CTH

How do you know it's the 20th?

 

David

Update from GiglioNews yesterday talks about the Parbuckle hopefully being able to commence from Monday 16th September onwards, depending on the weather & that all relevant authorities have granted permission for the go-ahead.

 

Hope the following link works, I usually manage to get it wrong!

 

http://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=it&u=http://www.giglionews.it/&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dgiglionews%26biw%3D1440%26bih%3D818

The helicopter is on the helipad on M30 at this moment

Morning Clive & B.E.,

 

Just been watching the helicopter in action again this morning, it appears to be transferring an 'L' shaped RSJ (reinforced steel joist) from presumably a barge/platform moored up behind Micoperi 30 to the stern end of CC behind the furthest caisson. Maybe this is one of the 'buckling prevention reinforcement stiffeners for decks 5,6,7', according to the latest Gantt chart.

 

Just been asking myself why they are using a helicopter when M30's 360degree crane is sitting there idle? It maybe that it's quicker & easier to negotiate the transfer of lighter materials using the helicopter, with the pilot getting a clear view of CC's side directly behind the caissons, which M30's crane operator cannot directly see?

 

I wish GiglioNews would speed up their camera streaming a little!

Apart from previous week's work, it's also interesting to see what they are planning to do this week: (From Gantt chart)

 

• Lifts on CC by helicopter (didn't happen last week AFAIK)
  
• Remove all workshop etc (there must be loads of stuff they brought onto CC)
  
• removal of light items by heli (from Friday 6 Sept onwards for 4 days)

Just had a quick look @ the webcams & saw a yellow/orange helicopter lifting a large bag/basket over the caissons towards CC's stern end. Unfortunately as soon as the webcam updated itself, the helicopter was nowhere to be seen! Presumably this is the start of the 'lifts/removal of light items by heli' stage?

 

Just my luck that my computer screen has packed in, & am now squinting @ the girlfriend's old laptop with a minute 10" screen. I'm rather selfishly pleased that the Parbuckle isn't now happening tomorrow, normal computer hopefully repaired for Parbuckle Day on the 20th!

I thought P 1&2 were not suppose to be set until after parbuckling. It sure looks like they are setting one right now just above the blister.

Afternoon SB,

 

It's the large office block/cabin/building (with the 3 windows in it's side) that you can see being lifted back onto it's horizontal platform on CC's bow. They removed it around a week ago whilst they attached the blister.

 

They're obviously needing more use out of it before the Parbuckle for shift breaks/meetings etc. I thought they would be removing more equipment each day now, rather than putting it back on!! It will still need to be removed again before the Parbuckle, otherwise it'll slide off into the sea!

I notice there is a new ship (at least to me) on site called Aran which is described as a towing vessel, it seems to have its own crane and is alongside M30 and largely out of sight of the cameras.

Morning Clive,

 

The webcams are giving a slightly confusing picture this morning! I had a look on vesselfinder.com to get another 'view'.

 

Aran is a tugboat/towing vessel that has been involved on this job for some time, her name often shows up on vesselfinder.com & I think she may be holding a barge/platform against Micoperi 30's far side (which we can't see!)

 

There is another vessel called Vincenzo Cosentino which is also behind M30 & slightly more distant, right at the stern end of CC. This has the light coloured crane on it which we can see over M30. This has also been on the job from the early days & spent most of the time moored up behind the anchor block towers (near CC's glass roof over the swimming pool), which she assembled/lifted into place.

 

Not sure what tasks are being carried out this morning, but they are obviously all keeping busy, as the countdown to The Parbuckle continues!

Gantt chart? Where....please?

 

Every week on the GiglioNews website they post the weekly report from Titan/Micoperi. Near the end of each report there is a gantt chart titled 7 Day Outlook. Check here: http://www.giglionews.it/2013081959946/news/isola-del-giglio/rimozione-relazione-settimanale-10-16-agosto.html

 

I hope your Italian is good ;)

 

Oops. I must type too slow. Everyone jumped in ahead of me.

Thankyou to those who have recently mentioned 'the Gantt Chart'. My computer won't Google translate the weekly report (says it is too large) & so I've always been a little impatient & just scrolled down to the photo section of the weekly report!

 

Anyway, I've finally made the effort to scroll through the whole report & found the Gantt chart on the final page (no.40). The '7 day lookout' mentions on line ID 1340 "strand jack connection to platforms 1, 2 & 3", "start Thursday Aug 22nd for 13 days". Just had a quick look @ the webcam, is this what Micoperi 30 has just started carrying out?

 

I guess we won't see any major operations now with our distant webcams until the actual Parbuckle, but hopefully it won't be too long now!

It has always been the intent to fill the caissons with water prior to parbuckling. The idea is to shift the center of gravity towards the port side to make it easier to roll the ship. I'm sure they have taken the weight of the caissons and the water into consideration. There were some tasks on the Gantt chart referring to installing reinforcements on decks 5 and 6. This may be to shore up the ship against the weight of the caissons.

Thanks for the update B.E., also thanks for your post regarding the strand jack cables/wires possibly already being connected to the outer frames of the underwater platforms, & just hanging slack to give Lone/M30 close access to CC. Hadn't thought of that!!

 

M30's 360 degree crane seems to be doing a lot of slewing around, reaching right over CC & the tops of the caissons, but with nothing visible on her hook apart from a length of chain! Not sure what she's up to, maybe just getting her position & reach perfected for ongoing work, hopefully grout bag positioning!

Good Morning everyone.

 

Perhaps its time to take stock and decide what needs to still be completed before the parbuckle.

 

(1) The caissons have to be filled with water to help the counter balance during the parbuckle

 

(2) The cables and chains need to be attached to the strand jacks.

 

(3) The working area and accommodation platform needs to relocate a distance from the wreck.

 

(4) The grout bags needs to be completed (strangely Narvik has docked in a different place to where it normally is, could this be so Pioneer can be moved)

 

Can anyone think of anything else that needs to be done please.

Morning Clive,

 

There are various items that will need removing from CC's port side before the Parbuckle. I've noticed over the past months looking @ the weekly report photos that there are various storage containers that are standing on temporary horizontal girder brackets towards the rear of CC. I also recall seeing a round tank presumably for storing some sort of fuel, maybe for the generators? There are also a number of steel walkways/stairs etc which will be redundant once the ship is upright & maybe best removed before the Parbuckle.

 

Just a thought, referring to point 1), will they pump/fill the caissons with water @ the beginning of the Parbuckle whilst CC is @ her present angle, or will they just use the strand jacks to pull CC over, leaving the caissons to fill up naturally with seawater through plugs/taps as they slowly submerge down towards the underwater platforms. My thought is that each caisson already weighs 500(ish) tons, & when filled with water they will weigh (tens of) thousands of tons. Would this not simply crush CC's Portside?

I wonder where the village of vessels will relocate whilst the parbuckle takes place.

Clive, just a guess but there are two bays directly south of Giglio harbour where tugs etc often drop their anchor overnight (according to vesselfinder.com over the last year). Maybe some vessels will relocate round there during the parbuckle.

 

Talking of vessels, MV Lone has now set off for Gibraltar (lots of arguing going on there at the moment!) & M30's Captain must have read my earlier post as he has now reversed away from CC! The blister can clearly be seen, I can understand why they don't want to attach the caissons/sponsons to the blister until after the parbuckle, otherwise the blister would be pushed down under the weight of the caisson. Maybe the blister is more or less floating at the moment, with CC's bow & the 3 'spikes' holding it in place?

Clive, Mike, & SomeBeach; Well said!!

 

Can I ask if, when the parbuckle is imminent that Pioneer which is the large accommodation/ floating dock will be moved away from the site along with what looks like a small town of support vessels in case things do go wrong with the parbuckle.

 

Clive, I'm no expert, but I'm sure Pioneer & the working platforms would all be set back @ a distance from CC during the Parbuckle. Wires/cables/chains could snap, anchor blocks/towers could shift, I'm sure there's a long list of possible dangerous situations!

 

I read somewhere (can't remember where!) that the harbour would be closed, an exclusion zone would be set at a certain distance from CC, pollution facilities, & accident & emergency teams would be on standby.

 

Looking @ the webcams this morning, M30 appears to have detached her chains/hooks from the blister, but is remaining in position. So the blister must be supporting itself now. Hoping M30 will move back soon so we can see if the cables attached to the strand jacks on top of the sponsons are being attached down to the underwater platforms. This maybe M30's next job?

 

Anyone know where we are with the amount of remaining grout bags to be positioned?

[quote name='Bearded Engineer']The lifting cables from M30 to the blister have gone slack. They must have the blister secure enough to no longer need support from M30[/quote]
If you zoom in slightly with the 'new' webcam, you can just see the top section of the Portside blister straight above the Voe Earl vessel, resting against or attached to CC's bow section.

It makes it slightly more clear how Sponsons P1 & P2 will then attach to the vertical face of the blister & possibly CC's top bow section (after the Parbuckle) & line up with the other sponsons already in place.

Theoretically two weeks tomorrow for 'The Parbuckle'!


As has been recently mentioned, I do so hope that straight after the Parbuckle a successful effort/attempt will be made to locate & recover the two missing persons.

The weekly report is now available at giglionews.it

There are 8 photos this week, keep scrolling down for the second set of 4.

No visible change this morning with the blister. It may well be that they are welding it to CC's hull underwater.

I believe what he said is that the blisters weigh 1400 metric tons (He mentioned it with their largest lift to date meaning the load the cranes would see) and that they would provide 6000 tons on buoyancy. I'm still not clear if he was referring to both sides as a whole or one side only when he said "blister tank". If he was referring to both sides together then the Lone can lift the entire assembly using both cranes (1000 m-ton capacity each)

Micoperi 30's sheerleg crane can lift 1270 mt, so if either each blister weighs 1400mt, or both are fitted together totalling 1400mt, then Micoperi 30 lifting on her own is just out of the equation.

 

I'm wondering if Lone will lift both blisters (bolted together & in one piece) off the barge/platform using both of her cranes, drop them down into the water in the present position (barge removed) & lowering one blister further down into the water than the other to cause them to float @ 60 degrees off level (as per Costa Concordia). Micoperi then attaches to the upper blister (Lone detatches), & moves the blisters forward onto CC's bow. The blisters will be much lighter once floating in the water.

 

Just a random thought/option!!

It looks like to me that the the blister might be installed already on the port side. It looks real dark, like there is something there now. Am I seeing that right?

I think you can see the black hull of the Afon Cefni tugboat that is moored up to CC's portside bow. Both blisters still on the barge moored up to the liftship Lone @ the moment!

According to the latest weekly report they are going to install both sides of the blister before the parbuckling. I think they are going to fill them with air because they want the bouyancy to releave some of the strain on the hull since a large section of the forward part of the ship will not be supported by the platforms.

Micoperi 30 appears to have moved slightly closer to the blisters with 3 of her hooks lowered down from her sheerleg crane. Could she be partly (with Lone) or completely involved in the lift of the blister/blisters onto CC's bow?

 

It's getting late in the day for the lift, but I can imagine the Islanders will not be too pleased with the sight of Pioneer, CC, Lone, & Micoperi 30 stretched out in a long line from the harbour entrance, & will want it done ASAP!

It looks like Lone is hovering just beyond M30 (good abb Micki) with the blister aboard ready to move in when Vincenzo Consentino has finished her work.

Lone looks to be finally moving towards CC very very slowly with the barge carrying the 2 blisters attached to her.

 

I'm guessing this will be the most complicated lift of all, taking into account the tapering shapes of the blisters, the size of the blisters, the 60 degree list of CC, & the fact that most of the blisters will be underwater! Will they be attached as one, or seperately?

 

Will hopefully see this afternoon!

Just been having another look @ the 2 blister photos in the latest weekly report.

 

The 1st photo shows the 2 blisters bolted together. The 2nd photo shows one half or one side of the blister. Funnily enough it is sitting on top of 4 red/orange flatbed vehicles being transported/manoeuvered on a road between oldish looking buildings. It is vast in size!

 

Looking lower down on the blister, it has 3 'y' shaped slots positioned in a horizontal line between the tubular bars. I'm guessing that the ends/tips of the 3 spikes / bow blister pipes, which are still being lowered into the bow thruster shafts as I type, will locate into these 'y' shape slots & keep the blister in position whilst it is welded to CC's hull.

Hi Clive,

 

Just worked it out! Concordia has three bow thrusters in the bottom of her hull @ the bow. Those 3 spikes/ prongs etc are abouts to be dropped down through the 3 bow thruster tunnels/shafts presumably to form part of the blister attachment to CC's hull.

 

Don't know whether the bow thruster props have been removed or whether they will 'ram' them out with the weight of the spikes? The 3 spikes must be heavy as Micoperi is lower in the water on her stern end (under the sheerleg crane).

 

The plate holding the 3 spikes together 'tapers', or is 'shaped' similar to CC's bow shape, & will stop the spikes from dropping straight through the three tunnels onto the seabed.

Can safely say I have no idea whatsoever what is hanging under Micoperi 30's sheerleg crane @ the moment!! She just lifted it off one of the large barge/platforms. It appears to be 3 very large spikes or pillars held together by a central plate,if that makes any sense?!...

 

Any ideas anyone?

The office block has now just been lifted off CC & onto a barge moored up to Lone.

 

There is another barge out to sea just beyond Micoperi 30 with a large white object on it, been hanging around for the last few hours. Could this be the blister?

 

A busy day in Giglio, hopefully the Parbuckle will be still on schedule for the 4th September.

Good morning to you as well.

Lone's cranes appear to be more in the sail formation. The next hour will show one way or another.

I think Lone may be abouts to lift & remove the large 3 window office/cabin off Concordia's bow in preparation for fitting the 'blister'.

 

With the new camera in operation & Lone positioned closer @ CC's bow, it makes one realise the incredible size of Lone's 1000 tonne lift cranes, & also her rather clever manoeuvreability (spelling?!) due to her updated positioning system, whilst hovering so close to CC's bow.

It seems like Lone has finally managed to fix P13 to the port side. It will be interesting to see whether or not she has the Blister in her hold and will go and fix it in the next couple of days.

Morning Clive,

 

Yes, been watching Lone myself, she's now moving away from C.C. after releasing P13. The caisson doesn't appear to quite line up with the others, but I guess this job is not about appearance!

 

Will Lone reveal the intriguing 'blister' framework from her hold, or is that being saved for another day?

 

CTH

 

Edit; After another quick look @ the webcam, it would appear that the two 'sideways-on' caissons P3 & P13 are both slightly 'thicker' than the rest of the caissons, so they probably are in line & according to plan. (More of that Italian wine last night!...)

Lone headed for Piombino. I'd look for her to be back on the Giglio webcam tomorrow.

Lone now heading for Giglio @ full speed, should be on the webcam in an hour or so!

 

A little late, but hope you have a safe trip Cheng, look forward to your return!

 

CTH

Could it be the tide CTH

Morning Clive, now realise my mistake after looking @ the last weekly report photos. The lower corners of the caissons toward the rear of CC are above the water line, but as they progress towards the bow they drop to the water line. I hadn't allowed for the fact that CC isn't lying perfectly level, bow to stern, although very close to level. The caissons follow accordingly.

 

So have to confess I think it was the wine rather than the tide! Coincidentally it was Italian!

 

Still strange to see Micoperi anchored a distance away since last night though. This normally only happens during storms or Xmas Day! She also doesn't normally move until Svenja / Lone actually arrive on site. Maybe her work is complete for now?

 

CTH

Is it just my eyes deceiving me, or is the lower corner of the caisson towards the bow of CC (using the new Giglio news camera on zoom) lower than it was, i.e. on the water line as opposed to above it? It's almost as if the side of CC has compacted slightly under the weight of the caissons.

 

& why has Micoperi 30 kept at a distance away with a number of small boats hovering around as though they are inspecting the caissons?

 

Hope I'm wrong, maybe I just had too much wine last night!!.......