Costa Concordia Lift 'To Cause Huge Damage'

By Tom Kington, in Giglio

Salvage officials have warned the 950ft-long (290m) Costa Concordia will bend and suffer enormous internal damage as jacks hoist it off rocks with enough pressure to lift two Eiffel Towers.

But they remain confident the ship's hull will remain intact as 56 massive chains tighten around it on Monday, avoiding the nightmare scenario of the 114,000 tonne vessel shattering and spilling its contents into the waters around the Italian island of Giglio.

"The ship will probably bend during the operation and metal inside will buckle," said Sergio Girotto, project manager for Micoperi, the Italian firm which has teamed-up with US company Titan to raise the Costa Concordia.

The cruise liner capsized in shallow water 20 months ago after smashing into rock, causing the deaths of 32 passengers.

Salvage workers and local authorities confirmed on Sunday that good weather would allow the 10-12 hour operation to start just after 6am on Monday.

"We have 12,000 tonnes of pressure to use, which would lift two Eiffel Towers, but I hope we will only need five or six thousand," he said.

Some 500 engineers and divers are working on the project

That will depend how firmly the ship is wedged onto two pinnacles of underwater granite where it came to rest on the night of January 12, last year, prompting the panicked evacuation of 4,200 passengers and crew.

The two outcrops, which are embedded six metres into the hull of the ship, are the great unknown at the heart of the 600m euro, 'parbuckling' operation, which will see the ship hoisted by jacks on to a bed of 1,000 cement bags and six underwater platforms bigger than a football pitch.

Marine biologist Giandomenico Ardizzone, who has been monitoring the sea bed for the ship's operator Costa Crociere, said he had dived under the vessel on Saturday to fix cameras on the points where the rocks plunge into the hull.

"We have been told to get ready for loud noises during the lifting," said Mr Ardizzone.

The ship is currently wedged onto two pinnacles of rock under the water

Microphones placed throughout the ship will relay the sound of twisting metal to a command centre, where the pressure on the jacks will be controlled. The ship's huge marble spa could shatter during the lifting, added Girotto.

The ship, which is currently lying on its starboard side, it will be pulled onto a platform built at a depth of 31 metres.

"Everyone expects the ship to rise up, but it will appear the opposite," said Mr Ardizzone. "Once it is settled, the water will rise up to deck seven, which is almost at the bridge.

Measuring 55 metres high, the Costa Concordia was designed to sit in eight metres of water when floating.

Now punctured by holes, it will sink onto the platform and the water line will be 23 metres higher than normal, leaving only 24 metres of the ship visible until it is refloated next year and towed off for scrap using massive floatation tanks.

Engineers insist there will be little risk of pollution to the island

"What we will see for the first time are the decks on the starboard side from where people evacuated on the night," said mayor of Giglio Sergio Ortelli.

Mr Ardizzone said that as 29,000 tonnes of water pours out of the ship as it is pulled upright, an even greater amount, 43,000 tonnes, will enter the ship.

"That means less of the ship will be visible out of the water after the parbuckling," he said.

What does come out will be polluted water that has swilled inside the ship for months in a mix of residual fuels, heavy metals and rotten food, including over three tonnes of melon, 500 litres of olive oil, 14,000 packets of cigarettes, 18,000 bottles of wine, eight tonnes of beef and over 11 tonnes of fish.

How the ship will look in the water if the operation is a success

Mr Ardizzone said the quantities of heavy metals and fuels were too small to create concern for the surrounding protected marine park, a view shared by Maria Sargentini, the head of a public commission set up to monitor the operation.

"We have absorbent booms in place around the ship and we are really confident that pollution will be contained," he said.

"The food will likely smell, but it is harmless. After all the island already flushes its sewers into the sea."

Mr Girotto said that in the run up to the parbuckling, 4,000 cubic metres of water had already been removed from the food storage area of the ship and the laundry.

"Those were the two parts of the ship that our samples showed were the most polluted. Now the water down there is much cleaner," he said.

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