By
Rebecca Gibson |
Engineers from Titan-Micoperi consortium are to start work on stabilising Costa Concordia to ensure it can withstand the adverse winter weather conditions in Giglio, Italy.
Recent adverse meteo-marine conditions have caused the slight movement of the ship, which is currently resting upright on a 30-m deep artificial seabed consisting of six steel platforms.
In order to further stabilise the Concordia, the engineering team will install removable grout bags between the wreck and the rocks, fit an additional hold-back system to avoid movements of the bow and connect tubular structures between the underwater platform and the sponsons on the ship’s side.
Structural surveys are already underway to assess the extent of the damage and the repair work needed on the vessel’s starboard side before the 15 hollow steel sponsons can be attached for the refloating phase.
Next spring, engineers will empty the water from the sponsons using a pneumatic system and use them as buoyancy aids when Conocordia is refloated and moved from Giglio to a nearby mainland port.
Once the salvage operations are complete and the vessel is floated to a port, Costa and Carnival will restore the reef, seabed and surrounding environment to its original condition prior to the accident. They will also monitor the ecosystem for several years.