After 2.5 days of work, the operations to install the first of the nineteen sponsons to be positioned for the refloating of the Costa Concordia wreck have been completed.
The sponson S13 – the biggest in weight and size – is now positioned on the starboard side at about 11 metres in depth from the artificial seabed on which the Costa Concordia rests since the parbuckling completed in September.
The sponson has been unloaded from the barge on which it reached Giglio Island and placed into the water through the rotating crane of pontoon Conquest. It was then completely filled with water in order to submerge it and allow connection, through a sophisticated automatic system, of the chains that keep it anchored to the wreck. Technicians have then partially emptied the sponson to make it lighter and give it the buoyancy needed to keep the chains tensioned.
Refloating the Costa Concordia
Before refloating, another fourteen sponsons need to be positioned on the starboard side and four on the port side of the Costa Concordia. Sponsons will be completely emptied to provide the buoyancy needed to refloat the Costa Concordia and prepare it for its transportation.
Picture: Sponson S13 ready for installation (by The Parbuckling Project). The Parbuckling Project website also offers additional pictures.
