True Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Part VII

Costa Concordia Cruise Ship Disaster Part II

Parbuckling

Principles of righting and refloating of Costa Concordia

(1) Funnel (chimney) is removed and a submerged platform is built to support the ship. Steel sponsons are attached to the port side and partially filled with water.

(2) Cables roll the ship upright, helped by the water weight in the sponsons.

(3) Sponsons are attached to the starboard side.

(4) Water is pumped out of the sponsons to lift the ship so it can be towed away.

Preparatory work consisted of building an underwater metal platform and artificial seabed made of sand and cement on the downhill side of the wreck and welding sponsons to the side of the ship above the surface. Once this was completed, the ship was pulled upright by cables over the course of two days and settled on the platform, a method called parbuckling. Additional sponsons would then be attached to the other side of the ship; both sets would be flushed of water and their buoyancy would refloat the ship to allow it to be towed away for demolition.

In June 2012, a barge was put in place, and the removal of the Concordia's radar, waterslide and funnel began before stabilization of the ship to prevent further slippage down the sloped seabed. Concordia's funnel was cut off in December, and the salvage companies were in the process of building the underwater support structure by mid-January 2013. On 16 September 2013, the parbuckling of the ship began.

The operation to right the ship and free it from the rocks began on 16 September 2013 but was delayed by bad weather. Once the ship had been rotated slightly past a critical angle of 24° from its resting position, valves on the sponsons were opened to allow seawater to flood into them and the increasing weight of the water in the sponsons completed the rolling of the ship to the upright position at an accelerated pace, without further need of the strand jacks and cables. The ship was returned to a fully upright position in the early hours of 17 September 2013, shortly before 3:00 a.m. CET. As of 16 September 2013 the salvage operation had cost over €600 million ($800 million). The final cost of the salvage came to be $1.2 billion.

Refloating and removal

Following the conclusion of the righting operation, the ship was kept on the platform while further inspections were made and the starboard sponsons attached. On 10 October 2013 a $30 million option was taken with Dockwise for the use of the world's largest semi-submersible heavy lift vessel, Dockwise Vanguard, to transport Costa Concordia as an alternative to conventional towing, but ultimately the Concordia was indeed refloated and towed to Genoa in July 2014.

In December 2013, invitations were issued by Costa to 12 companies to tender for the dismantling of Costa Concordia, in France, Italy, Norway, Turkey and the UK. On 30 June 2014 the Italian Government endorsed Costa's decision to have the vessel dismantled at Genoa by Italian companies Saipem, Mariotti and San Giorgio.

On 1 February 2014 a Spanish diver working on the Costa Concordia wreck died after cutting his leg on a sheet of metal. He was brought to the surface alive by a fellow diver, but later died. This was the only death to occur during the Costa Concordia salvage operation.

On 14 July 2014 salvage operators re-floated Costa Concordia off its submerged platform and towed the ship laterally a short distance from the coast. On 23 July 2014, Costa Concordia began its final journey to the Port of Genoa.

Scrapping

On 27 July 2014, Costa Concordia arrived in Genoa where it was moored against a wharf that had been specially prepared to receive the vessel for dismantling. On 11 May 2015, Costa Concordia was towed to the Superbacino dock in Genoa to remove the upper decks and superstructure. The last of the sponsons were removed in August 2016 and the hull was taken into Genoa drydock No. 4 on the 1 September for final dismantling. Final scrapping of the ship was completed on July 7, 2017, with 53,000 tons of material having been recycled.