ITALY: Engineers delay start of Costa Concordia recovery

Record ID: 861279

  • Title: ITALY: Engineers delay start of Costa Concordia recovery
  • Date: 16th September 2013
  • Summary: GIGLIO, ITALY (SEPTEMBER 16, 2013) (REUTERS) -NIGHT VIEWS- WRECKED COSTA CONCORDIA LYING ON SIDE SEEN THROUGH VILLAGE BUILDINGS WRECK OF COSTA CONCORDIA SALVAGE WORKERS IN OFFICE NEAR WRECK BOAT NEXT TO CONCORDIA SHIP MOVING PAST COSTA CONCORDIA WRECK ON SIDE HEAD OF CIVIL PROTECTION UNIT FRANCO GABRIELLI ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Italian) HEAD OF CIVIL PROTECTION UNIT, FRANCO GABRIELLI, SAYING: "The operation that was scheduled to start at six for the moment have been delayed by about two hours. The motive is a simple motive, this night on the island a violent storm hit and the work scheduled during the night was not able to take place." NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 1st October 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • City:
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6MFPX885W5K8XG1P24SSQEUSQ
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  • Story Text: Salvage engineers pushed back the start of an all-day operation on Monday (September 16) to lift the wrecked Costa Concordia liner upright after an overnight storm interrupted preparations, officials said.
    Franco Gabrielli, head of Italy's Civil Protection Authority, said work had been delayed by about two hours but that there was no serious threat to the operation, one of the most complex salvage projects ever attempted.
    "The operation that was scheduled to start at six for the moment have been delayed by about two hours. The motive is a simple motive, this night on the island a violent storm hit and the work scheduled during the night was not able to take place," he told reporters.
    He said a brief but violent storm overnight had prevented engineers from setting up the barge where the on-site control room will be located.
    The a so-called "parbuckling" operation will see the ship rotated by a series of cranes and hydraulic machines, pulling the hulk from above and below and slowly twisting it upright.
    Once upright, the vessel will be stabilised before being towed away for scrap, probably next spring.
    The financial stakes for insurers in the recovery of the wreck on the island of Giglio are huge, with the ship's owner Costa Cruises last week estimating the cost of the salvage operation at 600 million euros (795 million USD) "and rising".
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