Raising the Costa Concordia
Engineers successfully attempted one of the most expensive wreck removal operations in history: raising an Italian cruise ship that capsized in 2012.
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Readers, this event has ended, but we thank you for your overwhelming engagement and comments throughout the Parbuckling Project. Here is a link to the official website where you can learn more: www.theparbucklingproject.com. Don't forget to follow @Reuters on Twitter for more live events and news. -
READER COMMENT: Great stuff, very good job by the "parbucklers", great coverage by Reuters. That sort of things should be covered like this one more often. It shows the complexity of certain jobs which otherwise would be unknown or trivialized by common media. Kudos to Reuters. -
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Reuters photographer Tony Gentile writes about his work to produce the time lapse video of the Costa Concordia:After receiving the assignment to cover the Costa Concordia “parbuckling”, I had the idea to create a timelapse. Definitely not an original idea because in Giglio, there were more cameras shooting timelapses than there are island residents. A timelapse is a cinematographic technique used to shorten the action.It allows us to see very slow actions or natural events that we cannot see naturally using the technique of shooting pictures at regular intervals. Then we edit to create a video of about 24 or 25 frames per second. In this way you can see the action accelerate.
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Reuters' James Mackenzie reports from Giglio: Salvage crews completed raising the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise liner on Tuesday, officials said after a 19-hour long operation on the Italian island of Giglio ended in the early hours of the morning.
One of the most complex and expensive maritime salvage operations ever attempted saw the 114,500-ton ship pulled upright by a series of huge jacks and cables and set on an artificial platform drilled into the rocky sea bed. "The ship has been settled on to its platforms," Franco Gabrielli, the head of Italy's Civil Protection Authority said. -
Readers, you can leave a comment for the crew here on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com
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The capsized cruise liner Costa Concordia is seen at the end of the "parbuckling" operation outside Giglio harbour September 17, 2013. Salvage crews completed raising the wreck of the Costa Concordia in the early hours of Tuesday morning after a 19-hour-long operation on the Italian island of Giglio where the huge cruise liner capsized in January last year. REUTERS/Tony Gentile
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Readers, please give a warm welcome to Reuters editors Aditya Kalra and David Lalmalsawma in our New Dehli bureau. Aditya and David are making sure we can continue to bring live video to you. Hopefully, you will be able to enjoy watching the first rays of light over the horizon at sunrise.
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READER COMMENT: Could you please compile a thank you board of our comments for the engineers and all those involved?? It would be a great memento for them. A reader just asked if there will be a search for the missing people and the answer is yes!
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READER COMMENT: Thank you for the EXCELLENT coverage, I have thoroughly enjoyed watching this process go on over several hours, coupled with the relaxing sounds of the seashore. What a strikingly genuine way to present a moving event.
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READER COMMENT: There's been little mention of the fact that Costa is essentially just a brand of Carnival, which has allowed their name to be out of the spotlight to a great extent. Is that an editorial decision? It seems to give Carnival a bit of a free ride, no?
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Readers, I have good news. We are, in fact, able to keep the live feed up through sunrise, permitting the video continues. We may be unable to answer many of your questions, but you would be able to continue watching the live blog.
Might we suggest taking the conversation to Twitter and Facebook, using the hashtag #CostaConcordia, and sharing this live blog link with your friends through the sunset? -
A reader has just wrote in thanking Reuters for the live coverage, as they are the primary care giver for their parents who suffer from Alzheimer's disease. We are sincerely grateful you were able to join us -- and to all of our readers -- we thank you for your comments, wisdom, and humor.
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The #parbuckling operation has been completed. The wreck is now upright and resting safely on the specially built artificial sea bed. Il #parbuckling è terminato con successo. Il relitto ha raggiunto la posizione verticale, appoggiandosi in sicurezza sul fondale artificialeby Parbuckling Project via twitter edited by Margarita Noriega (Reuters) 9/17/2013 2:50:51 AM -
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The sounds of crew cheering over echoes of ocean waves on Giglio. A long project, almost a year of planning, has passed through the most dangerous stages. The crew of Parbuckling Project will continue to the next phases of the journey: stabilizing the cruise ship for further monitoring and investigation.
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READER COMMENT: Thanks so much Reuters for wonderful job today! I was riveted to the computer watching it, and fascinated with all the expertise, skill, and dedication! Again, Reuters you have done a marvelous service for us viewers!
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la nave ha rotado de 35 grados, todo sigue según planes. Proxima cita a las 4by Parbuckling Project via twitter 9/17/2013 2:17:24 AM
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READER COMMENT: If you look at the aspect of the ship, you will see that the deck with wings will be just above water-level. They are actually submerging many of the passenger decks (including the life-boat) deck) to get the ship on to the false "sea-floor". The bottom of the port-side caissons is about the same level as the keel, so the ship will rest and be prevented from rolling further by these caissons
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Readers are asking: what's next? The ship still has a few more phases to go through. The next phase is called "starboard sponsons": Installation of caissons on starboard side. The 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.
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Fun facts from the International Salvage Union, which released its annual statistics just last week: The industry is worth more than $500 million each year and in a typical year performs between 150 and 200 salvage services and conducts betwen 25 and 45 wreck removals. Says ISU President Andreas Tsavliris: “It is noticeable that income from wreck removal activity has increased while the number of wreck removals conducted has stayed relatively consistent – that may well be due to a relatively small number of particularly costly wreck removal operations." www.marine-salvage.com -
From January 2012, a Reuters story on factors in the decision to salvage, cut or sink the Costa Concordia: www.reuters.com
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Having trouble with embeds, but here's a throwback video: The Italian Coast Guard filmed these underwater images of sheets of metal folded like ribbons where the Costa Concordia struck the reef near the island of Giglio. The video was uploaded on January 23. youtu.be
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READER QUESTION: I'm joining this late, so forgive me if I ask a question that is already answered. How far into the water are the sponsons at this point? Am I correct in that if left to it's own devices, the ship would immediately upright itself? I take it they are moving so slow to protect the integrity of the ship? Thanks, Ray
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Here are some facts about the Parbuckling Project team -- feel free to download the above factsheet for more interesting information:
– about 120 divers
– about 70 welders/carpenters/fitters
– about 60 technicians/grouters/pilots and ROV technicians
– about 60 coordinators/salvage officers/security-safety and health officers
– about 50 engineers
– about 140 crew members
– about 10 biologists from Università La Sapienza - Roma, Università di Genova,
Oceanomare-Delphis
– 26 nationalities
From the current position, the wreck will be rotated of 65° to acquire a vertical position. During the parbuckling the whole system will provide a force of about 23,800 tons to let the wreck rotate. -
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Latest update from the Parbuckling Project:: The ship has rotated approximately 25° with respect to the starting position. This means that the operation has gone beyond the point at which the vessel no longer needs to be pulled by the strand jacks and can now rotate under its own momentum and under the weight of the ballast water contained in the sponsons.
The actual parbuckling itself – the uprighting of the ship – is expected to take a whole day,
with the operation likely to last between 10 and 12 hours; this is because the wreck will have
to be rotated very slowly and vigilantly, with constant monitoring of the process. The strand
jacks will be used to pull the steel cables attached at one end to the nine central caissons and
at the other to the underwater platforms on which the wreck will come to rest once it is
vertical. This is a very delicate phase, during which the forces involved have to be offset
carefully to rotate the wreck without deforming the hull. Upon conclusion of this phase, the
wreck will be resting on the false bottom at a depth of about 30 meters. -
Here is the latest update from James Mackenzie, Reuters reporter covering the project:
11 towers with hydraulic mechanisms are in control of 205-kg (450 lb) cables under the Costa Concordia. They are attached to its side to slowly rotate the ship. The goal is to place it on six specially built platforms drilled into the granite rock bed.
As the sunken side of the vessel inched out of the water of the course of the day, exposing the soiled underbelly of a ship the length of three soccer fields, a team of engineers who have been working on the project for most of the past year eased the pressure from the cables and prepared for a second phase.
The second phase will occur when huge tanks fixed to the ship's exposed side begin filling with water, using the effect of gravity to pull the ship vertical. Oil booms surround the vessel to intercept waste water and oil trapped in the ship, but no significant environmental damage was observed in the first hours of the operation.
Once the Concordia is upright, salvage teams will spend a months stabilizing it and preparing for it to be re-floated with the aid of additional giant buoyancy tanks before it is towed away for scrap. -
The capsized cruise liner Costa Concordia lies on its side during the "parbuckling" operation next to Giglio Island. September 16, 2013. Salvage crews shifted the wrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship slowly off a rock shelf on Monday in a painstaking process that looked set to continue into the early hours of the morning. REUTERS/Tony Gentile
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Costa Concordia has rotated more than 25º with 40º remaining until ship fully uprighted. Final 40º rotation should take 4 more hours.by CruiseGuy via twitter edited by Margarita Noriega (Reuters) 9/16/2013 10:42:25 PM -
READER COMMENT: Reuters has given us an amazing window to view this entire operation. Very seamless, stable, accurate. By doing this, you have allowed us to be part of such a momentous situation - and to be as close as possible to the action. With great appreciation, I thank you.
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