The plan to remove the hulking wreck of Costa Concordia, which lies half submerged off the Italian island of Giglio after capsizing in January, was revealed last month in Rome.

In what's being called an "unprecedented" effort, Italo-American consortium Titan-Micoperi will use pulling machines connected to a custom-built subsea platform to hoist the hull upright in one piece. The firms won the right to perform the work during a months-long bidding process.

The first step in the project, which will begin in a few days and expected to last a year said Costa in a statement, will be to stabilize the ship to prevent further slippage down the sloped seabed on which it rests. This will be achieved by attaching "tieback chains" from the submerged part of the ship (starboard side, closest to shore) to a posts built nearby.

After Concordia is stabilized, the subsea platform will be built along the port side (the non-submerged side) and huge caissons, in essence steel boxes, will be welded onto the exposed side of the ship. The caissons will be filled with water. "This gives the ship extra buoyancy," explained Mark Hoddinott, general manager of the International Salvage Union (Hoddinott previously worked for Titan). "Caissons have the effect of making the ship wider, and the water will add mass, which improves the 'turning moment' to bring it upright."

View Diagrams for Costa Concordia Removal Plan by clicking here.

Source: Cruise Industry News