Costa Concordia Salvage Operation

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The Costa Concordia salvage operation is a significant engineering feat involving the parbuckling process to right the ship, scheduled for September 2013. Webcams have been set up to monitor the operation, with varying levels of accessibility and quality. The ship will ultimately be scrapped after being refloated and towed to a drydock, as scrapping in place could harm the surrounding marine sanctuary. Concerns have been raised about the economic and ecological implications of the salvage effort, especially given the hazardous materials still onboard. The operation is not only a technical challenge but also a critical environmental consideration due to the potential release of toxic substances from the ship.
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An operation, that in my opinion, is a once in a lifetime event. A few links that might be of interest to anyone not aware of the methods of seeing such a monumental task as it progresses.

http://www.giglionews.it/2010022440919/webcam/isola-del-giglio/webcam-giglio-porto-panoramica.html

http://www.theparbucklingproject.com/page.php?page=progetto

http://gcaptain.com/costa-concordia-salvage-crews-install-largest-subsea-platform/

I'm sure there are many more and maybe more informative, these have been satisfactory to my level of interest .
The web cam is time lapsed and less enjoyable, but has provided some interesting viewing.

The rotation (parbuckling) should take place in the first part of September 2013, I'm hoping there will be some more cams in operation with different view angles, but have not found anything that might suggest that possibility.

Anyone having more information, feel free to post it.

Thanks
 
Engineering news on Phys.org
Parbuckling date is getting closer. It should be interesting to see what happens. Hopefully the ship stays in one piece and is righted successfully.

Here's a link to various Concordia salvage cams. http://costaconcordiawebcams.com/
 
Parbuckling operations have commenced. The water line is clearly moving above the water.

Webcams are getting hit pretty hard but these have been working for me this morning.
http://www.giglionews.it/2010022440919/webcam/isola-del-giglio/webcam-giglio-porto-panoramica.html

Reuters webcam
 
Reuters was the only one I was able to connect to.
 
Borek said:
Reuters was the only one I was able to connect to.
I can't to connect to the other one anymore either. The Reuters link is the best one anyway with so many views and sound. I feel like I'm watching history being made. Very fascinating.
 
They started a press conference, but it is held in Italian.
 
Borek said:
They started a press conference, but it is held in Italian.
Now hearing an English translation but hard to understand with the Italian at the same volumn.
 
The live Reuters link has ended but it shows a time lapse of the parbuckling operation.

More Costa Concordia Parbuckling Hi-Res Pictures

Next up is the preparation for attaching the starboard sponsons. From the looks of it, the starboard side looks pretty good except for one area. Looks like they'll have their work cut out for them on that section.

Correction: Other pictures in the Hi-Res link above show a similar, smaller dent near the rear. All of the angles are bad so it's hard to say how bad that area is.

tag-reuters-20.jpg
 
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Holy Smokes!
 
  • #10
Very cool operation. Quick question for someone paying more attention than me:
Borg said:
From the looks of it, the starboard side looks pretty good except for one area. Looks like they'll have their work cut out for them on that section.
I thought they were scrapping it?
 
  • #11
berkeman said:
Holy Smokes!
Speaking of smokes; no stacks!
 
  • #12
russ_watters said:
I thought they were scrapping it?

Yep, that's what I read down in the body of the 3rd linked article in the OP...
 
  • #13
The vessel will ultimately be scrapped, just not at this location. The parbuckling is only one phase of the total salvage effort. The vessel now must be refloated so it can be towed to the site where scrapping will occur.
 
  • #14
What's all those vertical silo-like tanks on the barge in the photo up in this thread?

Bottom right of the photo.
 
  • #15
It's an impressive engineering operation, no doubt.

But from an economic perspective, is 500 million Euro worth putting into this? What were the ecological downside estimates. After all, most of the fuel tanks were pumped near-dry. And this wasn't a toxic cargo or oil tanker.

Couldn't they have just let it have a watery grave and monitored for leaks and decontaminated whatever they could on-site?
 
  • #16
russ_watters said:
Very cool operation. Quick question for someone paying more attention than me:
I thought they were scrapping it?
The next phase is to attach floatation devices (sponsons) to the starboard side that was resting in the water for the last 20 months. They do not want to scrap it in place because of the debris that would end up in the water - the ship is currently sitting above an important marine sanctuary. The port side sponsons are already installed and currently filled with water as part of the parbuckling operation and preparation for refloating. Once the starboard sponsons are installed, both sides will be pumped out and the ship will be refloated and towed to a drydock for scrapping as SteamKing stated.
russ_watters said:
Speaking of smokes; no stacks!
The funnel was removed in December.
 
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  • #17
rollingstein said:
What's all those vertical silo-like tanks on the barge in the photo up in this thread?

Bottom right of the photo.
That ship is the ASV Pioneer. It is a support ship that is housing salvage personnel and equipment. The tanks are for various purposes such as http://ferguson-group.com/ferguson-asv/product-info/asv-pioneer/.
 
  • #18
rollingstein said:
It's an impressive engineering operation, no doubt.

But from an economic perspective, is 500 million Euro worth putting into this? What were the ecological downside estimates. After all, most of the fuel tanks were pumped near-dry. And this wasn't a toxic cargo or oil tanker.

Couldn't they have just let it have a watery grave and monitored for leaks and decontaminated whatever they could on-site?
Even though the fuel was removed, there is still a lot of hazardous material remaining onboard throughout the ship.
Costa Concordia had only just set off on a Mediterranean cruise when it ran aground in the waters by Giglio Island, leaving behind a week’s worth of food for more than 4,000 people. The grocery list of items trapped inside the ship right now includes 11,000 eggs, 17,000lbs of beef, 5,500lbs of cheese and more than 1,000 gallons of milk, according to the Daily Telegraph, among a host of other now-rotten foods. Experts fear this toxic stew --which also includes paint, cleaning supplies and insecticide -- is just waiting to spew out of the crippled cruise liner...
 
  • #19
A final goodbye.

BtNt_nQCEAAp2D9.jpg
 

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