 
• delivered to an Italian port by Jan. 31
• cleaning and replanting of marine flora to be completed at site by April 30

 Source: SunSentinel - Costa Concordia salvage work begins

Costa Concordia Removal Plans

Removal Contract Awarded 
 Refloat & Tow Concordia

Costa Concordia Salvage Begins

Costa Crociere and the Costa Concordia Emergency Commissioner's Office announced that the tender for the removal of the ship from Giglio Island has been awarded to Titan Salvage in partnership with the Italian firm Micoperi. The work will begin in early May subject to final approval from the Italian authorities and is expected to take about 12 months.

Titan Salvage is an American-owned specialist marine salvage and wreck removal company, part of the Crowley Group, and is a world leader in its field. Micoperi is a well-known Italian marine contractor with a long history as a specialist in underwater construction and engineering.

Main Objectives:

• Minimal risk
• Minimal environmental impact, 
• Protection of Giglio's economy and tourism industry
• Maximum safety of the work

"We are very pleased to announce another important step toward salvaging the wreck from Giglio Island," said Costa Crociere S.p.A. Chairman & CEO Pier Luigi Foschi. "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. We would like also to thank Smit Salvage and Tito Neri for succeeding in defueling and caretaking operations."

Salvage Crew Based in Civitavecchia 

The plan also includes measures to safeguard the island of Giglio's tourism and wider economy. Salvage workers' presence will not have any significant impact on the availability of hotel accommodation on the island during the summer season. The main operating base will be located on the mainland at nearby Civitavecchia, where equipment and materials will be stored, thereby avoiding any impact on Giglio's port activities.

Once floated, the wreck will be towed to an Italian port and dealt with in accordance with the requirements of the Italian authorities.

Costa Crociere, Carnival Corporation & plc, London Offshore Consultants, and the Standard P&I Club formulated the plans by reviewing  bids from six companies. The Titan Salvage/Micoperi proposal best fulfilled the main objectives stated above. Once the main work is complete, the sea bottom will be cleaned and marine flora replanted.

Overall updates of the Costa Concordia disaster are being made on the following blog post:   

Costa Concordia Listing after Deadly Accident