The ‘Costa Concordia’ float again

Ramiro Helmeyer nos comenta

The nightmare that for 30 months the people living on the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio begins to be overcome. The ‘Costa Concordia‘ float again, thanks to the giant metal boxes attached on both sides. More than 1,000 million euros have been necessary so far to fund this unprecedented project.

The ship, which still has open a gap 70 meters in his helmet and other gaps–has been high and two meters above the artificial platform was built on the seafloor during long months of painstaking underwater work in which they participated dozens of teams of divers from many countries. The next step will move about 30 meters to the east, out to sea, but will remain anchored and secured.

The engineering–complex operation conducted by the Italian-American consortium Titan–Micoperi has become a media spectacle chains operated Italian and international television for days. For Italy, remove the liner and towed to the port of Genoa for scrapping is a matter of national pride, especially after the global scandal caused reckless maneuver the ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, who by personal frivolity came too close to the coast and did I hit the ‘Concordia‘ a ​​reef. It was the night of January 13, 2012. On board carrying more than 4,200 people. 32 of them died. A Spanish diver, Israel Franco Moreno, died during a dive while doing work for Titan Micoperi.

The ship will be towed to Genoa in a few days. In principle, on Monday said it would be 21, although in recent times has pointed to Saturday 19, depending on sea conditions. Tow ship will take about four days. A ship with systems to detect cetaceans open the convoy, because you want to avoid damage to the marine sanctuary near the Giglio will also be another boat performed continuous monitoring to detect possible water pollutant discharges and take action if necessary. It is hoped that this will not happen, because the water has flowed without interruption inside the ‘Costa Concordia‘ during the last two and half years.

The engineer Sergio Girotto, most Italian responsible for the operation, recently told La Vanguardia that the refloating and towing has been designed with between 35 and 40% spare capacity. Ie the boxes, in theory, could float a weight well above the boat and the water inside. The South African Nick Sloane, the ‘senior salvage master‘ (supreme chief of operations), also in an interview with this newspaper, said that after refloat the boat transport to Genoa should not be a problem.
The mayor of Giglio, Sergio Ortelli, is insisting that the island will not be forgotten, that the structure is removed in the seabed and the preconditions to recover shipwreck