Refloating the Costa Concordia begins Monday

[BillyV]

I haven't seen any threads on this, but they will attempt to "parbuckle" (pull the ship upright) on Monday, weather permitting. This will be a historic salvage operation because of the sheer size of the vessel (you can now see it on Google Earth; just go to https://maps.google.com/, type in Isola del Giglio, Grosseto, Italy, and switch the view to Earth in the top right corner). There is also not a 100% chance of success; those in charge claim it's "90% plus", but others in the industry think the odds may be much lower. It's like handling a skyscraper but with the added complication of the water. I wish them well and hope for the best; it's a US company, Titan Salvage, that is leading the operation.

If all goes according to plan, the stricken 114,000-tonne cruise ship which crashed into rocks off Giglio island in January last year, causing the deaths of 32 people, will be pulled into a vertical position and left to rest on underwater platforms.
This so-called "parbuckling" is a crucial stage in the plan to remove the Concordia from protected Tuscan waters in one piece.
After months of modelling, calculation and planning, Sloane says there is a "90% plus" chance it will work. And if it doesn't? "I have a helicopter on standby," he says, deadpan.
He is joking, of course, but if there are problems with the rotation, nobody will be laughing – not Sloane, not the islanders, not the Italian authorities, and especially not the relatives of the two Concordia passengers, Russel Rebello and Maria Grazia Trecarichi, whose bodies are believed to be still inside the wreck. Their recovery, says Sloane, is one of the priorities of the parbuckling exercise.

Costa Concordia cruise ship salvage: 'we're ready now' | World news | The Guardian

More information on the process planned for the operation can be found here: The parbuckling project

 

[Mr. H.]

Cool. There was a lengthy program about this the other night. I think it's costing tens of millions for this job.

 

[BillyV]

Cool. There was a lengthy program about this the other night. I think it's costing tens of millions for this job.

It's hundreds of millions - estimates now are at €600 million (about $800 million) for the salvage operation. Add that to the $500 million or so that the ship itself was insured for, and it exceeds a billion dollars!

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd says dey gonna tip it back up...

... an' den it's gonna fall onna other side...

... an' den dey gonna call it Ol' Tipsy.