Costa Cruise Ship partially sunk off the coast of Italy

[k ellis]

I'm curious as to how you would even float her... Patching the hull and pumping her dry (mostly) is one thing but with the way it is listing, you've got all those rooms (balconies) as conduits to keep her filled..Anyone with salvage experience have thoughts on if it's possible to float her and how it might be done?

If you get a chance take a look at the old photos of the U.S.S. Oklahoma sunk in Pearl Harbor. It was capsized completely upside down yet they managed to patch her up and return her right side up. They even made her partially sea worthy (Despite the fact that horrible sea conditions did cause her to ultimately sink at sea) But if it can be done then it can be done again. Ultimately they will have to float her again to get her out of the area for either scrapping or repair and return to service which ever is decided.

 

[Antarctic-Adventurer]

More information here on the cave divers searching the inside of the Costa Concordia wreck. It must be a pretty dangerous dive with moving objects and an unstable ship though, added to the fact that she is enormous. Searching the whole vessel for any survivors trapped in air pockets could take a lot of divers and a lot of time.

Here for the story: Costa Concordia cruise ship sinking: Cave divers search the claustrophobic underwater corridors in search | News | National Post

Here for some more pictures: Costa Concordia cruise ship sinking: Striking photographs of tragedy in shallow waters | News | National Post

 

[Jax]

:w-t-f: One of the captions in the above links says

A breach is seen underwater on the side of the Costa Concordia cruise ship that ran aground off the west coast of Italy, at Giglio island January 16, 2012. Over-reliance on electronic navigation systems and a failure of judgement by the captain are seen as possible reasons for one of the worst cruise liner disasters of all time, maritime specialists say.

Where do they come up with this crap???? There was nothing wrong with the nav system, the Captain chose to go off of it.

This below is BS, too -- the original reports had the ship "shudder" and lights flicker well before the island, but that the crew told everyone it was just an electrical problem.

Half an hour later, the ship listed to the stern (amature video of the plates and such sliding), which is when people ran for life vests and the crew was telling them that there was nothing wrong.

Then the ship runs aground - see the ship-well-lit footage with the ship still upright.

Then, during the darkness, it tilted on its side. What is with all the changed story? I'll believe the passengers, first.

 

[Jax]

Fox pictures - it shows the nighttime pic with the Concordia still upright.

Seems the Captain realized the ship was mortally wounded and ran it aground. That, at least, saved the passengers, I'm sure.

Luxury Ship Runs Aground Off Italy, 6 Bodies Found | Fox News

EDIT:

According to the drawn pics and timeline, "the ship drifts without power". Yet the picture above shows the well-lit liner having already run aground.

Damn, people, get your lies straight!

 

[Jax]

Best picture of the initial damage on the port side, with the rock still stuck in the hull.

Another BS!!! The island is behind the ship, on the ship's right (starboard) side. WTF with the drawing -- it shows the island is on the ship's port side????

 

[Jax]

 

[Jax]

Somehow, that ship did a U-turn.

 

[emoreira]

The captain said that he maneuvered the ship to ground it to avoid sinking and saving thousands of lives. I've seen, can't remember where, that the ship did a u-turn to go ground by the island. Up to now, no one knows if the maneuver was done by the captain or by and other sailor. Perhaps the captain was laying very "busy" with that new girl that's now in the news and had no time to maneuver the ship.
Too many unknown facts. I'm also impressed that the ship listed to the contrary side of the hole. No matter the size of the hole, enough watertight compartments could have been closed to avoid sinking. This shows a complete unexpertise to handle the ship in this accidental conditions.

 

[Jax]

The captain said that he maneuvered the ship to ground it to avoid sinking and saving thousands of lives. I've seen, can't remember where, that the ship did a u-turn to go ground by the island. Up to now, no one knows if the maneuver was done by the captain or by and other sailor. Perhaps the captain was laying very "busy" with that new girl that's now in the news and had no time to maneuver the ship.
Too many unknown facts. I'm also impressed that the ship listed to the contrary side of the hole. No matter the size of the hole, enough watertight compartments could have been closed to avoid sinking. This shows a complete unexpertise to handle the ship in this accidental conditions.

I remember that someone had the anchor dropped so the ship could "swing around".

As for that bolded statement . . . um, no.

 

[Jax]

Grounded Ship Shifts Overnight, Rescue Ops Halted | Fox News

The sensors detected that the ship's bow was moving about 15 millimeters an hour and the stern about 7 millimeters an hour, said Nicola Casagli of the University of Florence, who has been called in by Italian authorities to monitor the ship's stability.

The Concordia's movements are being watched since any significant shift could be dangerous for divers trying to locate those still missing after the Concordia ran aground Jan. 13. An additional fear is that movement could damage tanks holding a half-million gallons of fuel oil and lead to leaks.

Those are some bold Mo-fers that are doing that search.