by Stephanie Boyd - Salvage workers in Italy have succeeded in setting the stricken Costa Concordia cruise ship upright, 20 months after it capsized
GIGLIO, Italy -- Engineers in Italy have managed to raise the battered hull of stricken cruise ship Costa Concordia in a painstaking and costly operation which took 19 hours to complete.
At 4am local time (02:00 GMT) on Tuesday, Franco Porcellacchia, leader of the technical team for the cruise line Costa Crochiere, declared the Costa Concordia in upright position. "A perfect operation, I must say," he commented, adding that no environmental spill had been detected.
South African-born chief salvage master, Nick Sloane, emerged from the barge where the control room for the operation had been set up, saying: "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 114,000-ton ship - twice as heavy as the Titanic - came to rest on an underwater platform where it will remain until after extensive repairs to its damaged starboard side had been carried out. The vessel is then set to be floated and towed to a scrapyard.
The salvage project is the largest and most expensive of its kind in history, with costs already amounting to more than $800 million.
The Costa Concordia ran aground off the island of Giglio in January 2012, killing 32 of the 4,200 people on board. The ship's captain, Francesco Schettino, accused of manslaughter and abandoning ship, was preparing for his next court hearing due to take place on September 23.
Reported by One News Page Staff 2 days ago.