Concordia Salvage decision made: refloat and tow!

[GambleBay]

This is from the article I linked above, dated from May 9th.

 

So it’s good news for residents that the American company Titan Salvage will team with Italian contractor Micoperi to tow away the ship in one piece. The two companies will work together to tug the 114,000-ton ship upright onto an underwater platform, where they’ll repair the gash on its side.

They’ll then attach two air-filled flotation devices to keep the vessel buoyant as it’s towed to a nearby port. The year-long, $300 million removal project is set to start this month.

 

I have seen that statement in a few of the news articles that I have read, but that description is not consistent with the video that Titan put out (see links in earlier posts). The video clearly shows that the Concordia will be lifted by pumping water out of the attached external tanks, not by pumping the bilge dry. In addition, the rather detailed description in the video makes no mention of patching the hull or counting Concordia herself to provide any of the needed buoyancy.

 

If anyone has a direct reference from Titan that mentions patching the hull I would be very interested in seeing that.

[Davyjonesrugrat]

Present EEC guidelines for any vessel involved in an incident at sea state that various countries are to be notified, this information is passed using the CERS (Consolidated European Reporting system). When any vessel is involved in an incident various members states need to be informed of its future movements if repairs are necessary.

 

http://www.dft.gov.uk/mca/mcga07-home/shipsandcargoes/mcga-cers.htm

 

To ensure the safety of the environment and other mariners certain rules are given to the ship before it is

 

a. allowed to move from its present position

b. allowed to transit to the intended port of call and

c. To ensure the vessel is basically watertight and all safety aspects are covered.

 

This is normally enforced by state port controls also, this ensures that any vessel intending to enter any European port needs to meet that Country and ports requirements. The Italian Government, Italian Coastguard and any of the intended ports will enforce these guidelines upon the Salvors so that further problems do not occur.

 

Any vessel that has suffered an accident within the UK has to be able to undertake the journey, these powers are enforced the the Secretary of states. Italy has a similar level of enforcement as do other EEC member states.

 

The onus is upon both the owners of the ship and the Salvors to ensure that they meet these requirements as no move would be allowed without permission being given.

 

Current legislation is

 

MSA 1995 as Amended by Marine Safety Act 2003 - Schedule 3A para 1, 2, 3 Powers derive from 1969 Intervention Convention, 1973 Protocol to that Convention and UNCLOS 1982 Article 221.

 

and is enforceable to whom.....

 

Owner of the ship, person in possession of the ship, master of the ship, pilot of the ship, a salvor in possession of the ship, a person who is the servant or agent of a salvor in possession of the ship and who is in charge of the salvage operation or where the ship is in, or has been directed to move into waters which are regulated or managed by a harbour authority, the harbour authority or the harbour master.

 

The ship will be patched by the salvors prior to moving from its present position as there is too much at stake.

 

rgds

[Tonka's Skipper]

The salvage plan does not count on buoyancy from any of the damaged compartments of Concordia. The external tanks attached will provide the needed buoyancy. The plan calls for steel straps connecting the external tanks on one side to the other under the hull thus creating a cradle to transport the wreck to a more suitable salvage location. I imagine the tow speed will not be more than a couple of knots. I find this plan to be quite wise as it does not count on having to repair the hull and thus is not at risk with regard to the uncertainty of the extent of the damage either on the exposed port side where she side-swiped the island or on the hidden starboard side upon which she has been resting for months. It is certainly going to be an amazing sight to see this huge ship being nursed along to her final destination!

 

 

Sir, I understand what your saying but........have you ever towed at sea?.especailly a wreck that weights 42,000 tons(not volumne, but actual weight), 1100 feet long and some 16 decks high. A obect in which the stablility and weight distribution is changing with each wave and swell and water depth change and current,all changing by the minute?

 

It not a matter of flotation, it has to do with wrecks dynamic stabilty.

 

 

The video was made for a general over view........fast overview and I would bet a years pay that the plan has changed and been adjusted 30 times since then.

 

I still think they will be doing some kind of patching of the hull. how much water they may pump out is a diffterent issue.

 

 

But time will tell.

 

AKK

[BlackHawk1]

I would be very surprised if the hull is not seal up as much as possible, as there is still plenty of oil on board that vessel. Only the fuel oil was pumped, there is still lubricating oil and other possible contaminants still on board. Regards.

[loubetti]

Sir' date=' I understand what your saying but........have you ever towed at sea?.especailly a wreck that weights 42,000 tons(not volumne, but actual weight), 1100 feet long and some 16 decks high. A obect in which the stablility and weight distribution is changing with each wave and swell and water depth change and current,all changing by the minute?

 

It not a matter of flotation, it has to do with wrecks dynamic stabilty.

 

 

The video was made for a general over view........fast overview and I would bet a years pay that the plan has changed and been adjusted 30 times since then.

 

I still think they will be doing some kind of patching of the hull. how much water they may pump out is a diffterent issue.

 

 

But time will tell.

 

AKK[/quote']

 

Indeed, my good man, it does change by the minute. Ships have been lost whilst being towed, and these were ships that had no accident damage.

 

Let's see....

 

SS Independence, SS America, and SS Britannis immediately come to mind, and these were much smaller ships, but with sound hulls etc.

 

Salvage efforts like these can never be carved in stone.

 

Of course, the question that begs is: Will Concordia end up at Alang? ;)

[Aplmac]

I would be very surprised if the hull is not sealed up as much as possible,

as there is still plenty of oil on board that vessel.

Only the fuel oil was pumped, there is still lubricating oil and other possible contaminants still on board.

It would be almost foolhardy NOT to patch the exposed gash on the port side, situated hi and dry above water.

 

After 'crane-ing' out the large boulder via multiple slings run under the boulder

it shouldn't take longer than a week max. to weld steel plate patches to cover that area

and make the port side reasonably watertight.

 

 

The starboard side damage is another matter altogether, (presently)requiring underwater welding and fitting

but not impossible once they've rotated the hull and can access that area to make assessments.

.

[DocF]

It would be almost foolhardy NOT to patch the exposed gash on the port side, situated hi and dry above water.

 

After 'crane-ing' out the large boulder via multiple slings run under the boulder

it shouldn't take longer than a week max. to weld steel plate patches to cover that area

and make the port side reasonably watertight.

 

 

The starboard side damage is another matter altogether, (presently)requiring underwater welding and fitting

but not impossible once they've rotated the hull and can access that area to make assessments.

Foolhardy is a very good word to describe trying to float the hulk off site without patching the major leaks. The purpose of the sponsons or pontoons is to give additional stability. The metacentric center (that is a measure of the stability of a ship) of a cruise ship is quite low in comparison to the trans-atlantic liners of yore. That is why the approach of using the sponsons is being taken.

 

Patches, be they hard patches of steel, more traditional patches of timbers and canvas, timber and concrete patches or even soft patches of using collision tarps are virtually always placed before attempting to move a sunken ship. This is the reasonable and prudent thing to do.

 

About the only time a gashed hull will not be patched is if a tug is actively towing the vessel toward port or to beach it and time is of the essence. I know of at least two ships during World War II that were salvaged by putting air compressors and pumps aboard while the ship was being towed and racing to a nearby port in a race to reach safety before the ship sunk.

 

The approach of using sponsons to help float a hull dates back at least to James B. Eads before the Civil War. The use of parbuckling to right a capsized hull dates to Isambard Kingdom Brunel. By the end of the nineteenth century, salvage techniques were well established and, while every case is different, the approaches are still the same.

.

[Tonka's Skipper]

Foolhardy is a very good word to describe trying to float the hulk off site without patching the major leaks. The purpose of the sponsons or pontoons is to give additional stability. The metacentric center (that is a measure of the stability of a ship) of a cruise ship is quite low in comparison to the trans-atlantic liners of yore. That is why the approach of using the sponsons is being taken.

 

Patches, be they hard patches of steel, more traditional patches of timbers and canvas, timber and concrete patches or even soft patches of using collision tarps are virtually always placed before attempting to move a sunken ship. This is the reasonable and prudent thing to do.

 

About the only time a gashed hull will not be patched is if a tug is actively towing the vessel toward port or to beach it and time is of the essence. I know of at least two ships during World War II that were salvaged by putting air compressors and pumps aboard while the ship was being towed and racing to a nearby port in a race to reach safety before the ship sunk.

 

The approach of using sponsons to help float a hull dates back at least to James B. Eads before the Civil War. The use of parbuckling to right a capsized hull dates to Isambard Kingdom Brunel. By the end of the nineteenth century, salvage techniques were well established and, while every case is different, the approaches are still the same.

.

 

Hey Doc......do you have the names of those 2 ships with the air compressors......I would love to google them

 

 

AKK

[DocF]

They were related in Farley Mowat's book about Foundation Maritime and the exploits of their two salvage vessels during World War II. I believe the book is called Grey Seas Under. Search for it on ABE Books website.

 

I bought this book in 1958 (wore that copy out years ago) at the suggestion of Captain John Roen who said is was a great read. Since he was one of the leading salvage men on the Great Lakes, I thought that was a solid review.

 

Doc

[GambleBay]

Below is a link to an article with more details on the refloat plan. This reference specifically addresses the plan to not patch Concordia's hull. Looks like the salvage plan is very much along the lines of the video released earlier.

 

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/18/costa-concordia-salvage-team-refloat

 

If this web address does not work as a link it will be necessary to copy/paste it to go there manually.

[DocF]

I usually will take a report from The Guardian as being factual. There are several very serious errors of fact in this report however. Most obvious is soldering the sponson to the hull. They may well (probably) weld it to the hull, but they will not solder it. Soldering is a process in which tin and lead are melted around metals to hold them together. That is extremely weak and non-structural.

 

The report says nothing about the hole in the hull. Therefore, it contributes nothing to our knowledge of if the plan will include a hard patch, a soft patch or no patch.

 

Thirdly, this is dated May 18, which is when the other reports were translated from the press release. And that is what this is - a translation of the press release.

 

I expect better reporting from The Guardian, but I guess their standards are slipping like the rest of the press.

 

Doc

[sidari]

Doc .... No suprise regarding the reporting! they will cover the hole or they will be forever trying to pump out seawater which i am sure you will know.

[DocF]

My thinking exactly. At least a canvas soft patch would be placed to avoid taking on massive amounts of water. It may be that the sponson will cover the hole and thus serve a dual purpose.

 

I believe that most of us understand that a salvage plan is a very flexible document. As the program goes along, it will be modified to suit the situation that is actually found.

 

Doc

[Tonka's Skipper]

My thinking exactly. At least a canvas soft patch would be placed to avoid taking on massive amounts of water. It may be that the sponson will cover the hole and thus serve a dual purpose.

 

I believe that most of us understand that a salvage plan is a very flexible document. As the program goes along, it will be modified to suit the situation that is actually found.

 

Doc

 

 

I totally agree with you both!

 

AKK