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 Concorida Vertical

Concordia Upright Courtesy Parbuckling Project

19 Hour Project Completed

“The parbuckling operation has been successfully completed,” the Parbuckling Project’s official website said in an understated announcement at about 4 a.m. local time. “The wreck is now upright and resting safely on the specially built artificial sea bed, at a depth of approximately 30 meters.”

Shortly after 4 AM local time in Giglio, Italy,  there were shouts and claps for joy followed by the sound of a horn piercing the night's silence as the Costa Concordia reached full vertical.   Thanks to the marvels of modern technology, the ship was raised to this position and we were able to watch live on the internet.

There was joy amongst the workers of course, but there is also sorrow knowing that lives were lost on this very spot.  In fact, there are still 2 missing bodies that were never accounted for.   Prior to the parbuckling, there were hopes that those bodies would be found.  So far that has not been the case.

The entire parbuckling operation took 19 hours, longer than expected due to weather delays and stoppages dues to technical difficulties.   The final phase went quickly as gravity provided assistance.

COVERAGE FROM AROUND THE NET:

In this article, Yahoo has a collection of images that are emerging as daylight falls upon the now vertical Costa Concordia.   There are some amazing images, just as there were immediately following the tragedy 20 months ago.

They've Turned Over The Costa Concordia And The Pictures Are Nuts

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)

Our article from yesterday has links to the official Parbuckling Project site and other useful information.

Parbuckling of Costa Concordia Begins

Parbuckling of Costa Concordia Begins

Dark Line on Costa Concordia Shows Movement  Source: Chicago Tribune
Watch Live

This image extracted from a live video of Costa Concordia's Parbuckling Procedure, which began today in Giglio, shows the slow process of righting the vessel.  The actual process started around 9 AM this morning after a storm delayed the start.

Related Links:

Attempt to right Costa Concordia cruise ship begins (USA Today)
Graphic on How Costa Concordia will be Raised

The Parbuckling Project: Concordia wreck removal project informative website

The overall project is 77% completed and is being carried out by a crew of 474 workers and 28 vessels and crafts on site. For a video and additional details of the salvage operation, see Costa Concordia Salvage Begins.

Main article: Costa Concordia Listing after Deadly Accident 

Updates from Parbuckling Website:       Multimedia Content

Please Note:   During the actual operations (daytime hours local Giglio time) you may experience problems accessing the Parbuckling Project's website.  It is best to view off-hours.

16 Sep 2013  4.20 P.M. The wreck side has been successfully dislodged from the reef by applying a maximum load of 6,000 tons (in line with forecast), thanks to the force exerted by the strand jacks operating the system of winches and steel chains.  The wreck has now rotated 10 degrees and will need to rotate at least as many before it has completed the first 20 degrees with reference to the initial position which is the approximate point at which the intake valves of the 11 sponsons attached to the port side of the hull reach sea level.

In the meantime the whole parbuckling system is being monitored constantly, with continuous checks – for example – of the condition of the strand jacks and chains, etc.

7.00 P.M.:The Titan Micoperi consortium announced that strandjack operations were temporarily suspended for an hour for maintenance work. It was in fact necessary to intervene with a dedicated team to avoid slack cables from interfering with the tensioned cables. The ‘Fast Response’ team is comprised of 8 people ready to intervene for checking purposes or in the event of anomalies. As foreseen by the operating and site procedures, access onboard was via a specifically positioned ladder, and safety checks were carried out. The team who intervened are all qualified to work on the wreck, are equipped with climbing gear and protective devices as necessary. Parbuckling operations have now resumed.

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Parbuckling of Costa Concordia Approved

The Parbuckling Project: Concordia wreck removal project informative website

UPDATE 16 Sep 2013:

Parbuckling of Costa Concordia Begins 

Press release by Italian Civil Protection

According to the press release (6 Sep 2013), "The operation to right the ship Costa Concordia (known as “parbuckling”) has been given the go-ahead for this month: this was the outcome of a meeting convened in Rome today at the headquarters of the Civil Protection Department, by the Emergency Commissioner Franco Gabrielli, and attended by representatives from the Advisory Committee, the Observatory, the Micoperi-Titan Consortium and the cruise line Costa Crociere."   

Full Text of Press Release

Before the actual work takes place, authorities will need to review test certificates, inspect the structures, and complete preliminary activities.  No date for the actual parbuckling was given in the press release.

The overall project is 77% completed and is being carried out by a crew of 474 workers and 28 vessels and crafts on site. For a video and additional details of the salvage operation, see Costa Concordia Salvage 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