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Salvors begin daunting operation to lift stricken vessel
The salvage operation for the Costa Concordia began today off the Tuscan Coast with salvors attempting to lift the stricken vessel back on to her keel.
Removing the ill-fated cruise ship from the seabed is being regarded as one of the most daunting salvage operations ever undertaken due to both its size and close proximity to the shore.
The operation to right the ship began at 09:00 am local time, according to the BBC, and is expected to take around 12 hours to complete.
Last year, the investigation into the cause of the Concordia disaster, which saw 32 passengers lose their lives, found that the ship had ran aground after its captain, Francesco Schettino, steered the vessel too close to the Italian island of Giglio to ‘salute’ island residents. The bodies of one crew member and a passenger have never been found, yet salvors hope that today’s operation may finally result in their recovery.
Today’s operation began with the positioning of a barge containing a remote control room, where engineers will work to manoeuvre the vessel using specialised pulleys and counterweights.
Talking to reporters at the scene, engineer Sergio Girotto said that despite a storm delaying the operation by a few hours, everything is going ahead as planned with the vessel expected to be sitting on a purpose-built underwater platform, where it can be fully inspected, sometime this evening.
The salvage of the Costa Concordia has cost as much as £500 million so far, and this figure is still rising.
Video courtesy of the Telegraph
