More likely, salvagers would rely on cranes. It would not be easy—the wreck is far too massive for any single crane, Lacey says. The cranes not only would have to turn the ship upright, but hold it in place to keep it from sliding downward. To make their task easier, salvage teams would want to pump out as much water as possible, which would mean patching the massive gashes in its hull so that water does not rush back in, says Peter Tromp, manager at Dutch wreck removal company Euro Demolition.

Tromp doubts it could be done. Euro Demolition and Texas-based salvage firm T&T Bisso are partnering on a proposal to cut up the ship. "We think there's too much weight and too much damage to refloat it," Tromps says. Using cranes armed with metal shears capable of slicing five-centimeter-thick steel, the companies would carve the wreck into liftable chunks 200 to 300 metric tons in weight. Afterward, they would use electromagnets three meters in diameter to clean the seafloor of debris.

Towing, if it can be done, would be faster. "I've heard it's feasible to do it within six months," Lacey says. If Tromp and his colleagues do end up doing a chop job on the Costa Concordia, they estimate they can have it done in eight to 10 months.

Even if the Costa Concordia can be brought back to port in one piece, it seems very unlikely that it will be repaired and put back into service. "No one would want to travel on it," Lacey says.

14 Comments

1. 1. Fritz3 05:15 PM 3/6/12

   I'm pretty sure the Myth Busters tried to replicate the Donald Duck/ping pong balls method, and never got it to work. And that was using an old wooden 20-foot harbor boat.

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2. 2. Torchlake 05:48 PM 3/6/12

   High expansion foam.... close off bulkheads and pump them out.... The ripped in the hull....fill with foam! Displacement of water from those areas..... It is the rock that its hung up on is the problem.
   
   shaped charges could take care of it. There is enough positive flotation to keep it upright!

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3. 3. ErnestPayne 06:38 PM 3/6/12

   Why did the pumps fail. There should have been power sources higher in the ship to keep the pumps going.
   A marine engineer friend of mine thought the failure was "strange".

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4. 4. DaveAtFraud 11:29 PM 3/6/12

   I would be very surprised if it couldn't be done. Ships have been raised with far worse damage: http://www.amazon.com/Resurrection-Salvaging-Battle-Fleet-Harbor/dp/1557504881/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331094449&sr=1-1
   
   Also, this book is an excellent read.

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5. 5. mikecimerian 01:18 AM 3/7/12

   This ship had probably state of the art navigation. These are charted waters, why no computer warning? Even boats have radar, depth gouges,etc; even depth warning. The whole affair is irregular.

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6. 6. toohardforscience in reply to Fritz3 09:41 AM 3/7/12

   Actually, the Mythbusters episode found the ping pong ball strategy plausible:
   http://kwc.org/mythbusters/2004/11/mythbusters_ping_pong_balls_an.html

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7. 7. walas75 10:35 AM 3/7/12

   Definitely the best idea is towed to port and dismantle, sectioned in second place, the problem of the second option is in the on-site spills and pollution.

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8. 8. northernguy 07:59 PM 3/7/12

   The risk with cranes is the possibility of a seaward slide of the ship off the reef taking any cranes that are attached to it down with it. Even if they figure out some complex procedure for quick release or whatever, there is the real possibility that the suction caused by the ship going under would take anything in the area with it, attached or not.
   
   It's a big ship. Certainly, the suction produced by a quick slide would take anything that can be imagined capable of getting into place alongside.
   
   Thus one of the problems with various flotation schemes. Changing the weight distribution in any way could precipitate the very thing they are trying to avoid.
   
   I spent many years working on the water. I wouldn't go near any salvage project of any type on that ship.
   
   The safest and most predictable solution. Blow it up and let it go down into deep water. Anything else is really dangerous, really expensive and really, really unpredictable.
   
   I'm not saying other approaches can't be done. But there are some problems that it just isn't worth trying to fix.

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9. 9. Postman1 in reply to sauIt 09:48 PM 3/7/12

   sault- I think it is time for your meds, or maybe you need to double down. You are sounding a little bit rabid.
   
   

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10. 10. mikecimerian 10:47 PM 3/7/12

    @9 You are probably right. Yet the ship has to be cleaned up to a feasible and safe degree before turning it into an artificial reef.

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11. 11. jorat13461 12:58 AM 3/10/12

    Use a three air balloon with few cable as show on the image. Simple stuff. Next challenge?
    http://img32.imageshack.us/img32/544/saveboat.png

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12. 12. Jonnoxx 04:22 AM 3/11/12

    This site has the most well-reasoned implementation of the use of lifting balloons:
    
    http://everyday-cynic.blogspot.com/2012/02/concordia-dont-waste-time-taking-oil.html
    

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13. 13. DocF1 12:58 PM 4/13/12

    I know a salvage expert who works for one of the bidders. He is firmly convinced that the ship is both salvageable and can be returned to service.
    
    Both Smit and Titan have the expertise to do this. Salvage and scrapping in place are both very difficult enterprises. The Italian authorities want the hulk removed intact as the possibility of serious environmental damage is much greater with the scrap in place option.
    
    The salvage will be done using ground tackle and shore based anchors and something that can be called cranes, I suppose. Ground tackle (anchors) will be placed to both stabilize and provide leverage to right the ship. Water will be pumped out and then winches working through leverage will be used to right the ship. This is the usual way of righting large capsized ships in shallow waters.
    
    I do know a little bit about marine salvage as the late Great Lakes salvor, Captain John Roen was a close friend and mentor.

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14. 14. mastertater 01:15 AM 6/9/12

    As I recall the damage to the hull is on the port side and before the ship sank it spun around 180 deg. and was blown on shore and is now resting on its starboard side. The damaged hull is now clearly exposed to the air and accessible.
    
    Why not just fix the hull with expanding foam or weld metal sheets over it, pump the water out, and presto: righted ship.
    
    

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