SALVAGING THE
Photos courtesy of project partners Costa Crociere and Titan Micoperi
COSTA
WIRE ROPE PLAYS PIVOTAL ROLE IN HISTORIC WRECK-REMOVAL EFFORT
BY JENNIFER H. MCINERNEY
One of the anchor blocks that will hold a platform in place is being lowered to the seafl oor.
O
The salvage operation is expected to cost $400
million.The ship should be fl oated upright by summer 2013.
Before they can start on the job, workers must take a 4-day mountain climbing course.
16 MARCH-APRIL 2013 WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE
ff the coast of Tuscany, near the island of Giglio, salvage crews continue to work around the clock to safely remove the wreck of the Costa Concordia. T e cruise ship collided with a reef on unlucky Friday the 13th of January 2012, killing 32 aboard.
At twice the size of the Titanic, it’s the largest passenger-vessel shipwreck in history, and its removal poses some colossal challenges that are both signifi cant and unique.
For starters, the ship is essentially a 60,000-ton sitting duck, fi lled with another 180,000-tons of seawater, marooned on its side along underwater mountain peaks. Its 1,500 luxury cabins, 18 restaurants and bars, four swimming pools, fi ve Jacuzzis, and a casino are all askew: the fl oors where passengers once strolled to their next leisure activity have become the walls where workers hang and store their equipment. While the Concordia is offi cially a wreck, it has not come to a fi nal resting place on the bottom of the sea, but, instead, is languishing in a manmade state of limbo. To prevent further damage, the 15-story vessel has been secured by a series of massive wire-bundles (from 16 x strand-jacks), holding the wreck in place for the duration of the recovery eff ort.
T ese circumstances are exacerbated by the ship’s fragile state and its precarious position in a nationally protected marine sanctuary that serves as the habitat for some 700 botanical and animal species. “T roughout the operations, environmental protection will have top priority,” said Pier Luigi Foschi, Chairman & CEO of Costa Crociere S.p.A., the Concordia Owners, who are overseeing the project. “As was the case with the removal of the fuel, we have sought to identify the best solution to safeguard the island and its marine environment.”
To that end, Costa Crociere and its parent company—Carnival Corporation & plc, London Off shore Consultants, and the Standard P&I Club—selected Titan Salvage and Micoperi, internationally renowned experts in the fi eld, to orchestrate this historic undertaking. American-owned Titan Salvage, part of the Crowley Group, is a leading marine salvage and wreck-removal company. Italian marine contractor Micoperi has an extensive history as a specialist in underwater construction and engineering.
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