The largest salvage operations in history – Last Chapter

It’s been 2 years, 5 months and 27 days since the Costa Concordia sadly sank after striking a rock off the Island of Giglio in Italy and this is the most recent view

A few months ago Costa announced the wreck would be refloated on the 14th July off the Island of Giglio and is scheduled to be towed away on the 21st July 2014 to Genoa where she will be dismantelled and cut for scrap. The journey it’s about 200 nautical miles to Genoa and the trip is expected to take five long days, it’s a very slow journey and I hope the weather helps the operation.

How did they do it:

It’s been a hard operation and a master of engineering to re-float the ship. 400 specialist workers from around the world, including personnel from the UK and USA, are involved in the operation.

The operation started in September 2013. The salvage team had to ensure she ship was securely anchored in its current position and to do that they rapped 3 o 4 enormous cables underneath the ship, keeping the ship in place. She was lodge on two massive rocky spikes, the space in between the rocks was filled with concrete to create a platform then 6 steel platforms were built. Tugboats attached to the ship by cables have moved it 30 metres distance away from the shore..

Air was pumped into 30 large metal boxes, attached around the hull of the 114,500 tonne ship. The air forced out the water in the boxes, lifting the vessel off the underwater platform by about 36Ft

The entire operation to remove the Concordia from the reef and float it to Genova, where it will be scrapped, will cost a total of £1.1billion, Costa Crociere SpA CEO Michael Tamm told reporters.

Italian Environment Minister Gianluca Galletti said: ‘We are undertaking an operation that will close a dramatic chapter for our country.’

The area where the ship had rested is one of Europe’s largest marine sanctuaries — a haven for dolphins and whales — and environmentalists had warned about the dangers of toxic waste or fuel leaking into the sea as the ship is raised and towed. The operation has so far proven to have been successful