Costa Concordia

[Dangermouse]

Anyone following this salvage operation?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-24104741#

I find it fascinating that they are able to raise a 114,000 tonne ship, intact, using, in essence, a high-school physics problem of pulleys and weights.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/69864000/jpg/_69864191_costaconcordia_464.jpg

[Spittybug]

I find it even more amazing in this day and age that they have to......................

[JohnZ]

That whole disaster story is something that I'm not proud of, as an italian !

Moreover, I'm waiting for my Delorean-vessel to come, so things like that scare me a lot at the moment!

:meditation:

[Jimmyvonviggle]

Even yet more fascinating is they say it will cost around 800 million to do this.:nervous:

[Dangermouse]

Actually they say they have spend $800m so far.

$800,000,000. (She cost $570m to build in 2005 as reference, per wiki)

That's going to hurt Carnival's bottom line, I'd say.

Maybe the $800m includes the write off costs of the ship??

[thirdmanj]

That whole disaster story is something that I'm not proud of, as an Italian.

What are your thoughts on the Andrea Doria? :devil:

[JohnZ]

What are your thoughts on the Andrea Doria? :devil:

That is a shameful story too, but the one that really fascinates me a lot is the MOBY PRINCE disaster. It's less famous, but I find it so strange and interesting!

Take a look: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby_Prince_disaster

You know the stories that mix up human mistakes, international tricks, dead people and just one survivor... that's it! Terrible, but I love it.

[john 05141]

Funny to see they cut of the smoke stack before raising her.
I'm surprised they did not do this immediately after the accident to make it more incognito like they do with airplanes (logo from the tail and fuselage)

I never liked Costa cruises, they had big issues years ago. The captains hardly speak English and at one occasion they refused to return the passports until charges against the cruise line were dropped from angry passengers.
There are way better cruise lines out there.
The Costa Condordia 's Captain is one of Italy's most hated persons at this time.


BTW it is 800M $ or 600 €.

Jan

[JohnZ]

The Costa Condordia 's Captain is one of Italy's most hated persons at this time.
Jan

Yes he is, but as it often happens here in Italy when the big fuss aroud the operation and the ship itself will be gone, soon the man will be forgotten. Of course he won't go in prison, but in a while we will totally ignore his end. Then some annual commemorations will come, but the captain will disappear from our memories. :slap:

Anyway, I'm glad to see that they finally raised the ship totally. I would say that this has been a good italian story. It's like the score is "bad italians 1 - good italians 1"

:)

[Michael]

.....at one occasion they refused to return the passports until charges against the cruise line were dropped from angry passengers.

I have been on about 8 cruises, my wife has been on over 30, we have never had out passport "seized" for safe keeping by any of the cruise lines. If any cruise line decided they needed to keep my passport for me, as if I am not able to keep it safe myself, they would never get my business ever again.

[ssaleen]

So what are they gonna do with this big piece of fiberglass now that it is up?
Part it out, or take it out to sea and sink it? I thought I saw one article that said they are gonna rebuild it?
Seems like that would take a lot to do that.

[Ryan King]

So what are they gonna do with this big piece of fiberglass now that it is up?
Part it out, or take it out to sea and sink it? I thought I saw one article that said they are gonna rebuild it?
Seems like that would take a lot to do that.

The only thing I know of for its fate is dismantling. If I remember correctly, they can't sink it due to the tanks still holding fuel.

[Jonathan]

So what are they gonna do with this big piece of fiberglass now that it is up?
Part it out, or take it out to sea and sink it? I thought I saw one article that said they are gonna rebuild it?
Seems like that would take a lot to do that.

If I'm not mistaken, the next few steps are:

1.) Attempt to locate the last two bodies that were not yet found.
2.) Retrieve passenger valuables (cabin safes in particular with cash, jewelry, etc.).
3.) Retrieve the ship's cash on board belonging to Carnival (I understand ships carry $5-10 million USD or equivalent at all times to pay staff, vendors, coming and going for shore excursions, casino, etc.).
4.) Ensure the main structure is capable of being moved without breaking apart.
5.) Take the ship apart and sell metal as scrap. The ship will not be repaired.

I believe Carnival has already received the ~$650 million USD in insurance claims money for the value of the ship itself.

The number being tossed around for what the whole situation will cost the insurance company is $2 billion USD. This may or may not account for various lawsuits against the corporation or the Captain himself. He will not be fading into a distant memory I don't think as his actions were responsible for the deaths of 32 people. Knowingly disregarding ship alarms and protocol to salute the crowd on shore (akin to tipping your wings in a plane) and acting like an arrogant cowboy so full of himself and his abilities got people killed. That arrogance led to him giving the abandon ship signal one hour after it should have been made. If the lifeboats on the listing side could have been used, they expect lives would have been saved. The delay in getting people off though made those lifeboats unuseable. Apparently the most serious charge against him is not the one relating to the deaths of the 32 people, it is the one where he abandoned ship himself first before everyone esle was off. It seems those in Italy in this industry consider that to be the most serious offence and the one he will hang because of.

[Dangermouse]

The only thing I know of for its fate is dismantling. If I remember correctly, they can't sink it due to the tanks still holding fuel.

I think they can't sink it locally as it is a marine reserve, so once they get it floating and tow-able, it makes sense to try and get some scrap steel $ for it.

It's a little dented though:


http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/09/17/article-2421734-1BDFDA5D000005DC-451_964x642.jpg

[Ryan King]

I'm really looking forward to more photos of inside the ship...I wanted some when it was still underwater, but I suppose it was too dangerous to go inside.

[john 05141]

So what are they gonna do with this big piece of fiberglass now that it is up?
Part it out, or take it out to sea and sink it? I thought I saw one article that said they are gonna rebuild it?
Seems like that would take a lot to do that.

Fibreglass???
The hull is made out of steel, and from some point they switch to aluminum becasue of the weight (upper decks)

I am also looking forward to see more pics!
jan

[pezzonovante88]

Actually I think the hull is made from an epoxy-coated steel, while the rest of the structure is fiberglass. The visible exterior is painted steel.

[Jimmyvonviggle]

Actually I think the hull is made from an epoxy-coated steel, while the rest of the structure is fiberglass. The visible exterior is painted steel.

Epoxy coated steel? Sounds familiar.

[Jonathan]

Actually I think the hull is made from an epoxy-coated steel, while the rest of the structure is fiberglass. The visible exterior is painted steel.

Damn, I hope they don't need to get under there and replace the fuel accumulator... ;)

[pezzonovante88]

I'll take my stateroom on the port side.