Costa Concordia salvage operation will be biggest in history

It will take huge cranes and air tanks to finally re-float the stricken Costa Concordia at a cost of around $300 million dollars. The salvage operation will begin in a few days.

The Costa Concordia sank off the coast of Tuscan island Giglio on January 13 this year. 30 people died in the disaster and two are still unaccounted for – there were 4,200 on board. Titan Salvage of the United States and Micoperi of Italy have been put in charge of the salvage operation and fronted media yesterday with the projected cost and commitment.

“This will be the largest refloat in history but we think it’s entirely possible,” said Richard Habib, president of Titan Salvage.

The process will be long but the ship should be floating and ready to be towed by February 2013. By the end of August the ship will be stabilised. Two cranes will be attached to an under water platform to help right the Costa Concordia. Once that is done, tanks will be placed on one side and filled with air to float the damaged vessel.

Environmentalists are worried about what will happen to the part of the coast the Costa Concordia damaged. The good news is that after the ship has been towed the seabed and damaged areas will be tended to and repaired.