Costa Concordia straightened after parbuckling operations at Giglio Island, Tuscan Archipelago, Italy - SEPTEMBER 2013
On 13th January 2012 Costa Concordia, a cruise boat, navigated far too close to the island of Giglio (Tuscan Archipelago, Italy) and the rocks near the surface of the sea tore a 70-metre gash in its side. It sunk next to the island and ended up partly submerged thanks to the rocks and the shallow sea next to the island. Unfortunately there was a delay in the rescue operations and to date 25 people died and their bodies have been recovered, while a further 7 people are missing. There were also fears that there may have been a major environmental problem due to the huge amounts of oil in the ship but at present this danger seems to have been averted as most of the oil has been pumped out. It is still not certain when, and how, the ship will be removed from its present position. This photograph was taken on 26th February 2012. UPDATE: 13th July 2012, 6 months after the tragedy, 30 bodies have been recovered while 2 are still missing. The latest estimate for the removal of the shipwreck is given as January 2013. UPDATE: 29 September 2013 On 16th September 2013 the wreck was dislodged from the rocks and straightened using a parbuckling technique that was successful and took 19 hours in all. The wreck now rests upon an artificial platform underwater, and plans are to have it towed away next Spring (2014) and finally dismantled in some suitable port (Civitavecchia? Piombino? Sardinia? Turkey?). Meanwhile underwater researchers are busy looking for the remains of the last 2 victims, yet to be found. Some bone fragments were found under the shipwreck but their origin is uncertain and they will be investigated in the following days using DNA techniques.
Size: 4672px × 3104px
Location: Giglio island, Tuscany, Italy
Photo credit: © Paul Harris / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
Keywords: concordia, costa, deaths, giglio, parbuckling, research, schettino, ship, shipwreck, sink, sinking, survivors, tragedy, tuscany, victims, wreck
