Operation to right Costa Concordia begins
Posted Sep 16, 2013 06:04:50 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The anxiously awaited attempt to pull the crippled Costa Concordia upright from its side off Italy’s Tuscan coast is under way.
Engineer Sergio Girotto said the lifting began at about 9 a.m. (0700GMT) Monday, three hours late.
The delay was due to a storm that pushed back the positioning of a barge hosting a floating command room centre. There, engineers using remote controls will guide a synchronized leverage system of pulleys and counterweights to delicately nudge the ship free from its rocky seabed perch.
The operation, known in nautical parlance a parbuckling, is a proven method to raise capsized vessels. But the Concordia has been described as the largest cruise ship ever to require the complex rotation.
The Concordia crashed into a reef Jan. 13, 2012, killing 32 people.
