Costa Concordia

MS Costa Concordia  is a Concordia-class cruise ship built in 2004 by the Fincantieri's Sestri Ponente yards in Italy and operated from 2005 by Costa Crociere (a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation) and the name Concordia was intended to express the wish for "continuing harmony, unity, and peace between European nations."

Costa Concordia was the first of the Concordia-class cruise ships, followed by sister ships Costa Serena, Costa Pacifica, Costa Favolosa and Costa Fascinosa, and Carnival Splendor  built for Carnival Cruise Lines. When the 114,137 GT Costa Concordia and her sisters entered service, they were among the largest ships built in Italy until the construction of the 130,000 GT Dream-class cruise ships.
On 13 January 2012 at about 9:45 pm, in calm seas and overcast weather, under command of Captain Francesco Schettino, Costa Concordia struck a rock in the Tyrrhenian Sea just off the eastern shore of Isola del Giglio, off the western coast of Italy about 100 km (62 mi) northwest of Rome.This tore a 50 m (160 ft) gash on the port (left) side of her hull, which almost immediately flooded parts of the engine room and caused loss of power to her propulsion and electrical systems. With water flooding in and listing, the ship drifted back to Giglio Island, where she grounded just 500 m (550 yd) north of the village of Giglio Porto, lying on her starboard (right) side in shallow water with most of her starboard side under water.Despite the gradual sinking of the ship, its complete loss of power, and its proximity to shore in calm seas, an order to abandon ship was not issued until over an hour after the initial impact. Although international maritime law requires all passengers to be evacuated within 30 minutes of an order to abandon ship, the evacuation of Costa Concordia took over six hours and not all passengers were evacuated. Of the 3,229 passengers and 1,023 crew known to have been aboard, 30 bodies have been located, and two more passengers are missing and presumed dead.

Description

Costa Concordia is 290.20 metres (952 ft 1 in) long, with a beam of 35.50 metres (116 ft 6 in) and a draught of 8.20 metres (26 ft 11 in). She is equipped with a diesel-electric propulsion with six 12-cylinder Wärtsilä 12V46C four-stroke medium-speed diesel generating sets with a combined output of 75.6 megawatts (101,400 hp) and two 21-megawatt electric motors connected to fixed-pitch propellers.Her service speed is 19.6 knots (36 km/h; 23 mph),but during sea trials, she achieved a speed of 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph). 

Amenities

Costa Concordia has approximately 1,500 cabins; 505 have private balconies and 55 have direct access to Samsara Spa and are considered Spa staterooms; 58 suites have private balconies and 12 have direct access to the spa. Costa Concordia has one of the world's largest exercise facility areas at sea, the Samsara Spa, a two-level, 6,000 m² (64,600 sq ft) fitness center, with gym, a thalassotherapy pool, sauna, Turkish bath and a solarium.The ship has four swimming pools, two with retractable roofs, five jacuzzis, five spas, and a poolside movie theatre on the main pool dec.

From sky

There are five on-board restaurants, with Club Concordia and Samsara taking reservations-only dining. There are thirteen bars, including a cigar and cognac bar and a coffee and chocolate bar.
Entertainment options include a three-level theatre, casino, and a futuristic disco. There is a children's area equipped with video game products. The ship has a Grand Prix motor racing simulator and an internet café. 

Salvage 

Salvage experts Smit International assessed removal of Costa Concordia and her 2,380 tonnes of fuel.Smit assessed that any salvage operation could take up to ten months,and the ship may be a constructive total loss. Smit were contracted to remove her fuel, and during the operation it was reported that the ship had shifted 60 cm (23.6 in) since grounding,but there was no immediate prospect of her breaking up or sinking deeper.Following a competitive tender, in May 2012 it was announced that Titan Salvage and Italian firm Micoperi had won the salvage contracts.Their plan, expected to cost $300m and therefore expected to be the most expensive salvage ever, is to:

• Secure the hull to the land using steel cables, to stop her falling into the deeper ocean
• Build a horizontal underwater platform below the ship
• Bring the hull to vertical, by winching the hull onto the platform
• Attach airtight tanks to either side of the hull
• Refloat the hull and tanks
• Recovery tow to an Italian port