By
Rebecca Gibson |
Titan-Micoperi consortium is to tow Costa Cruises’ stricken Costa Concordia to the Port of Genoa Voltri at the end of July following authorisation from the Italian Cabinet.
Costa Concordia, which partially capsized off the coast of Giglio Island in Italy on 13 January 2012, was initially raised to a vertical position during a 19-hour parbuckling operation on 17 September 2013.
Since October, Titan-Micoperi has been working to stabilise the vessel and prepare her for the refloating stage.The Italian Cabinet’s decision marks the beginning of the final phase of removing the wreck from Giglio.
“The cabinet’s approval of the project for transportation of Concordia to Genoa for dismantling and recycling means that achievement of the goal we set ourselves two and a half years ago – namely the safe and definitive removal of the wreck from Giglio Island – is now well within sight,” said Michael Thamm, Costa CEO.
Thamm added: “We will supervise the final phase of the Concordia project with the same commitment and attention that we have put into this challenge since the very beginning, using the best expertise and technologies, in compliance with the highest environmental safety standards and in full cooperation with the authorities.”
Over the next two weeks, more than 350 Titan Micoperi technicians will work round the clock at the site in Giglio to prepare the vessel for refloating. Two more sponsons – large hollow steel boxes manufactured by Italian yard Fincantieri – need to be installed to reach the total of 30 needed to refloat the wreck.
Refloating is scheduled to start by mid-July upon authorisation of the Monitoring Observatory, while the wreck is due to be towed from Giglio Island by the end of the month under the direction of the Titan Micoperi team. The ship will travel a distance of 190 nautical miles at an average speed of two knots over a four-day period and will be escorted by vessels carrying specialised equipment and personnel. This includes a team of marine biology experts.
Concordia will then be dismantled and recycled at San Giorgio del Porto shipyard, which has extensive experience in ship repairs and was also the first yard in Italy to be included in the Special Register of Environmental Ship Reclamation & Recycling Facilities. Working as part of a consortium with Saipem – a subsidiary of state-owned engineering and environmental company ENI Group – the yard will carry out a four-phase demolition plan. The process is expected to last around 22 months.
During phase one of the project, the Port of Genova Voltri will strip the interior furnishings and fittings from the decks above water, enabling the ship to be transferred from the Voltri Breakwater to the Molo Ex Superbacino dock in preparation for phase two. At this stage, the port will dismantle the structures of decks 14 to 2. In phase three, the sponsons will be removed and the food storerooms and cold storage rooms on Deck 0 will be cleaned.
Finally, in phase four the wreck will be completely disassembled in a segregated area of Dry Dock 4. Other operations will include removing any interior fittings, cleaning various areas and demolishing remaining structures. This phase will conclude with the appropriate handling, disposal and recycling of the discarded materials.
The Concordia wreck removal is considered as the biggest salvage ever attempted on a ship of her size.