Originally published October 10, 2013
The salvage team working to remove stricken cruise vessel the Costa Concordia from the coast of Italy's Giglio Island have enlisted the services of Dutch marine salvage company Boskalis' huge marine transport vessel as an option for the ship's removal.
The US$30 million contract will see the Dockwise Vanguard, the world's largest semi-submersible heavy lifting ship, lift the Concordia out of the water and take it away for salvage.
The 275m long ship can submerge its deck up to 16m below the water level and is capable of lifting a variety of cargoes weighing up to 110,000 tonnes.
Reuters reports that, "following the successful righting of the gigantic floating hotel last month, Boskalis will load the 114,500-tonne liner onto its vessel, the Dockwise Vanguard, the world's largest lift ship, which will then take the liner away to be scrapped.
"The Vanguard will take on water into its ballast tanks, allowing it to sink beneath the water line. Then, the Concordia will be maneuvered to float above the lift ship, which will be refloated, now with the Concordia aboard.
"'The Concordia can be loaded as a whole onto the Dockwise Vanguard and safely transported to a location where she can be scrapped,' the company said in a statement.
"The company said its client, cruise ship operator Costa Cruises, had not yet decided on where the scrapping would take place, but said the removal operation would take place around mid-2014.
"'Alternatives under review include scrapping the vessel in Italy,' the company said.
"Another Boskalis subsidiary, SMIT Salvage, provided emergency response services immediately after the accident in January 2012, which killed 32 of the 4,000 aboard. But Boskalis lost the main salvage contract to a rival U.S.-Italian consortium.
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