Giglio Island News

Crowley Maritime Corp.’s Houston-based subsidiary TITAN Salvage and Italian engineering partner Micoperi were honored with the International Salvage Union (ISU) Meritorious Service Award during the organization’s Associate Members’ Day Conference in London. The award was presented by ISU President Leendert Muller in recognition of TITAN and Micoperi’s outstanding service to the salvage industry during the successful execution of the largest single maritime wreck removal project ever to be undertaken, the Costa Concordia.

The North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) announced earlier this month that Houston-based TITAN Salvage, a subsidiary of Crowley Maritime Corp., is the recipient of its 2014 Corporate Marine Environment Protection Award. The award recognizes TITAN’s proactive approach towards protecting and preserving the oceans. “TITAN is committed to ensuring the safety of our people, the public and the environment,” said TITAN’s Chris Peterson, vice president. “This accolade is a testament to our mission. Peterson will accept the award on behalf of the TITAN team at NAMEPA’s New York City conference on October 29. Lindsay Malen…

Crowley Maritime Corp. subsidiary TITAN Salvage and project partner Micoperi has confirmed that the Costa Concordia – the Concordia-class cruise ship that wrecked off Giglio Island, Italy in January 2012 – is safely moored at the Port of Genoa Voltri, Italy, marking what they describe as the completion of the largest maritime salvage job in history. Towing the disabled ship from the Tuscan Archipelago to the Mediterranean seaport of Genoa was a remarkably delicate task that required a convoy of more than a dozen support vessels, including two tugboats with a combined 24,000 horsepower and 275 tons of bollard pull at the bow for the hull, and two additional auxiliary tugs positioned aft.

The Costa Concordia wreck removal team reported this morning at 10:30 a.m. that after 22 hours of navigation, the convoy was over 50 miles off Giglio Island with about 140 miles from Genoa Prà-Voltri. At the time of the update, navigation speed was about 2 knots. The project reported good weather and sea conditions, with calm sea and 6-7 knots of wind from North/Northeast. The first environmental sampling activity has been performed yesterday evening, in the stern and bow area, as per predefined plan.

The Crowley Maritime Corp. subsidiary TITAN Salvage and partner Micoperi have confirmed that the Costa Concordia – the Concordia class cruise ship that wrecked along shores of Giglio Island, Italy, in January 2012 – has been refloated and has begun its final voyage to an assigned berth in Port of Genoa Voltri, Italy, some 200 miles away. The project is the largest and one of the most technically complex maritime salvage jobs ever completed. Currently moving at an average speed of two knots…

Salvage going to plan, hulk due to depart July 21. Engineers were securing the final chains to the Costa Concordia on Tuesday, preparing the wrecked luxury liner to be towed away from the Italian island where it sank two and half years ago, killing 32 people. The 114,500 tonne Concordia ran aground off Giglio island in January 2012 and has been stranded there ever since as engineers set up one of the biggest maritime salvage operations in history. Now the rusting hulk of the once-gleaming white ship, more than twice the size of the Titanic, is on course to leave the Tuscan coast on July 21, engineers said at a press conference. "Work has proceeded all night, still 4 chains to be connected," the wreck removal project organisers said on their official Twitter feed at around midday.

The Costa Concordia’s salvage team has confirmed that the ship refloating operation is set to proceed starting on Monday, July 14. As was the case for the parbuckling project, the operation’s commencement is subject to authorization from the observatory and also weather forecasts over the next few days. Therefore, final confirmation of the start of the refloating operation will not be announced until the day before the refloating will begin. The team also said logistics details for Concordia’s towing away from Giglio Island will be announced shortly. theparbucklingproject.com

The Costa Concordia disaster, when the cruise liner capsized off Italy more than two years ago, will likely end up costing the ship's owners just over $2 billion (1.5 billion euros), a company executive told a German newspaper. "So far, our costs are at 1 billion euros. But that does not include 100 million for the ship to be broken up for scrap and the cost of repairing damage to Giglio island," Michael Thamm, chief executive of Costa Crociere - a unit of Carnival Corp and operator of the ship - told weekly Bild am Sonntag.

In three weeks, the Costa Concordia wreck will be towed to Genoa for demolition and recycling. At the end of the Conferenza dei Servizi meeting held yesterday, June 25, in Rome, Costa Crociere reaffirmed the motivations for the choice of the transportation of the Concordia wreck in Genoa for its dismantling and recycling, stating Genoa is the only Italian port in which demolition and recycling activities can start immediately and count on the best possible technologies and environmental safety standards.

The Italian Council of Ministers, upon proposal from the Commissioner for the Concordia Emergency, has established June 26 (instead of June 16, as previously decided) as the date for the conclusion of the decision-making meeting of the "Conferenza dei Servizi", the committee composed of representatives of all competent authorities that will evaluate projects for the transportation of the Concordia wreck to an appropriate port for dismantling. In the meantime at Giglio Island, more than 370 technicians are working 24/7 to complete the sponsons installation phase.

Work to remove the wreck of the 'Costa Concordia' cruise liner from Italy's Giglio Island was suspended on Wednesday as a decision has not been made on where the vessel will be taken to be demolished, reports Xinhua, citing local reports. In addition, according to Costa Crociere & Titan Micoperi, the Observatory has yet to give permission for the installation of 18 sponsons still to be positioned. Italian officials had previously said the Costa Concordia, which has been lying on its side since Jan. 13, 2012 when it capsized with 4,252 passengers on board leaving 32 dead, would be removed from Giglio in June. The wrecked cruise liner, which weighs around 114,500 tons and is 290-meter long, was lifted upright in September 2013 after an unprecedented salvage operation.

Titan Micoperi sadly announces that a diver from the Consortium passed away after an accident occurred during underwater operations in progress under the wreck. The salvage contractors add that the diver, of Spanish nationality, 41 years old, was involved in the operations aimed at preparing the wreck for the installation of the sponsons on the starboard side. He was immediately assisted by his 'stand-by diver", and was transferred to the operative headquarter where he was assisted by the medical and paramedical staff of the Consortium and…

A  meeting of Giglio residents heard that the Condordia is stable: after the minor movements registered in the 15 days following the parbuckling operation the wreck has settled on the platform and seabed. Since then, the monitoring systems active 24/7 have not indicated any significant movement. Present at the meeting with Giglio residents were Maria Sargentini, Chairman of the Observatory, Sergio Ortelli, Mayor of Giglio, and Franco Porcellacchia, coordinator of the Concordia wreck removal project for Costa Crociere.

Over three hundred ISORIA pneumatically actuated butterfly valves have been supplied by the KSB Group for use in the salvaging of the cruise ship Costa Concordia, which capsized off Giglio Island on January 13, 2012. The role of the 328 valves is to fill and vent tanks located in the sponsons (giant steel boxes), the first 15 of which were welded to the port-side hull to act as ballasting bodies when righting the wreck. At a later stage, these sponsons, together with another 15 to be installed on the star-board side of the cruise ship, will be flooded and used to stabilize the wreck.

Works to increase stability of the uprighted, but still grounded, wreck are in progress at Giglio island as winter approaches. Adverse weather conditions registered recently, have caused minor movements of the wreck, considered by engineers as  settlement  on the false seabed, confirm the need to move forward with the so-called winterization measures to further stabilize the wreck for the winter. The Commissioner for the Concordia emergency Franco Gabrielli, the Chairman of the Observatory Maria Sargentini…

Ronai & Ronai, LLP, a New York law firm that represents victims, including Sandor Feher, a musician who lost his life while trying to evacuate passengers, believes that the criminality of the deaths should also be placed on Costa Crociere/Carnival Corp., which was able to escape criminal liability simply because of their ability to pay a monetary fine. On July 20, 2013, five crew members of the Costa Concordia cruise ship were convicted of manslaughter for their role in the shipwreck in January 2012, which resulted in the deaths of 32 people.

Despite legal obstacles that might force them to sue in Italy litigants seek damages from Miami-based Carnival Corp. in US courts. The lawsuits filed in both federal and state courts contend that Carnival is the corporate parent of the Costa brand, which operated the vessel, and is ultimately responsible for any safety violations, negligence or recklessness that may have led to the Jan. 13 accident that claimed 32 lives, reports 'The Washington Post'. Investigators say the ship rammed a reef while passing too close to Giglio Island, off Italy’s Tuscan coast. “Costa Cruise Lines is the alter ego of Carnival,” said Edward Ricci, whose lawsuit seeks to represent Giglio Island tourist-related businesses that claim the disaster deterred visitors…

As part of the salvage plan to remove the wreck of the Costa Concordia, to be carried out by the Italo-American Titan-Micoperi consortium appointed by Costa Crociere, Fincantieri has been awarded a contract worth tens of millions of euros for the building of the watertight boxes, known as caissons, to be used in the operation to refloat the ship. A total of 30 steel caissons, with combined weight of approximately 11,500 tonnes, will be built in different Fincantieri shipyards. The Costa Concordia salvage plan entails the use of these caissons in order to right and refloat the wreck so that it can be removed in one piece. A system of hydraulic 'strand-jacks' fixed to an underwater platform will be used in conjunction with the caissons to right the vessel.

With Costa Concordia Emergency Commissioner Franco Gabrielli in attendance, Costa Crociere S.p.A. and Italo-American consortium Titan-Micoperi, the winner of the tender tasked with performing the work, today presented their plan to remove the wreck of Costa Concordia from the coast of Giglio Island. Following a conference convened by the commissioner May 15, during which the relevant authorities provided the necessary permits, the work will begin in a few days and is expected to last about 12 months.

Costa Crociere and the Costa Concordia Emergency Commissioner's Office announced that the tender for the removal of the ship from Giglio Island has been awarded to Titan Salvage in partnership with the Italian firm Micoperi. The work will begin in early May subject to final approval from the Italian authorities and is expected to take about 12 months. Titan Salvage is an American-owned specialist marine salvage and wreck removal company, part of the Crowley Group, and is a world leader in its field. Micoperi is a well-known Italian marine contractor with a long history as a specialist in underwater construction and engineering. "We are very pleased to announce another important step toward salvaging the wreck from Giglio Island," said Costa Crociere S.p.A. Chairman & CEO Pier Luigi Foschi.