Malen also remembers a complex start, “T e
protection of the environment was obviously Titan’s biggest responsibility, and the driving force in this project. A board was set up right away that included ourselves, Micoperi, the insurance company and adjusters, and the Italian authorities. T is board worked very closely together to make the right decisions.” Once the teams and terms were in place, Sloane started gathering the resources needed to take care of business. “We brought Titan dive stations, ROVs, pumping equipment, generators, hydraulic power-packs, welding stations, fabrication teams, and more,” he recalls. Even still, a global search went out to fi nd drilling contractors, vessel suppliers, and other major players. “T is project required bespoke solutions, which no one company could provide on its own. Fortunately, most of the fabrication/shipyard requirements and engineering works were provided from within Italy.”
THE COMPANIES GOT THE JOB BECAUSE THEY OFFERED THE GREATEST GUARANTEE THAT THEY COULD KEEP THE WRECK IN ONE PIECE.
Malen was impressed from the get-go with Sloane, “We had the best in the industry working together, and Nick made them harmonize.” But with a project of this scope and size, harmony has its limitations. “In the winter of 2012, when we’d just started the off shore large-diameter drilling (LDD), we encountered unusual adverse weather conditions,” says Sloane. “And this, along with the diffi cult task of drilling into ‘granite surface-breaking-rock,’ covered
with overburden and angles of up to thirty-fi ve and forty degrees, caused a lot of stress and delays.” T e team had to re-think many of their drilling solutions—as most of the engineering and salvage world watched and re-stated that the job simply couldn’t be done. “T e actual plan—to parbuckle the ship, and then use large sponsons to supply the required buoyancy to refl oat and deliver it to port at a maximum draft of 18.5m—did not change, but the detail of how we achieved the target, and the engineering solutions and modifi cations dreamt up along the way, was what made the eventual success so rewarding.” In addition to stabilizing the ship, as previously mentioned, wire rope was used on the project as moorings for the work barges, heavy lift crane/barge/ship moorings, drilling tower crane wires, strandjack machines, and the ballast control system—which utilized hundreds of kilometers of electrical wires and electronic control cables. Over 172 strandjacks were used, with, on average, 28 x 18mm wires x 50m in length (approximately 155 kilometers of wire). T e project was broken up into six phases, and Sloane can spout off some additionally impressive facts and fi gures. “Roughly 24,000 tons of cement was pumped into pre-layer grout bags (pre-formed) by the dive team—to support the belly of the ship between the two reefs. T e sponson buoyancy tanks were seven and eleven stories high—2,500 and 3,500 cubic meters of buoyancy each. And over 30,000 tons of steel was used on this project.” T e endeavor was divided up into seven teams—each communicating with each other through appointed salvage masters and team leaders, who then reported to Sloane. “We had shoreside, commercial, engineering, Giglio (inshore), sub-sea, Costa Concordia, and off shore LDD crane/heavy-lift teams.” And it all culminated with incredible success. With the giant ship now in port, being broken down
for scrap, some two and a half years after the start of its salvage, the success of the Costa Concordia project gives both Sloane and Malen a chance to appreciate not just the many milestones along the way, but the bigger picture. T e fi rst achievement was to install the six platforms into the large diameter holes, and they all fi t perfectly,” refl ects Sloane. “And the port-side sponsons also fi t perfectly, with only 42mm tolerance between them.” He admits that the parbuckling itself was probably the one achievement that no one knew for certain would be one hundred percent successful. “It was a huge relief, followed by a big barbeque!” “I think that Titan was well known in the world of
wreck removal before this,” Malen adds, “but we love the work. We got in and we did it right, and our presence in Italy will never be forgotten.” y
For more information, visit:
www.TheParBucklingProject.com. WIRE ROPE EXCHANGE SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2014 27
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