Costa Concordia sinks off the coast of Italy

I just came back from Hampton Roads where I saw this. Should imagine the same thing would work fine for the Costa Concordia.

Hi,

I read somewhere that a part of the £30 million contract will be to modify the ship to support the over hanging part.

That is true. BUT, how much weight can it safely carry. That cruise ship is pretty darn heavy when you consider how tall it is. A lot heavier than a deckful of yachts. Not to mention how much water will be trapped in various compartments on the cruise ship.

If I recall, the plan is to use the sponsons that they attached to the sides
to float the vessel while it is towed to a nearby port for dismantling.
The only thing that might change that plan is the amount of damage to the starboard side. It will be interesting if they can still do that now that they realize the extent of the damage.

117,000 MT According to this article.

Dockwise Vanguard to Lift Costa Concordia from Giglio | ******** ? Maritime & Offshore News

The height of this or any vessel is only one component of the equation that makes up the volume, the actual deadweight tonnage which this wreck can be considered to be is something a bit different.

I can't find any photos of this vessel carrying yachts so not sure this is really a valid observation.

It might come as a surprise but the salvage operation to date has been conducted by professionals and so far they have done a pretty good job, I don't see the calculation and execution of the next phase and what's involved as being beyond them regardless of how wet the carpets and drapes are.

The worst of the damage is to the aluminum superstructure and shouldn't matter much. The caissons on the port side are welded to the steel hull even though the extend higher. The starboard side caissons will also be welded to steel. I think they will still be able to float it and tow it to Italy. From what I read the numbers between breaking it up in place and floating it and towing it away were very close with the float it and tow it option just barely being the least likely to further harm the environment.

Most of the ship will remain submerged anyway. They are planning to float just enough of it to tow it away.

Where did this DockWise scenario come from?
Every document I've seen has this ship being towed out on her own bottom.

From the article:

Once loaded, the Dockwise Vanguard will transport the wreckage to an as of yet undecided location where it will be offloaded -either by float off or “skid off,” meaning transferred directly to a pier- and eventually scrapped. Original plans called for the Costa Concordia to be refloated and towed to a port in Italy for demolition, but by using the Dockwise Vanguard, once the ship is loaded, the options for scrapping are wide open.

is probably as good a reason as any and as yet it is not confirmed this is going to actually happen so it remains to be seen exactly what happens to the wreck before the gas torches and plasma cutters arrive in force.

This started with reports a two(?) weeks ago that the salvage company paid Dockwise a $22 million retainer.
Dockwise Vanguard does not have bow structures like the other semi submersibles have. (Think aircraft carrier as far as the load platform goes.) The idea is to carry loads longer than the ship itself.

The top of Vanguards deck can be submersed 16 meters. (AFAIK also a new record.) Costa Concordia has a nominal draft of 8m but rests at 30m.
I suppose that the main reasons are twofold, you don't have to rise the Costa quite as far before you can support it on the load platform and do the rest as part of Vanguards lift process. (Lower center of gavity, less chance to tip the thing over.) Also the speed of the Vanguard should be much higher than towing the Costa Concordia, which in turn should reduces the weather risk significantly.

Edit: And yes, that also means that you have more options as far as salvage ports go.

KIWI, I understand they are professionals and I agree to date they have done a great job. However, this is way beyond the scope of anything that has really been done before. Quite frankly if it sank 1/2 a mile further offshore from where it is sitting, it would've been left there. I think if it was a US Navy ship instead of a cruise ship, that the US Navy with all of their resources would most likely have destroyed it in place. But who knows. I think the time table has been a little long, but weather and the scope of the project may have determined that.

Well does look like they are seriously considering the Dockwise Vanguard as an option to towing:

Giant heavy lift ship is secured as an option to remove Concordia wreck

I agree raising the Concordia completely out of the water does bring a different set of problems than just floating her enough to tow her. It does give them the option of taking her to any breaking yard in the world and would be a powerful decision factor.

From today's testimony it appears that the captain is not only a derelict captain and a coward, but a liar and a sleezeball as well:
Woman admits to affair with Costa Concordia captain - Video on TODAY.com

If he lied to investigators about one thing.......

Nah, a piece of arse during the voyage should not put the toy-ship on the rocks. Too many other factors in play, the major one of course is incompetence and stupidity on the bridge a few minutes before the grounding.

Let the news media speculate that sex at sea will surely lead to disaster and by God, the blond bimbo from Moldavia should be responsible because she distracted the Master and Commander and by God she should stand trial..