Ken711

Pretty good article quoting Nick Sloane on the salavage.

GIGLIO, Italy -- Salvage crews are working against time to remove the shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship, which is slowly being crushed under its own weight on its perch of granite seabed off the Tuscan island of Giglio. Officials said Monday that if this attempt fails, there won't be a second chance.

 

Nick Sloane, the leader of the salvage operation, said the Concordia has compressed some 3 meters (10 feet) since it came to rest on its side on the rocky perch Jan. 13, 2012, after ramming a jagged reef when it skirted too close to the island during a publicity stunt allegedly ordered by the captain; 32 people were killed.

 

Sloane, an engineer for U.S.-owned company Titan Salvage, said experts would have one chance to pull the ship upright and float it away to the mainland for demolition. The attempt will probably take place in mid-September. "We cannot put it back" down and start over, said Sloane.

 

Sloane spoke aboard a work boat as he accompanied journalists for a close-hand look of the wreckage on the eve of the trial of Capt. Francesco Schettino, who is charged with manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship before all passengers had been evacuated.

 

The trial, which was supposed to get under way July 9, was postponed until Wednesday due to a lawyers' strike. The Italian captain denies wrongdoing, and claims his skillful guiding of the ship after the collision helped save countless lives.

 

The timetable to remove the Concordia has also been back. The original plan envisioned removal before start of this summer, but bad weather undermined those plans.

 

"We lost two months to weather," said salvage master Sloane, explaining that the season's harsh sea conditions made it risky for diving teams to work, including installing bags that are filled with cement to provide a more stable base when the flat-keeled ship is pulled upright.

 

Sloane said the granite seabed also proved more resistant to drilling than imagined. It was "like trying to drill through glass at a 45-degree angle."

 

Pressure to make the unprecedented operation succeed is mounting as experts worry that a small window of opportunity to pull off the ambitious feat could shut in a few months.

 

"Another winter and we might not be able to parbuckle," Sloane said, using the nautical term for righting a ship. He expressed concern that the ship might compress even further, making it impossible to pull it up upright and into a position so it can be floated away.

The project calls for dozens of crane-like pulleys flanking the ship to slowly start tilting the vessel upright at a rate of 3 meters (yards) per hour. In all, the parbuckling should take about 12 hours.

 

On Monday several welders moved like Spiderman on the now horizontal hull, securing steel pieces which will function like hooks. Steel chains weighing 17,000 tons are being looped under the wreck to help pull it upright. So far 18 chains have been laid, with the remaining four to be put in place over the next few days.

 

To work on the tilted wreck, the welders were given five days of climbing training on nearly sheer granite rocks on the island by instructors from Italy's Dolomite mountains.

 

Crews are also attaching caissons, or tanks, to the exposed flank of the Concordia. The caissons will be filled with water to add weight and help pull the ship upright. Identical caissons will be attached to the submerged side of the ship once it's righted. The caissons on both sides will then be filled with air to float the ship up off the rocks so it can be towed away.

 

The 70-meter-long gash on the Concordia's hull has been largely covered with metal plates, though an exposed 3-meter (10 foot) wide hole remains, resembling a truck garage entrance. Crews said there was no need to cover that remaining hole. The gash itself wasn't repaired, since engineers said it wasn't necessary. The salvage operation extracted 96 tons of granite reef from the hole, Sloane said.

M/V Lone has docked in Livorno, so the loading of caissons should be underway. Does anyone know if they are being trucked in? Load width restrictions on roads may influence loading time, but I couldn't see it taking more than 3 days to load 3 caissons. Harbor traffic may also affect loading, as passing ships can suck you away from the dock.

I'm sure I saw photos somewhere that showed them on barges from the manufacturing facility.

This is what I meant earlier, the parbuckling site is quite a bit behind, and unfortunately, the photo they used for this update of 12/07 is several weeks old, it is the mounting of the very first caisson. Journalists seem to rely on this kind of stuff. Just two days ago I watched an animation video of how the accident happened on BBC News, it showed that electricity was lost the moment CC hit the rock which is evidently wrong.

You can see the now installed sponson #3 when viewing the giglio web cam.

Concern by locals officials after parbuckling that the ship might be subject to the Fall storms before it could be safely removed. And the degree to which the submerged side of the ship has suffered damage from laying on the rocks.

"If they do not provide us with a whole range of insurance, the ship will remain in the condition in which it is until next year when the weather conditions allow returning it to the board in complete safety." He said the Commissioner for the emergence of the Costa Concordia Franco Gabrielli talking about the removal work of the Consortium Titan Micoperi commissioned by Costa Cruises, in an interview aired today on One Summer Morning. Doubts, remember, not so much the phase of rotation (parbuckling) but rather the safety of the ship in the upright position than the time it will remain there and especially in anticipation of storms likely in the months of October and November. Hence the question whether to parbuckling in September or wait until the summer of 2014. "For the engineers have done simulations and assumptions, - said Gabrielli - today we do not know what the rocks are penetrated into the side, what kind of glimpses have achieved and what are the actual condition of the structure and therefore what kind of assistance will have to do to allocate floatable boxes needed to make the entire ship. " Il Giglio want certainty - "The concerns of the Commissioner are my Gabrielli but I have to record that are not in line with that provided communications Costa Cruises last official summit in Rome. For my specific question about when the ship would be rotated, Pierluigi Foschi confirmed that the Concordia would be rotated in any case in the month of September . " said the Mayor of Isola del Giglio Sergio Ortelli also intervening to One Summer Morning to comment on the interview with the Commissioner Franco Gabrielli. "Unfortunately - he said Ortelli - at this delicate stage, which is crucial for the removal of the ship, we continue to receive from Costa Cruises only verbal communications that are likely to be uncertain and especially never supported by documentation technique that determines what they contend". " The commitment of Costa taken in front of the Minister for the Environment Orlando - added then the mayor - was to present a comprehensive plan of removal that were not only the theme of the port of destination but also the issues of rotation and rigalleggiamento ship with timing once and for all final. And on that now want certainty. " Responding finally to a question whether, in the event of further delays we can come back to talk about cutting the ship at Giglio "It 's one of the conditions that have never accepted - said the mayor - and that we will never accept also because this was one of mandatory requirements required in the tender for the selection of the best removal project. "

The notation says that the two dark green locations have the anchor blocks installed, but the towers for the strand jacks have not been installed yet. As I understand it, the cables/chains used at the anchor blocks will not be used during the parbuckling, except as safeties. The strand jacks are raised on towers to give the maximum length of cabling possible to rotate the ship. The further the strand jack starts out away from the point where the cable attaches to the hull, the more cable can be pulled.

That's interesting, I had no idea how that system was suppose to operate.

Havent seen this weeks progress report (that's a hint for a link please) but didn't they install some more caissons this last weekend? I also notice that P3 is not butted up to the others so would that make it easier to fit as and when they like?

The sums of money involved are truly staggering. Hard to believe that it costs 111million euros to build a salvage dock, but then again this is Italy.

Weekly Report link:

http://www.giglionews.it/images/stories/allegati/rel_sett_osservatorio070713.pdf

From Giglio news:

And so the month of September will be the decisive one to know the fate of the project. By the end of that month, in fact, the ship will be rotated and put back into the vertical position. Only then can they be evaluated also the actual condition of the part now submerged caissons applied missing and brought into its final destination by April 2014. Piombino, to date, remains the most favored port. The Region of Tuscany, in fact, requested and was granted by the Government of € 111 million for its adaptation, in addition to the allocation of more than 50 million of the Region. And just today the Tuscan Government has given the green light to the new master plan of the city, a process started in 2008 and which will also make the necessary adjustments to accommodate the Concordia.

Sid;

 

Sounds like quite a balancing act. There will be strand jacks from the top of the caissons to the top of the offshore platforms pulling the top of the ship to port, while the strand jacks connected to the port side under the hull will try to pull the bottom back to starboard creating the rotation effect. Center of gravity simulations will be needed to determine when and how much to ballast the caissons to assist the rolling, but not enough to cause the ship to roll onto the platforms uncontrollably.

 

My son works for Liberty Mutual in Boston, and he just this weekend mentioned how their company had taken a big hit from the Concordia. I wasn't aware that they were in the maritime P&I business.

 

Many, many years ago I was involved in a similar salvage when I was working in the offshore oil business in the North Sea, and the rig the Alexander Keilland capsized taking 123 men with it. It was quite a job, having to tap into all the tanks and spaces on the rig, seal holes and vents, and connect hoses between the rig and special pumping barges. Various spaces were flooded or emptied by computer control to try to roll the rig upright, and at a certain angle, lift bags were suddenly inflated to induce a rolling motion to finish the righting. It didn't work, and we had to roll her back over and it wasn't for about 10 years that she was finally righted to allow inspection, and final towing to deep water for disposal.

Interesting post. Even with all the engineering computer simulations it shows that the intended outcome is never certain.

Giglio photos that accompany latest weekly report:

http://www.giglionews.it/images/phocagallery/news/piatt_3_cass_p9_p12_010713/thumbs/phoca_thumb_l_l6969_593584564019593_1249005659_n.jpg

Looks like the final platform no.6 is now finally being moved into position under the Micoperi 30 crane, ready for lowering down to the seabed. (Tuesday pm)

That looks to be large platform #3.

Ken' date=' I swear those things look like something out of Star Wars!:D

 

AKK[/quote']

 

They sure are strange looking. I sure hope all the engineering that went to designing them works when the parbuckling phase begins.

More photos of the anchor block towers in the latest weekly report.

http://www.giglionews.it/images/stories/allegati/rel_sett_osservatorio160613.pdf

According to the website, they will attaching anchoring cables to the exposed side of the ship, run them over the keel and then under the side of the ship resting on the floor of the ocean. Then these cables are to be attached to anchor blocks.

 

My question is how are they going to run the cables under the ship? Mind you the process may be opposite, i.e. start on the anchor block side and go the reverse direction. Or perhaps some other process will happen.

 

Anyone have any thoughts on how the cables will get between the exposed side of the ship and to the anchor blocks, or vice verse.

Check this out.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=35230687&postcount=147

Nice photo showing two of the sponsons.

Giglio News article and photos of platform 2.

http://www.giglionews.it/2013060359722/news/isola-del-giglio/rimozione-completata-installazione-della-piattaforma-2.html

Dam that is one big heavy lift. I had not read about her...........she could do the job. The cutting down would of course help with the lift.

 

The last I read is they the Italians are looking at almost building a yard to handle the scrapping. That would not be a inexpensive endeavor.

 

AKK

I thought I read where Italy wants the scrapping to occur in their shipyards to help with the employment that project would bring.

It appears as if the Micoperi 30 crane is preparing to lift the platform (2?) off of the transport barge.

I think it's Platform no.2 arriving, as they are still drilling the holes for the legs for the final Platform no.3., unless of course all the drilling is now complete?

 

Hopefully they will take a few photos (assuming they drop it down into position today) & then add them to the weekly report due out in the morning, & also hopefully an update @ The Parbuckling Project.

Yes, I'd say it's platform 2.

Has anyone heard of a proposed "plan B"? According to several recent news articles in Italy, Franco Porcellacchia, vice president of refits for Carnival Corporation unveiled an alternate plan to bring in the Dockwise Vanguard to tow Concordia to Turkey where it would be dismantled.

 

Apologies if this has already been discussed here.

 

http://www.ilsole24ore.com/art/impresa-e-territori/2013-05-27/foto-151958.shtml?uuid=AbtU3hzH

 

http://it.ibtimes.com/articles/49596/20130528/costa-concordia-crociera-naufragio-isola-del-giglio-vanguard-last-minute.htm

 

http://www.net1news.org/cronaca/arriva-vanguard-gigante-dei-mari-pu%C3%B2-recuperare-concordia.html

Doesn't seem like that would be a feasible Plan B. If worst case the ship breaks apart during the parbuckling phase, I suspect it will be broken up on site and salvaged in pieces.

Came across a YouTube video,

showing a template being lifted off a barge yesterday (Tuesday) by Micoperi 30's fixed crane, & also the supply vessel Narvik arriving with another curved reinforcement plate presumably to cover more of the gash in C.C.'s hull. I think the template is for the final underwater platform no. 3, but could be wrong, might be for platform 2.

 

Not overly exciting, 14 mins long, skipped through some of it, not much else for us to see this week!...

Drilling for platform 2 is completed so it must be for platform 3.

There are about 100 heavy lift vessel able to lift and stow the caissons' date=' of which I would guess about 20 to 30 heavy lift vessels in service around the world able to hold position and mount the caissons. to the Concordia.

 

AKK[/quote']

 

Then it would seem the Titan/Micoperi operation has a good number of options when scheduling a heavy lift ship.

Hi All

Just found this short video taken some time ago (funnel still there and no Caisson) taken from a drone.

Gives a good reminder of the scale of the operation.

 

http://www.giglionews.it/2013052059686/dite-la-vostra/isola-del-giglio/la-concordia-sorvolata-da-un-drone.html#comments

That was an interesting flyover look at the ship.

I am not sure if the project is dependent on M/V Svenja alone to mount the caissons. For starters the same company operates another identical sister ship to M/V Svenja by the name of M/V Lone.

 

They also have four further heavy lifting ships, each almost as powerful. I don't have the individual weight of the caissons at hand (combined weight is 11,500 tons), but it might well be that one of the slightly smaller ships can equally well do the job.

 

Their full list has 16 (sixteen!) heavy lifting ships and can be seen here SAL_Heavy_Lift_Fleetlist_2013.pdf

 

SAL is also for sure not the only heavy lifting company in existence.

 

On balance, just because M/V Svenja is in Missouri (presumably on a job), doesn't meant anything really for the timing of this salvage project.

 

Wouldn't you all agree?

You mean the M/V Svenja is the New Orleans area near the Mississippi River. But, yes I agree they may well have already scheduled another heavy lift ship to position the underwater platforms as well as the sponsons.

All the holes for platform #2 have been completed according to the latest weekly report, so that next large platform may be coming to the site for installation soon.

http://www.giglionews.it/images/stories/allegati/rel_sett_osservatorio120513.pdf

Latest weekly report has photos of the hull plating that will be used to patch the gash in the hull.

http://www.giglionews.it/images/stories/allegati/rel_sett_osservatorio050513.pdf