Costa Concordia Progress
The operation to salvage the stricken Costa Concordia is coming to the end of its first phase.
You may remember from earlier posts that a platform to stand the ship on was to be built on the sea bed and that metal tanks called ‘Sponsons’ were to be welded to the side of the ship.
The platforms and anchor points have been completed and most of the sponsons are now in place.
The next stage of the operation will see the sponsons filled with water to help pull the ship upright and then filled with air to refloat the ship.
The operation is nearly ready to go, however Italian officials have suggested that further checks need to be made into the state of the ship to avoid any environmental damage from unknown holes in the side of the ship touching the sea bed. There is speculation that this could delay the next phase until 2014.
