Crime scene ... The wreckage of Italy's Costa Concordia cruise ship that capsized killing 32 people has been righted after a unique salvage operation. AFP PHOTO / ANDREAS SOLARO Source: AFP
NOW that the Costa Concordia is upright again, the search will begin for the bodies of two people who died in the January 2012 cruise ship tragedy that claimed 32 lives.
Franco Gabrielli, head of the civil protection agency and project overseer, said the search for the corpses of Indian waiter Russell Rebello and Italian passenger Maria Grazia Trecarichi would start "in the next few days at the latest,'' after final checks to secure the ship.
"When the ship toppled, corridors became deep wells. Now she is upright, we can get to areas previously off limits,'' he said, adding that there would likely "still be areas it is difficult to access and search''.
"The fact that we could not find them outside (the ship) means that they are inside, but where, we have to see,'' Gabrielli, said.
Kevin Rebello, the waiter's brother, and Elio Vincenzi, the passenger's husband, were expected to arrive on Giglio today.
"I am still hoping to find my wife. This is a tense wait for me and for my daughter," Mrs Vincenzi said.
The wreck of Italy's Costa Concordia cruise ship begins to emerge from water near the harbour of Giglio Porto. AFP PHOTO / ANDREAS SOLARO Source: AFP
"We have started a series of operations to reinforce the hull," said Franco Porcellacchia, a senior engineer and one of the project managers.
"At the moment the ship is inaccessible for safety reasons. No one has permission to enter".
The cruise ship, which has been partially submerged for 20 months, is a crime scene.
It is hoped that 1500 safes can be recovered from the ship's cabins and returned, along with other personal possessions, to passengers.
"This will also start as soon as possible. We have a plan in place," said Mr Porcellacchia.
Two bodies have never been found after the Costa Concordia capsized last year. Rescuers will enter the vessel now it is righted to see if they can find their remains. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) Source:
The crippled Costa Concordia cruise ship pulled completely upright earlier today is a striking sight.
The cruise ship's port side, which had remained out of the water is still pristine white, while its heavily crushed starboard side, which had been submerged, is coated in brown scum and algae.
While the salvage operation was the biggest for a passenger ship ever undertaken, survivors will be recalling the nightmares of grown men pushing aside crying children to save themselves.
The severly damaged side of the stricken Costa Concordia with slime and algae is visible after the parbuckling operation succesfully uprighted the ship in Isola del Giglio, Italy. (Photo by Marco Secchi/Getty Images) Source:Getty Images
Thirty-two people died and hundreds were injured when the ship rammed into a reef on Giglio Island off Tuscany on January 13, 2012, and a massive rock tore a 70-metre gash into the hull of the 290-metre-long ocean liner, which keeled over.
Costa Concordia's starboard side, which was submerged for 20 months, is coated in brown scum and algae, whereas its port side, which had remained out of the water, is still pristine white. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)Source: AP
There were 4229 people from 70 countries on board.
As the world watched the successful salvage operation, thoughts returned to that horrific night of 13 January, 2012, when passengers jumped to their deaths as men pushed and shoved to get onto lifeboats.
The crippled Costa Concordia is seen after it was lifted upright on the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Italy, after a complicated, 19-hour operation to wrench it from its side where it capsized last year, with officials declaring it a "perfect" end to a daring and unprecedented engineering feat. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) Source:
Local residents and survivors told AFP that there was an eerie feeling as the ship rose - and some said the sight reminded them of the tragedy.
"Seeing it re-emerge is emotional for me," said survivor Luciano Castro. "I could not miss it. That ship could have been my end and instead I am here."
Five-year-old Dayana Arlotti, and her father William, were turned away from a lifeboat and drowned.
"It was every man for himself," said Michelle Barraclough, 46, of Melbourne.
The wreck of Italy's Costa Concordia cruise ship which begins to emerge from water near the harbour of Giglio Porto. AFP PHOTO / VINCENZO PINTO Source: AFP
"Everybody just shoved and screamed in 15 different languages," Ms Barraclough said.
"The people that pushed their way on to the boat were then trying to tell them to shut the door, not to let any more people on the boat after they had pushed their way on."
Edwin Gurd revealed men on board pushed past terrified women and children to get to the lifeboats first.
Edwin Gurd revealed men on board pushed past terrified women and children to get to the lifeboats first.
"... there was quite a lot of panic from the men who were forcing their way onto the boats. The men were stressed and panicking. They were pushing in front of women who should have got on first," said the 64-year-old retired policeman.
"There was a real danger of people being crushed."
Brian Page, 63, said that women and children "did not get priority at all."
The wreck of Italy's Costa Concordia cruise ship which begins to emerge from water near the harbour of Giglio Porto. Thirty-two people died when the ship, with 4,200 passengers onboard, hit rocks and ran aground in January 2012. AFP PHOTO / VINCENZO PINTO Source: AFP
"The ship was as big as a shopping mall, there was dark, there was absolute chaos, men were pushing women away, children in the back," said Peter Ronai, a lawyer for the family of a Hungarian violinist on the ship who, survivors recounted, helped children don life vests before perishing himself.
After a complicated, 19-hour operation to wrench the Concordia from its side where it capsized last year off Tuscany, officials declared it a "perfect" end to a daring and unprecedented engineering feat.
"I am relieved and I am a bit tired. I will have a beer and go to sleep. I am sending a kiss to my wife,'' the South African-born chief salvage master, Nick Sloane, said as he emerged from the barge where the control room had been set up.
The salvage team also had to take special care against spillages since Giglio is in the heart of one of Europe's biggest marine sanctuaries.
The Costa Concordia (upright) and after the cruise ship ran aground and keeled over off the Isola del Giglio. AFP PHOTO/FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/ANDREAS SOLARO Source: AFP
Shortly after 4am local time, a foghorn wailed on Giglio Island and the head of Italy's Civil Protection agency, Franco Gabrielli, announced that the ship had reached vertical and that the operation to rotate it - known in nautical terms as parbuckling - was complete.
"We completed the parbuckling operation a few minutes ago the way we thought it would happen and the way we hoped it would happen," said Franco Porcellacchia, project manager for the Concordia's owner, Costa Crociere SpA.
"A perfect operation, I must say."
The operation to right it had been expected to take no more than 12 hours, but dragged on after some initial delays regarding the vast system of steel cables, pulleys and counterweights. The final phase of the rotation went remarkably quickly, as gravity began to kick in and pull the ship toward its normal position.
The Concordia sits upright after a marathon operation. Source: AP
Parbuckling is a standard operation to right capsized ships, but never before had it been used on such a huge cruise liner.
Porcellacchia said an initial inspection of the starboard side, covered in brown slime from its 20 months under water while the ship was stuck on a rocky seabed perch, "looks pretty bad."
That is the side of the hull that was raised 65 degrees in the operation. Crews might have to do extensive work on that side to ready it for the attachment of empty tanks that will later be used to help float the vessel away. It must also be made strong enough to survive a second winter storm season, when high seas and gusts will likely buffet the 115,000-ton, 300m-long liner.
Thirty two people died and two bodies have never been recovered after the cruise ship Costa Concordia partially capsized in Isola del Giglio, Italy. (Photo by Marco Secchi/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images
Helping the Concordia to weather the winter is an artificial platform on the seabed that was constructed to support the ship's flat keel.
"The ship is resting on its platform," Gabrielli said.
The wreck of Italy's Costa Concordia cruise ship which begins to emerge from water near the harbour of Giglio Porto. AFP PHOTO / VINCENZO PINTO Source: AFP
Sloane said: "There is a lot of damage on the ship and we have to take stock of it."
The damage he said was caused by the capsizing, bearing 20 months of the ship's weight and the operation to rotate the ship.
"We have to do a really detailed inspection of the damage,'' to determine how to shore it up so it can withstand towing. But Sloane seemed confident: "She was strong enough to come up like this, she's strong enough to be towed.''
Experts proceeded cautiously during the rotation. The risk was that the rusting hull could snap or sink entirely, jeopardising the entire salvage operation and causing a likely environmental disaster.
There was no release of toxic liquids, as had been feared. The Concordia was emptied of fuel two months after its shipwreck, but the sea water inside its hull is thought to have been contaminated by residual fuel, chemicals and rotting food.
"It don't think we will have an ecological bomb,'' said Maria Sargentini, president of an environmental oversight group.
The Concordia's captain is on trial for alleged manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the ship during the chaotic and delayed evacuation. Captain Francesco Schettino claims the reef wasn't on the nautical charts for the liner's week-long Mediterranean cruise.
Costa is a division of Miami-based Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise company.
A hive of urgent activity surrounds the Concordia as the salvage operation continues into the night. AFP PHOTO / ANDREAS SOLARO Source: AFP
Meanwhile, Concordia captain Francesco Schettino, who has been accused of causing the accident that cost 32 lives and who was infamously heard to order escaping passengers back aboard the stricken vessel on the day it went down, has spent his day with lawyers.
Dubbed "Captain Coward" for his globally condemned actions, Schettino is expected in court again for his ongoing trial next Monday and, as work continues to salvage the Concordia for scrap, his legal team will be just trying to keep him out of jail. His reputation and probably his career have been scrapped already.
Captain Francesco Schettino after the first part of his trial. He denies all charges and says he saved lives. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini) Source: AP
Five employees of the Costa Cruises company have already been convicted of multiple manslaughter and negligence charges, having accepted plea bargains. Schettino is in the middle of his own trial on charges including multiple manslaughter and causing a shipwreck and faces up to 20 years in prison.
He contends he is innocent and is being made a scapegoat, insisting that the reef wasn't marked on the ship's navigational charts. He has also depicted himself as a hero in the tragedy, saying that he skillfully steered the stricken ship closer to Giglio's harbour, thus facilitating the rescue of the survivors.
Prosecutors allege Schettino steered the ship too dangerously close to the island in a publicity stunt for the cruise company.
After the disaster, suggestions were made that he was also distracted by the presence of Moldovan model Domnica Cemortan on the bridge and that he had been seen kissing her before the crash. Her luggage was found in his cabin, but he denies they were having an affair.
Moldovan Domnica Cemortan, who was spotted with Costa Concordia captain Francesco Schettino during the spectacular crash, at his trial on July 17. AFP PHOTO / TIZIANA FABI Source: AFP
She is claiming civil damages as a passenger, but has said the captain should not shoulder all the blame for the disaster. She attended his indictment hearing.
Schettino said that "prison doesn't frighten me," when asked him about the possibility of a long sentence.
"One's conscience causes fear. My conscience is in place," he said after indictment.
"I will be able to explain calmly what happened".
Schettino claims he is a scapegoat and that media attention in the days after the disaster unfairly focused on him. He further argues that lives were saved by his manoeuvrings in response to the crash.
A hive of urgent activity surrounds the Concordia as the salvage operation continues into the night. AFP PHOTO / ANDREAS SOLARO Source: AFP
Salvage workers struggled to overcome obstacle after obstacle as they slowly inched toward their goal of raising the crippled vessel 65 degrees to the upright position.
An early morning storm delayed the salvage command barge from getting into place for several hours. Later, some of the cables dragging the ship's hull upright went slack, forcing engineers to climb the hull to fix them.
THERE'S MORE WORK TO DO: WATCH A LIVE FEED OF THE OPERATION
The Concordia itself didn't budge for the first three hours after the operation began, engineer Sergio Girotto told reporters.
The initial operation to lift the ship moved it just 3 degrees toward vertical. After 10 hours, the crippled ship had edged upward by just under 13 degrees, a fraction of what had been expected.
Still, the top engineers were staying positive.
The Concordia itself didn't budge for the first three hours after the operation began, engineer Sergio Girotto told reporters.
The initial operation to lift the ship moved it just 3 degrees toward vertical. After 10 hours, the crippled ship had edged upward by just under 13 degrees, a fraction of what had been expected.
The scene in January last year after the Concordia ran aground. (AP Photo/Giglionews.it, Giorgio Fanciulli)Source: AP
At the waterline, a few feet of slime-covered ship that had been underwater slowly became visible.
The tilt of the ship at the time of the accident was so drastic that many lifeboats couldn't be launched. Dozens of the 4200 passengers and crew were plucked to safety by helicopters or jumped into the sea and swam to shore. The bodies of many of the dead were retrieved inside the ship.
The rocks of the reef can clearly be seen in the gaping hole left by the crash in January, 2012. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia) Source: AP
Girotto said the cameras on Monday did not immediately reveal any sign of the two bodies that were never recovered.
Images transmitted by robotic diving vehicles indicated the submerged side of the cruise ship's hull had suffered "great deformation" from all its time on the granite seabed, battered by waves and compressed under the weight of the ship's 115,000 tons, Girotto said.
Officials said so far no appreciable pollution from inside the ship had spewed out. Giglio Island is part of a Tuscan marine sanctuary where dolphins and fish are plentiful.
Stunned passengers brought to shore after the Concordia wrecked last year. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)Source: AP
Parbuckling was used on the USS Oklahoma in 1943 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. But the 300m Concordia has been described as the largest cruise ship ever to capsize and subsequently require the complex rotation so it can be towed away in one piece and dismantled for scrap.
A few dozen island residents gathered on a breakwater to witness the operation. One woman walking her dog sported a T-shirt with "Keep Calm and Watch the Parbuckling Project" written across it in English.
Others watched from afar. Kevin Rebello, whose brother Russel was a waiter on the ship and was never found, said he was in constant touch with the project managers as he monitored news reports.
"I haven't slept since yesterday," he told The Associated Press in an interview in Rome. "It's taken 20 months. If it takes another 20 hours, for me it's worth the wait."
The stricken Costa Concordia slowly begins to emerge during a parbuckling operation off Isola del Giglio, Italy.Source: Getty Images
Rebello plans to travel to Giglio Island on Tuesday, even though he knows there's no certainty his brother's remains will be found. His hope is that someday he can bring his brother home to Mumbai "to give him a decent burial.
"That's what me, my family, his wife and all of us are hoping for," he said.
Islanders whose lives have been turned upside-down by the wreck said they were relieved that the time when the ship will finally be removed was drawing closer.
Engineers work furiously in the fading light. (Photo by Marco Secchi/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images
They will have months more to wait, as the towing away is not planned until spring of next year at the earliest when the ship will eventually be scrapped.
Special prayers were held in a local church on the eve of the operation on Sunday for the salvage.
"The sooner it happens, the better," said the parish priest, Father Lorenzo Pasquotti, who opened his church to survivors on the night of the disaster.
Some 400 journalists witnessed the event and the island's tiny port was swarming with officials, rescuers and curious onlookers since the early morning.
The idyllic harbour has played host to a shipwreck for 20 months. (Photo by Marco Secchi/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
The 14-deck Costa Concordia was once a floating pleasure palace with a casino, four swimming pools and the largest spa centre ever built on a ship.
Four crew members and the head of ship owner Costa Crociere's crisis unit were handed short prison sentences earlier for their roles in the crash.
The parbuckling salvage technique was also used to refloat the USS Oklahoma, sunk at her Pearl Harbour moorings by the Japanese in 1941. Source: Supplied
The ship had 4229 people from 70 countries on board when it crashed on January 13, 2012.
Two bodies -- that of an Indian waiter and an Italian passenger -- were never recovered from the wreck and are believed to be still stuck under the ship.
"I am filled with hope. I am still hoping to find my wife," Elio Vincenzi, the widower of Maria Grazia Trecarichi, told Italian news channel SkyTG24.
Newspaper columnists said the righting of the ship was a chance at "rehabilitation" for Italy after the damage it suffered from tales of Schettino's antics.
One of many television journalists at the scene reports on the epic operation. (Photo by Marco Secchi/Getty Images) Source: Getty Images
"What is left of Italy's reputation and credibility is playing out on this chunk of rock," said Enrico Fierro, a columnist for Il Fatto Quotidiano daily.
Tito Boeri went further in La Repubblica, comparing the rising ship to the future of Italy's economy.
"If everything goes well... the Italian economy will stop sinking and will get back on track," he said.
