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| Plan to right Concordia gets final go-ahead | Plan to right Concordia gets final go-ahead |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Salvage masters in Italy are to embark on an unprecedented attempt to right the stricken Costa Concordia cruise ship in an operation that is crucial to plans to tow the wreck away in one piece. | Salvage masters in Italy are to embark on an unprecedented attempt to right the stricken Costa Concordia cruise ship in an operation that is crucial to plans to tow the wreck away in one piece. |
| Twenty months after the 114,000-tonne vessel crashed into rocks off the coast of Giglio island, causing the deaths of 32 people, engineers will begin an ambitious process of "parbuckling" that they hope will result in it being brought to rest securely on underwater platforms. | |
| In a statement on Sunday, the Italian civil protection agency gave the final go-ahead for the parbuckling, saying wind and sea conditions had fallen "within the range of operating feasibility". Initial testing, said senior salvage master Nick Sloane, had shown that "she [the ship] is ready to move". | In a statement on Sunday, the Italian civil protection agency gave the final go-ahead for the parbuckling, saying wind and sea conditions had fallen "within the range of operating feasibility". Initial testing, said senior salvage master Nick Sloane, had shown that "she [the ship] is ready to move". |
| The operation, which had been due to start shortly after 6am, was delayed by two hours due to a bad storm which hit Giglio overnight. Franco Gabrielli, head of the Italian civil protection agency, said the heavy rain, thunder and lightning had caused "no technical complication" but had prevented salvage operators from positioning the barge that will support the "control room" of 12 project leaders. He said the island weather was highly unpredictable. | The operation, which had been due to start shortly after 6am, was delayed by two hours due to a bad storm which hit Giglio overnight. Franco Gabrielli, head of the Italian civil protection agency, said the heavy rain, thunder and lightning had caused "no technical complication" but had prevented salvage operators from positioning the barge that will support the "control room" of 12 project leaders. He said the island weather was highly unpredictable. |
| Once it does get underway, the project will be nailbiting. Parbuckling is a common means of salvaging wrecked vessels, but it has never been used on one of the Concordia's size – the cruise ship is 290 metres (950ft) long – let alone one balancing precariously on two rock pinnacles on a steep slope. | Once it does get underway, the project will be nailbiting. Parbuckling is a common means of salvaging wrecked vessels, but it has never been used on one of the Concordia's size – the cruise ship is 290 metres (950ft) long – let alone one balancing precariously on two rock pinnacles on a steep slope. |
| But, speaking to the hundreds of journalists who have descended on the small Tuscan island for the parbuckling, the head of the civil protection agency, Franco Gabrielli, said he was "100%" sure of the operation ending in success. Last week the engineers said there was no plan B. | But, speaking to the hundreds of journalists who have descended on the small Tuscan island for the parbuckling, the head of the civil protection agency, Franco Gabrielli, said he was "100%" sure of the operation ending in success. Last week the engineers said there was no plan B. |
| Aside from the 500-strong team responsible for the salvage mission, those who will be most fervently hoping for a positive result are the relatives of the two people on the ship on the night of 13 January 2012 whose bodies have never been found. | Aside from the 500-strong team responsible for the salvage mission, those who will be most fervently hoping for a positive result are the relatives of the two people on the ship on the night of 13 January 2012 whose bodies have never been found. |
| Elio Vincenzi, from Priolo Gargallo in Sicily, said he was desperately hoping the parbuckling would finally enable divers to locate the body of his wife, Maria Grazia Trecarichi, who had been on the cruise with her daughter, Stefania, for her 50th birthday. | Elio Vincenzi, from Priolo Gargallo in Sicily, said he was desperately hoping the parbuckling would finally enable divers to locate the body of his wife, Maria Grazia Trecarichi, who had been on the cruise with her daughter, Stefania, for her 50th birthday. |
| "Now I just hope to be able to recover my wife's body, to be able to know what happened in those final moments, to be able to caress her before burying her near to her mother, in Sicily, as she wished," Vincenzi told the Italian daily La Repubblica. | "Now I just hope to be able to recover my wife's body, to be able to know what happened in those final moments, to be able to caress her before burying her near to her mother, in Sicily, as she wished," Vincenzi told the Italian daily La Repubblica. |
| The brother of Russel Rebello, an Indian waiter who is also missing, will arrive on the island on Tuesday. On Friday Kevin Rebello wrote on Facebook: "I would like to take my little brother home." | The brother of Russel Rebello, an Indian waiter who is also missing, will arrive on the island on Tuesday. On Friday Kevin Rebello wrote on Facebook: "I would like to take my little brother home." |
| Francesco Schettino, the captain of the Concordia whom prosecutors accuse of losing control of the ship while performing a risky "salute" to Giglio, is standing trial for multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship. He denies the charges. | Francesco Schettino, the captain of the Concordia whom prosecutors accuse of losing control of the ship while performing a risky "salute" to Giglio, is standing trial for multiple manslaughter and abandoning ship. He denies the charges. |
| Five other Costa Crociere employees have already been convicted of manslaughter. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/20/five-costa-concordia-guilty-shipwreck-italy The parbuckling is the most important stage so far in the long and much-delayed salvage operation, the cost of which is now estimated at over €600m- a figure which may well increase. | Five other Costa Crociere employees have already been convicted of manslaughter. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/20/five-costa-concordia-guilty-shipwreck-italy The parbuckling is the most important stage so far in the long and much-delayed salvage operation, the cost of which is now estimated at over €600m- a figure which may well increase. |
| If all goes according to plan, steel chains tightened by computer-operated hydraulic jacks will be used to rotate the ship 65 degrees and leave it to rest on a series of underwater platforms- which, when placed together, stretch the length of one-and-a-half football fields. | If all goes according to plan, steel chains tightened by computer-operated hydraulic jacks will be used to rotate the ship 65 degrees and leave it to rest on a series of underwater platforms- which, when placed together, stretch the length of one-and-a-half football fields. |
| Once the engineers begin the operation, which is expected to last between 10 and 12 hours, they will not be able to stop it. | Once the engineers begin the operation, which is expected to last between 10 and 12 hours, they will not be able to stop it. |
| "All the forces you're putting on her will cause a lot of deformation, so the weaker elements will deform and some will fracture," Sloane told the Guardian last week. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/12/costa-concordia-salvage-parbuckling-nick-sloane "And if you put it back then that's it, you've lost the chance. You only have one chance from the start." | "All the forces you're putting on her will cause a lot of deformation, so the weaker elements will deform and some will fracture," Sloane told the Guardian last week. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/12/costa-concordia-salvage-parbuckling-nick-sloane "And if you put it back then that's it, you've lost the chance. You only have one chance from the start." |
| If it succeeds, the team will be able to move on to the next phase of the salvage - establishing the extent of the damage to the starboard side, attaching additional sponsons to it, and then using the huge steel boxes to add buoyancy to the water-logged ship and help it to re-float. | If it succeeds, the team will be able to move on to the next phase of the salvage - establishing the extent of the damage to the starboard side, attaching additional sponsons to it, and then using the huge steel boxes to add buoyancy to the water-logged ship and help it to re-float. |
| If it goes wrong, there are fears it could cause environmental damage due to materials and toxic liquids polluting waters known for their marine life. | If it goes wrong, there are fears it could cause environmental damage due to materials and toxic liquids polluting waters known for their marine life. |
| In total, over 30,000 tonnes of steel have been used for the parbuckling and re-floating plans – equivalent to four times the weight of the Eiffel Tower. The salvage is being led by the US company Titan Salvage and Italian engineers Micoper. | |
| • This article was amended on Monday 16 September 2013. In it we said the vessel weighed 114 tonnes. This should have been 114,000 tonnes. This has been corrected. | |
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