Cruise Ship "Costa Concordia" Salvage Attempt To Go Ahead 151
dryriver writes "A daring attempt to pull the shipwrecked Costa Concordia upright will go ahead on Monday, Italian officials have confirmed. The Civil Protection agency said the sea and weather conditions were right for the salvage attempt. Engineers have never tried to move such a huge ship so close to land. Thirty-two people died when the cruise ship hit rocks off the Tuscan island of Giglio in January 2012. It has been lying on its side ever since. Five people have already been convicted of manslaughter over the disaster, and the ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, is currently on trial accused of manslaughter and abandoning ship. The salvage operation is due to begin at 06:00 (04:00 GMT) on Monday, and it is being described as one of the largest and most daunting ever attempted. The head of the operation, Nick Sloane, told AFP news agency that it was now or never for the Costa Concordia, because the hull was gradually weakening and might not survive another winter. Engineers will try to roll the ship up using cables and the weight of water contained in huge metal boxes welded to the ship's sides — a process called parbuckling. This procedure must be done very slowly to prevent further damage to the hull, which has spent more than 18 months partially submerged in 50ft of water and fully exposed to the elements. The salvage project has so far cost more than 600m euros ($800m; £500m) and could cost a lot more by the time the operation is complete."
Livestream (Score:1, Informative)
You can watch the salvage attempt live here: http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws/videozone/livestream/MV_LIVESTREAM_CostaConcordiaRechtop
Re:Livestream (Score:5, Informative)
And another... (Score:5, Informative)
I think it's country-specific (Score:4, Informative)
In many cases broadcasting companies are only allowed to let domestic IPs access the stream even though practically every broadcasting company acquires access to the same stream. Here's one for Finland:
http://areena.yle.fi/tv/2032049
and for Sweden:
http://www.svt.se/nyheter/varlden/bargningen-av-costa-concordia-inleds-pa-morgonen
Re:Half a billion? (Score:1, Informative)
The salvage is being done by Smit International from the Netherlands, a country widely regarded as efficient. Fpor more information Wikipedia article "Costa Concordia disaster", paragraph "Salvage" is a good start.
Re:this has me wondering (Score:5, Informative)
Why all this effort to refloat her? As has been pointed out, she's been partially and asymmetrically submerged for the better part of two years, surely it'd be easier to just send in the divers with cutting torches or shaped charges, split the hull, and float her off in sections on barges (as they ended up doing with MSC Napoli)?
Doing that in a marine sanctuary would have a significant environmental impact.
Re:this has me wondering (Score:5, Informative)
Re:this has me wondering (Score:5, Informative)
RTFA!
They want to keep the tons of rotting food, fuel, and who knows what else in the ship for environmental reasons. It's also a lot easier and safer to cut up something of that size in drydock.
Re:this has me wondering (Score:5, Informative)
this is it exactly.
the only reason why she is getting floated out is because cutting her up as she sits would trash the local environment completely. just sitting as she is is doing enough damage.
Re:this has me wondering (Score:3, Informative)
Re:this has me wondering (Score:2, Informative)
Shiver me surprised! well, not that surprised as there's always a market for the cheapest way to solve a problem, even though I would have thought the scrap value of the metal would be worth something.
You weren't wrong when you said dozens [goo.gl]
Re:this has me wondering (Score:5, Informative)
I don't know why you used a shortened link, but I hit it despite the possibility it might be goatse. Here's where that link takes you: https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Alang,+Gujarat,+India&hl=en&ll=21.401534,72.199316&spn=0.023614,0.027723&geocode=+&hnear=Alang,+Bhavnagar,+Gujarat,+India&t=h&z=15 [google.co.uk]
Re:this has me wondering (Score:5, Informative)
Seriously? Have you not been reading the new stories on this over the last 2 years?
The issue is the environmental impact of both the fuel (largely removed) and other things like engine oil, coolant and sewage which may still be aboard. The ship came to rest in what is said to be a sensitive environmental area. I suspect that the insurance company would be on the hook for any damage caused by leaking oil, sewage or anything else that might still be in the ship. Also, the ship sits in about 40 feet of water on the very edge of a 200 Foot trench. If slips off, it will be MUCH harder to clean up the mess. Diving in 20-40 feet is much less difficult and time consuming than when you go over 100 feet and have to start thinking about using helium breathing mixes and such.
They are doing the least risky thing they can come up with. Right the ship, partially re-float it and haul it off to be scrapped some place else where it will be easier, safer and/or less likely to be a problem for the environment.
Your suggestion to just chop it up and haul it off in bite sized chunks might indeed be cheaper, but there are a number of issues with that approach.
Re:this has me wondering (Score:5, Informative)
What I don't get about this is what's so horribly wrong with a captain abandoning the ship?
International maritime law prohibits the captain abandoning the ship before evacuating the passengers. Their lives are his responsibility. It's equivalent to a bus driver leaving a bus full of passengers teetering on the edge of a precipice and then just running away without trying to get them out.
In addition, in this case the captain sat around holding his dick and pretending that the ship wasn't sinking for quite some time before he even ran away.
I mean, seriously.... do they expect a captain to just go down with the ship and simply die if something entirely unexpected happens to the ship?
Nothing unexpected happened to the ship. What happened is precisely what you would expect to happen if you drive a ship into an area clearly marked as too shallow and hazardous.
Re:this has me wondering (Score:5, Informative)
Im not sure how you can miss "condescending" in a statement like
I suppose this type of person is less attractive to lying about in floating cocoons of immaculate white paint. We might choose a less passive adventure.
Is there really anything wrong with the community agreeing that cruises are for the weak and stupid?
Yes. Its the same mindframe that leads to racism: Anyone who doesnt look like / act like / enjoy the same things as me, is inferior to me. Its self-centered pride to the extreme, and its astonishing youd have the nerve to try to defend it.
For less money you could patronize a beachfront resort, which if you look around can belong to the same family that's cooking your food.
Gosh, heres a shocker, maybe someone has done beach vacations for years and wants to be on a boat! Maybe theyre older, retired, and not as able to move as when they were younger, and want a quieter vacation! They must be weak, lazy, and stupid, I guess.
Cruise ships are just another example of conspicuous consumption, and if you want a medal for doing nothing
By your logic, so is going to a beachfront resort. Shopping, lazing about, how wasteful. Im sure youre a blast at parties.