Titan Salvage, the American salvage company who are part of the large Crowley Group, will work in a joint partnership with Micoperi, an Italian marine contractor specializing in underwater construction and engineering.

The year long operation will be broken up into 4 sections.

1. After reinforcing the structure of the vessel, Micoperi will build an underwater platform for the ship to rest on. Titan will weld sponsons on the side of the ship to aid in buoyancy.
2. Cranes will be attached to the underwater platform and fixed to the ship.They will pivot the ship upright.
3. While resting on the subsea platform, sponsons will be fixed to the starboard side of the vessel (the side underwater.)
4. The sponsons will be then pumped full of air and the ship will be towed away. The subsea platform will also be removed.

Video after the jump:

When Carnival ordered 3 ships for AIDA/Costa back in August, there was a provision for a second ship for Costa. Rumor has it that Carnival my be close to picking up that option.

Here’s what I wrote back in August:

[The deal] calls for one ship for Italian/European brand Costa Crociere. The unnamed vessel will come in at 132,500grt. making her the largest for Costa and 3rd largest in Carnival Corp (QM2 and Royal Princess are larger). Pax numbers are, 3,700 lower berths, 4,928 total guests. Delivery of the USD$794 million vessel will be 2014. She will be constructed in the [Fincanteri] yard.

If true, it signifies that the Costa brand is not going anywhere. After the Concordia disaster, it seemed like everyone in the media was calling for Carnival plc. to dissolve the brand.

Traditionally, during the ceremony, line officials will take the podium and at this event, they didn’t disappoint!

Costa’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Pier Luigi Foschi:

Booking volumes are back to the same levels recorded this time last year….Our share of the market in the main countries where we operate has not been affected.  We were, are, and remain number one in Europe

I would really like to see the actual figures for this. The Concordia disaster single hand-idly brought the industry to a standstill, especially the Costa brand.  Royal Caribbean executives are even warning investors of what could be a rocky Q2 and Q3 as only then will we know the fallout of the summer Med (its peak season).

Blame it on the terrible economy of Europe right now. Blame it on the Costa Concordia fallout. Either way Pier Luigi Foschi, Costa Cruises CEO has announced that he will retire effective July 1, 2012. The 65 year old Italian, will still remain with Carnival plc. as chairman and managing director of Costa. He also will stay on the Board of Directors of Carnival plc. 

Foschi’s replacement will be Michael Thamm. He currently serves as president of AIDA Cruises.

Costa Cruises and Italian officials have announced the plan that was chosen for the salvage of the Concordia. Still laying partially capsized off of Giglio, the vessel recently had all her bunkers (fuel) pumped out as the the first phase of the recovery was complete. The plan that was chosen for the next operation was submitted by American Titian Salvage. She will be patched, refloated, and towed away. She will head to an Italian port and Authorities have not announced what they plan on doing just yet.

Work will commence next month and could take up to a year to complete.

The sea floor, which is littered with debris, will be cleaned and have marine flora replaced. 

Costa and local Italian officials announced today that they have finally pumped all bunkers (fuel) out of the ship. The operation began on February 12th and workers have been removing the fuel oil  around the clock ever since. Total cost of the operation is said to be in the couple of million euros.

Costa President Gianni Onorato":

“After the tragic incident involving the Costa Concordia, we took immediate action in order to guarantee the least possible environmental impact and protect the environment of Giglio and the island’s economy and tourism industry, working in full cooperation with the Emergency Commissioner’s Office and the Municipality of Giglio. We appointed the world’s leading salvage company to carry out the defueling operation, and this has been done successfully, preventing a potential ecological disaster. We are very pleased with this result, and we will continue to work with the same commitment during the next stages of the salvage mission; no effort will be spared until all the necessary work has been completed.”

UPDATE: This morning brought the news that there are now 5 bodies found and not the original 3. They are said to all have been found lying on the seabed, underneath the submerged superstructure.

News broke today that apparently the ships bell has been stolen. The all brass fixture with “COSTA CONCORDIA” written on it, was taken somewhere around 2 weeks ago. Police say they don’t have any suspects, but do have some leads. The wreck is being guarded by police and coastguard 24/7.

Imagine how much this would fetch on eBay.

As part of Carnival’s latest press release regarding their financials, Micky Arison, CEO of Carnival Corporation, stated that the Costa Allegra will not be returning to service with Costa Cruises. She will either be sold or scrapped in the next few months.

She always seemed out of place in Costa’s fleet. Even more than the neoRomantica. Ok kidding on that last remark but really. The Allegra measures 28,500grt and is the oldest and one of the smallest ships in the Costa fleet.

Costa Crociere S.p.A. along with the Civil Protection Agency announced that they received a total of 6 possible plans from 10 of the largest salvage companies. No details were given but it is known that all plans give a 10-12 month duration. That seems way to long just to get the ship righted.