Posted on 01/20/2012 5:40:20 PM PST by BfloGuy
"What do you do with a 1,000-foot wreck that's full of fuel and half-submerged on a rocky ledge in the middle of an Italian marine sanctuary? Remove it. Very carefully. Stuck on a rocky shoal off the Tuscan island of Giglio, leaving the wreck where it is probably isn't an option but removing a massive ship that's run hard aground and incurred major damage to the hull involves logistical and environmental issues that are just as large. First there's the fuel. A half a million gallons of fuel could wreak havoc on the marine ecosystem — the ship is smack in the middle of the Pelagos Sanctuary for Mediterranean Marine Mammals. Engineers may need to go in from the side using a special drill to cut through the fuel tanks in a process called hot tapping. 'You fasten a flange with a valve on it, you drill through, access the tank, pull the drill back out, close the valve, and then attach a pumping apparatus to that,' says Tim Beaver, president of the American Salvage Association. 'It's a difficult task, but it's doable.' Then if it's determined that the Costa Concordia can be saved, engineers could try to refloat the ship and tug it back to dry dock for refurbishing. The job will likely require 'a combination of barges equipped with winches and cranes' to pull the cruise liner off its side then once the Concordia is off the rocks, 'they are going to have to fight to keep it afloat, just like you would a battle-damaged ship.' Another alternative is to cut the vessel into smaller, manageable parts using a giant cutting wire coated with a material as hard as diamonds called a cheese wire in a method was used to dismember the 55,000-ton Norwegian-flagged MV Tricolor. Regardless of how the Concordia is removed, it's going to be a difficult, expensive and drawn-out process. 'I don't see it taking much less than a year, and I think it could take longer,' says Bob Umbdenstock, director of planning at Resolve Marine Group."
They will be sealing it up and will start pumping ping pong balls into it in mid February then it will be towed to dry dock and refitted
Don’t worry, I hear the seas are rising.
Eleven dead and twenty still missing, almost certainly dead, and all the enviro-weenies care about is a little bit of fuel oil. Nasty little evil morons.
The farther North you go the higher the tide differential.
How about that black rubber spray on they sell on TV. It says it floats boats.
You’re right... you must watch the late television ads like I do. Stops any sort of leak, too. You may be on to something, CGG!
He just saying that to get more money for the job.
Ding ding ding, We have a winner!!
According to the ad, all they have to do is get some screen wire and lots of cans of the spray on rubber and the problem is solved.
LOL!
I’m on the technical side.
I’m sure our sales guys would have told me to shut the hell up!
If the bottom of her hull (not the side) is up against a rock outcropping, they’ll have to create enough buoyancy to float her upright onto the outcropping and then over it.
Remember, this ship is bigger and weighs more that an aircraft carrier.
If they can do it, the longer it takes, the more it’s going to cost to refit her. Saltwater eats everything.
I think this ship will have her super-structure cut off as much as possible, then floated to the bone-yard.
I’m guessing no ballast, but plenty of vomit.
Pump foam into the compartments that were ripped open on the rocks, forcing out the water, and then get her off the rocks at high tide. Clean her up for a couple Million Lira(?), and you’re back in business.
The hull was pierced on the rock outcropping, and a huge chunk of rock broke off in the hull. It’s still there, and it’s the size of a cement truck.
They should, however, be able to isolate the compromised area, close all the watertight doors and hatches, and start pumping water out, one space at a time. It might not be too difficult to right it up again and float it off of there.
They’ll either seal up the lower sections and pump them full of air to refloat it or they’ll strap a zillion empty air bags around the bottom of it and fill those with air to refloat it.
Otherwise they’ll scrap it...
That is the reason I went in to submarines when I joined the Navy. In crap like that, go deeper.
A half a million gallons of fuel could wreak havoc on the marine ecosystem
If that were true, these same ecosystems would have been dead since WWII. Greenie hand wringing at its worst
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