Giglio Residents Updated on Costa Concordia Salvage Progress
One underwater platform has been installed and the second is about to be placed. Later this month, the salvors will complete a simulation model predicting how much water inside the ship will be released when it is rotated upright.
A Feb. 9 update from Titan Salvage and Micoperi, the companies in partnership to remove the stranded cruise ship Costa Concordia from the coast of the Italian island Giglio, says salvage operations have continued without delays, and the first two underwater platforms needed for support when the big ship is pulled upright will be in place this week.
A community meeting involving leaders of Costa Cruises, researchers from the University La Sapienza of Rome, and experts from Titan and Micoperi addressed progress to date and also the condition of water inside the ship. More than 5,000 analyses have been conducted on that water. "The alterations observed, due to the degradation of food, furniture and equipment, and the presence of hydrocarbons, are concentrated in specific compartments of the wreck," according to the update.
Some of that water will be released into the sea when the ship is turned. Monitoring will continue, and by the end of this month, the partners will have completed a simulation model predicting how much, so steps can be taken if necessary to minimize negative impacts on the marine environment, it says. Sampling of water outside the ship still shows no negative impacts, according to the update.
The remaining large platforms have been built and await transport to Giglio.