The Costa Concordia's last journey
The wrecked ship Costa Concordia has been stranded off the Italian island of Giglio for two and a half years. Now the last step in the largest maritime salvage in history is about to be completed.
Ready to go?
The cruise liner Costa Concordia is floating again in the Mediterranean Sea. The so-called "refloating" of the damaged vessel has begun and is probably the most delicate phase of the recovery. The wreck will first be floated two meters off the platforms that currently support it. For that, the large containers left and right of the hull are being filled with air.
The last journey
Afterwards the ship will be moved approximately 30 meters to the east, to deeper waters, where salvage experts will attach propellers to it. The plan is to raise the ship a further ten meters and then tow it to a shipyard in Genoa using tugboats.
A delicate procedure
The refloating and removal operation for the Costa Concordia is expected to take up to a week. The refloating is one of the last major hurdles of the recovery, because of the bad condition the ship is in. If it breaks up during removal, oil and other toxic fluids could leak into the sea.
Steps along the way
The defunct luxury liner was raised to an upright position last September, after more than 20 months of lying on its side in the Mediterranean Sea. In a 19-hour operation the 290 meter steel giant was pulled upright millimeter by millimeter.
Popular spectacle
Hundreds of people watched the initial lifting of the wrecked ship from the coast of Giglio Island. The damaged Costa Concordia liner had to be rotated 65 degrees by a series of cranes and hydraulic machines, pulling the hulk from above and below and slowly twisting it upright. The operation was a major engineering effort, given the size of the ship and the risk of toxic leaks.
The night of the accident
On 13 January 2012 at around 945pm, the luxury liner struck rocky outcrops off the Tuscan island of Giglio The ship kept moving for several hundred meters and turned before it finally capsized off the coast.
Late response
That night over 4,000 people were on board - a thousand of them were crew members. Most of the passengers were having dinner when the collision took place. First they were told there was a problem with the power supply and it wasn’t until 1030pm that they started evacuating the ship.
Not everyone survived
The ship started to fill up with water before coming to rest on the north side of the island. It partially capsized and ended up lying on one side. In the end, 32 people had lost their lives and one went missing and was never found. Most of the passengers were rescued with boats and helicopters. Some even jumped overboard into the 14-degree Celsius cold water and swam to land.
Captain in court
Captain Francesco Schettino was arrested shortly after the accident. The 52-year old has been accused of negligent homicide and leaving the ship too early, amongst other things. The court case against him is still ongoing.