Salvage crews are working to remove the shipwrecked Costa Concordia cruise ship before it gets crushed under its own weight off the coast of the Tuscan island of Giglio, according to NBC News.
If this attempt fails, there won't be another chance to recover the ship, according to officials. Nick Sloane, who is in charge of the salvage operation, said that the Concordia has compressed 10 feet since falling on its side on January 12, 2012, after its well-publicized crash that killed 32 people.
"We cannot put it back" and start over, Sloane said. They plan the attempt for mid-September. Sloane was on a workboat getting a close-up look at the wreckage.
The ship's Captain, Francesco Schettino, is charged with manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship before all passengers had been evacuated. The trial has been postponed until July 17 because of a lawyers' strike.
The original plan to remove the Concordia was also pushed back. It was originally supposed to be removed at the beginning of the summer. The plans had to be changed due to inclement weather.
"We lost two months to weather," Sloane told NBC. The sea's harsh conditions made it dangerous for the diving teams to work.
The team needs to install bags filled with cement and provide a more stable base when the ship is pulled upright.
It was "like trying to drill through glass at a 45-degree angle," Sloane said. He also said that the granite seabed was more resistant to drilling than expected.
The workers are facing immense pressure for the operation to succeed, as the window for removal gets smaller.
"Another winter and we might not be able to parbuckle," Sloane said, using the nautical term to describe righting a ship. If the ship compresses further, it may become impossible to pull the ship up and into a position to be pulled or floated away.
The project requires crane-like pulleys to flank the ship and slowly tilt the vessel upright. The process will take approximately 12 hours. Steel chains are being looped under the wreck to help pull it up. Crews are also attaching caissons, or tanks, to the Concordia's flank. They will also be attached to the submerged side of the ship, which will then be filled with air so the ship will float up to be towed away.
The final destination of the shipwreck hasn't yet been decided.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
