By
Rebecca Gibson |
Engineers from the Titan-Micoperi consortium are set to refloat Costa Cruises’ Costa Concordia in the next ten days.
The team fixed the final sponson – large hollow steel boxes – to the port side of the cruise ship on 3 July and is now in the process of testing the systems to ensure it can be refloated on schedule.
“Following the installation of the last sponson, we can start the countdown to refloating and final departure of the wreck from Giglio Island,” said Michael Thamm, CEO of Costa Cruises. “Now all our energies are focused on the successful conclusion of this unprecedented engineering challenge to respect a precise commitment: Remove the Concordia wreck as soon as possible, in compliance with the highest environmental and safety standards.”
Following authorisation from the Italian Monitoring Observatory, technicians will use a pneumatic system to gradually empty all 30 sponsons of ballast water, providing the necessary buoyancy to refloat the wreck. At the end of this operation the ship will have a draft of around 18.5 m.
Earlier this week, Costa revealed that Titan-Micoperi will tow Concordia from Giglio Island to the San Giorgio del Porto shipyard in Genoa. The ship will then be dismantled and recycled during a four-phase, 22-month project.