Work has started on Giglio Island to install platform no 1, the biggest subsea base which, with the other five subsea platforms, will provide a safe supporting structure for the Costa Concordia wreck after it is rotated into a vertical position (“parbuckling”, as this is known).
On 3 April, the ship Svenja began the approach of barge Micourier with the tug Bucaneer. After cutting the sea fastenings, at about 8.30 am work began to position the Svenja’s two big cranes, which will lift the platform and position it as planned. The operation was completed late in the afternoon.
Platform No. 1
Platform no. 1, which was built at the Rosetti shipyard in Marina di Ravenna and weighs about 1000 tonnes, measures 40 m by 33 m, is 22 m in height and is supported by five big pillars (almost 2 m in diameter) secured to the granite seabed.
Progress
Three small platforms have so far been positioned and secured in place on the seabed, on the offshore side of the wreck near the ship’s stern. Work continues relentlessly 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Source/more information: The Parbuckling Project
