By
Rebecca Gibson |
Costa Cruises’ Costa Concordia is to be refloated on Monday 14 July, pending final confirmation from the Italian authorities.
Over the past few days the Titan-Micoperi salvage team has tested the refloating systems, which were completed last week after the final sponson was installed on Concordia’s port side.
Following authorisation from the Italian Monitoring Observatory and confirmation of appropriate weather conditions on 13 july, 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.
Last 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.