(With videos) Early this morning, the wreck of the Costa Concordia was once again upright and resting safely on the specially built artificial sea bed, at a depth of approximately 30 meters.
The operation was to start at 6.15 am on 16 September, but was postponed for over two hours due to the strong thunder storms on the island the night before. The storms had prevented the positioning of the barge on which the control room is installed and other operative units. The operation eventually started at 9 am.
A chronological overview of the operation:
- 9.00 am: Parbuckling operations have commenced. All commands and signals – such as activation of strand jacks, opening and closing of sponson valves, information about the position of the wreck – were sent to and from the barge control room via two separate “umbilicals” (one used as a back-up for the other); these are cables arranged between the control room and the ship guaranteeing communication between the two.
The team members in the control room monitor progress using eight monitors. Five TV cameras with five microphones have been placed on the highest deck of the Concordia; the images and sounds monitored during the parbuckling will allow the engineers to make adjustments depending on any twist and torsion arising on the ship.
A second “Salvage Room” ashore with other engineers and technicians followed the operation and could provide assistance when the need arose. - 4.20 pm: The wreck side has been successfully dislodged from the reef by applying a maximum load of 6000 tons (in line with forecast), thanks to the force exerted by the strand jacks operating the system of winches and steel chains. The wreck is now rotated 10 degrees and will need to rotate at least as many before it has completed the first 20 degrees with reference to the initial position, which is the approximate point at which the intake valves of the eleven sponsons attached to the port side of the hull reach sea level.
- 0.00 am: The ship has rotated approximately 25° with respect to the starting position. This means that the operation has gone beyond the point at which the vessel no longer needs to be pulled by the strand jacks and can now rotate under its own momentum and under the weight of the ballast water contained in the sponsons.
- 4.00 am: The parbuckling operation has been successfully completed. Official sources report no pollution or oil leaks have occurred so far.
Below three videos: a timelapse video of the parbuckling by the BBC, a video of the damaged Costa Concordia after raising it (by HiDiHoVideos) and a video of the rotating operation (by Ivanodue3).
Picture: Still from the video by Ivanodue3
