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| Meet Inken Frühling, the only woman in the Costa Concordia control room | Meet Inken Frühling, the only woman in the Costa Concordia control room |
| (about 21 hours later) | |
| The team of engineers worked through the night, sustained only by adrenaline, chicken burgers, and total professional dedication. There was David, a Belgian; Tim, a German; Paolo, Giovanni and Massimo, to name a few of the Italians, and, of course, Nick Sloane, the South African who was directing the whole show. | The team of engineers worked through the night, sustained only by adrenaline, chicken burgers, and total professional dedication. There was David, a Belgian; Tim, a German; Paolo, Giovanni and Massimo, to name a few of the Italians, and, of course, Nick Sloane, the South African who was directing the whole show. |
| But among the control room's magnificent 11, who managed after 19 agonising hours to right the Costa Concordia, there was only one woman: Inken Frühling. | But among the control room's magnificent 11, who managed after 19 agonising hours to right the Costa Concordia, there was only one woman: Inken Frühling. |
| And, as you might expect of someone who has just performed a painstakingly intricate operation under fantastic amounts of pressure and on no sleep, this is not something that fazes her. "For me it's normal since in our studies at university maybe less than 10% naval architects were women," she said. "So I didn't really realise because I'm quite often the only woman. There is no special treatment." | And, as you might expect of someone who has just performed a painstakingly intricate operation under fantastic amounts of pressure and on no sleep, this is not something that fazes her. "For me it's normal since in our studies at university maybe less than 10% naval architects were women," she said. "So I didn't really realise because I'm quite often the only woman. There is no special treatment." |
| For the 29-year-old from Hamburg who has spent the past decade surrounded by men, it is no big deal. But for those less familiar with the world of salvage and offshore engineering, the gender imbalance is striking. Of more than 500 people who have been working on the Concordia project, only 50 or so of them are women. The prevailing culture, all along the seafront of Giglio Porto, is strongly macho. Banter and off-colour jokes are common. Young women are unsubtly surveyed as they walk down the street. | For the 29-year-old from Hamburg who has spent the past decade surrounded by men, it is no big deal. But for those less familiar with the world of salvage and offshore engineering, the gender imbalance is striking. Of more than 500 people who have been working on the Concordia project, only 50 or so of them are women. The prevailing culture, all along the seafront of Giglio Porto, is strongly macho. Banter and off-colour jokes are common. Young women are unsubtly surveyed as they walk down the street. |
| But Frühling, who when in Giglio lives in B&Bs with "all guys", shrugged off any suggestion of discomfort and said she had never suffered any discrimination. Her advice to any women working in a similarly male-dominated sphere, though, hinted at a slightly more complex truth: "Just be yourself and don't take it too personal what they sometimes say." | But Frühling, who when in Giglio lives in B&Bs with "all guys", shrugged off any suggestion of discomfort and said she had never suffered any discrimination. Her advice to any women working in a similarly male-dominated sphere, though, hinted at a slightly more complex truth: "Just be yourself and don't take it too personal what they sometimes say." |
| Frühling, who works for a Hamburg-based offshore engineering company called Overdick, was in the control room – only occasionally for the first 10 hours but then permanently for the final nine – to monitor how much ballast water was needed in the sponsons – the large steel boxes fixed to the port side of the ship that were crucial to the final stage of the rotation. As the Concordia entered the sea, the sponsons were filled with water by means of remote-controlled valves. The weight of the water helped push the ship down to sit securely on the underwater platforms built to support it. | Frühling, who works for a Hamburg-based offshore engineering company called Overdick, was in the control room – only occasionally for the first 10 hours but then permanently for the final nine – to monitor how much ballast water was needed in the sponsons – the large steel boxes fixed to the port side of the ship that were crucial to the final stage of the rotation. As the Concordia entered the sea, the sponsons were filled with water by means of remote-controlled valves. The weight of the water helped push the ship down to sit securely on the underwater platforms built to support it. |
| "When she settled down I was just speechless," she said. Asked if she had become emotional in a press conference on Tuesday, like senior salvage master Sloane, she said only: "There was a smile, but I think this moment came later … It needed some time." | "When she settled down I was just speechless," she said. Asked if she had become emotional in a press conference on Tuesday, like senior salvage master Sloane, she said only: "There was a smile, but I think this moment came later … It needed some time." |
| For the last few hours of the operation Frühling had been in the second row of the control room, with the screens in front of her and the slowly moving wreck behind her. Occasionally, she could not help but let her eyes wander from the computers and look round at the real thing. Images from the hub transmitted to the media tent showed Sloane, hand on hip, life-jacket clad, talking into a walkie talkie. Though Sloane is known for his jokes, Frühling said he keeps them out of the workplace, where, instead, he is "calm and strict and ... straightforward". | For the last few hours of the operation Frühling had been in the second row of the control room, with the screens in front of her and the slowly moving wreck behind her. Occasionally, she could not help but let her eyes wander from the computers and look round at the real thing. Images from the hub transmitted to the media tent showed Sloane, hand on hip, life-jacket clad, talking into a walkie talkie. Though Sloane is known for his jokes, Frühling said he keeps them out of the workplace, where, instead, he is "calm and strict and ... straightforward". |
| To the outside world the hours seemed unutterably tense, but to the unflappable Frühling there was "not a critical moment, for me. It all just went well." Though she had felt tired beforehand, the adrenaline soon kicked in. | To the outside world the hours seemed unutterably tense, but to the unflappable Frühling there was "not a critical moment, for me. It all just went well." Though she had felt tired beforehand, the adrenaline soon kicked in. |
| Once, to the applause of locals and the flashing of camera bulbs, she and her colleagues made it triumphantly back to land, she allowed herself a celebratory beer. "Just one," she noted, "because that's enough after you've had such a shift." And then she slept. | Once, to the applause of locals and the flashing of camera bulbs, she and her colleagues made it triumphantly back to land, she allowed herself a celebratory beer. "Just one," she noted, "because that's enough after you've had such a shift." And then she slept. |
| Did she, an Italian journalist asked, feel like 'wonder woman'? "No," she said, firmly. "No, because we're just people who press some buttons … but there are over 500 people working here." | Did she, an Italian journalist asked, feel like 'wonder woman'? "No," she said, firmly. "No, because we're just people who press some buttons … but there are over 500 people working here." |
| With the parbuckling over, Frühling, who has worked in Giglio on four-week stints since May last year, was hoping to fly home to enjoy some rest and recuperation, although she will be back soon to prepare for the ship's refloating. | With the parbuckling over, Frühling, who has worked in Giglio on four-week stints since May last year, was hoping to fly home to enjoy some rest and recuperation, although she will be back soon to prepare for the ship's refloating. |
| Before leaving, however, she wanted one more perk at the 300m-long, 114,000 gross tonnage vessel she helped bring vertical. Long fascinated by ships, she realised one day many years ago while between the Baltic and North seas that she wanted to make a career from building them. Now, just three years after graduating, she has helped to parbuckle one of the biggest cruise ships ever built. | |
| "It still hasn't sunk in yet," she said. "I need to see it up close again." | "It still hasn't sunk in yet," she said. "I need to see it up close again." |
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