# Any chance they can get the grounded Italian ship back upright? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 14, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541 "2012-01-14T23:02:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/161 "2012-07-09T02:44:42Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Lessons learned from the wreck: [http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/04/world/europe/costa-concordia/index.html?hpt=hp\_c1](http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/04/world/europe/costa-concordia/index.html?hpt=hp_c1) Their opening line is a bit of hyperbole - > [@](#): > > It was one of the worst passenger ship disasters since the sinking of the Titanic a century ago. Thirty-two people died. Ferryboat sinkings regularly have death tiolls of several hundred. ---
**Author:** ![gunnergoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e95f7d/32.png) [@gunnergoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gunnergoz)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/162 "2012-07-09T02:49:49Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > How is that different from refloating ships sunk at Pearl Harbor? The ships refloated at Pearl Harbor were battleships, far more massively constructed than this lightly built cruise ship, meaning their hulls were capable of tolerating much more abuse and were better suited to being modernized - which most of them were, receiving new 5" DP mounts and a large number of 40mm AA mounts. They were national assets during a war emergency and their refloating and rehabilitation were a national priority at the time. The cruise ship’s circumstances are entirely different; plus there was no maritime underwriter involved with deciding the battleships’ fates - cost was not an issue with their rehabilitation. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/163 "2012-07-09T03:05:48Z")
> [@gunnergoz](#): > > plus there was no maritime underwriter involved with deciding the battleships’ fates - cost was not an issue with their rehabilitation. Good point. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/164 "2012-11-05T17:48:17Z")
An update: The captain is suing (oy!) for wrongful termination, and the refloating of the ship has been delayed again: [Costa Concordia captain sues for wrongful termination](http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-costa-concordia-captain-sues-to-keep-job-20121012,0,1721918.story) ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/165 "2012-11-06T05:06:14Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > An update: The captain is suing (oy!) for wrongful termination, and the refloating of the ship has been delayed again: [Costa Concordia captain sues for wrongful termination](http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-costa-concordia-captain-sues-to-keep-job-20121012,0,1721918.story) I would love to be the defense attorney for the cruise line. I’d print up about 20 giant pictures of the wreck from different angles. Every time the Captain’s attorney said anything I’d just point to a picture. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/166 "2012-11-06T05:42:39Z")
that coastline jumped out in front of me. honest. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/167 "2012-11-06T17:33:30Z")
I wonder if that ship has become a tourism asset. I can see people deciding to make a side trip to the area just to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/168 "2012-11-06T18:22:42Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > I wonder if that ship has become a tourism asset. I can see people deciding to make a side trip to the area just to see it. Maybe, but not a billion dollar one, so it was hardly worth “building” it. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/169 "2012-11-06T18:29:54Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > I wonder if that ship has become a tourism asset. I can see people deciding to make a side trip to the area just to see it. It has been, although the mayor of the town that overlooks the wreck has done interviews where he has said they’re mostly day visitors who spend very little time or money in his town. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/170 "2012-11-06T18:54:58Z")
The town needs to build an overlook platform with paid admission, and then erect giant screens to block it from every other direction. And a giftshop. That should be feasible, right? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/171 "2012-11-06T20:51:27Z")
There’s still two missing bodies. They should arrange a “corpse hunt” adventure tour for scuba divers. And when some of them get lost in the wreckage and drown – more corpses! It’s self-sustaining. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/172 "2012-11-07T01:26:05Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > There’s still two missing bodies. They should arrange a “corpse hunt” adventure tour for scuba divers. And when some of them get lost in the wreckage and drown – more corpses! It’s self-sustaining. 1. Run cruise liner aground 2. Abandon ship like a coward 3. Charge divers for the chance to explore the dark, spooky, extremely dangerous, disorienting interior 4. Profit! ---
**Author:** ![Michael63129](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3da27b/32.png) [@Michael63129](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Michael63129)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/173 "2012-11-07T02:03:30Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > An update: The captain is suing (oy!) for wrongful termination, and the refloating of the ship has been delayed again: [Costa Concordia captain sues for wrongful termination](http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-costa-concordia-captain-sues-to-keep-job-20121012,0,1721918.story) After all this time, I would imagine that the ship is now a total loss (sitting half-submerged in salt water for a year can’t possibly be good), so they aren’t in any hurry to refloat it, only so they can scrap it. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/174 "2012-11-07T03:14:51Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > The town needs to build an overlook platform with paid admission, and then erect giant screens to block it from every other direction. > > And a giftshop. > > That should be feasible, right? Better than the themed ride. ---
**Author:** ![busterpickle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@busterpickle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/busterpickle)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/175 "2012-11-07T04:37:51Z")
Ships are compartmentalized so that in the event of a flood you can close parts of it off. However, in the larger, engineering spaces, this becomes more difficult. But, the gash seems to be localized to the exterior of the ship, and, not the interior of the ship. There exists the possibility that there are storage compartments or passageways providing a buffer between the hull and the engineering main space. Which, would also coincide with the fact that ship was still moving for quite some time after the initial impact until they grounded it. So, in a nutshell, this means that the engines, water reclamation, sewage, etc, systems could be/are still protected and could be perfectly fine. To be sure, we’d need a cross section and between which beams the gash has occurred. I think it would take months to get this ship upright. It’s more than repairing the hull, you can see that the structural ribs that support the hull are also damaged. Those would also have to be repaired enough to make it sea worthy to the nearest dry dock. That’s a lot of work and in a pretty tough environment. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/176 "2012-11-07T04:56:46Z")
> [@electronbee](#): > > Ships are compartmentalized so that in the event of a flood you can close parts of it off. However, in the larger, engineering spaces, this becomes more difficult. But, the gash seems to be localized to the exterior of the ship, and, not the interior of the ship. There exists the possibility that there are storage compartments or passageways providing a buffer between the hull and the engineering main space. Which, would also coincide with the fact that ship was still moving for quite some time after the initial impact until they grounded it. So, in a nutshell, this means that the engines, water reclamation, sewage, etc, systems could be/are still protected and could be perfectly fine. … Testimony at the captain’s hearing was that the ships engines and electrical power were lost due to flooding within seconds of the collision, hence the rudders were jammed, so wherever the ship went afterwards was solely due to inertia and tides. ---
**Author:** ![lawoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/35a633/32.png) [@lawoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lawoot)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/177 "2012-11-07T07:30:01Z")
So it was by random luck that the ship reversed course and headed for the closest harbor? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/178 "2012-11-07T08:19:07Z")
> [@lawoot](#): > > So it was by random luck that the ship reversed course and headed for the closest harbor? It could be that the captain saw he was too close and ordered a turn before the actual collision, too late to prevent it, but soon enough that the the rudders turned before the flooding jammed them. I dunno whether or not it’s accurate to say that the ship reversed course after hitting the rocks, but if it did it was probably due to an order given before the collision. It could also be that the captain gave the same order to turn without even recognizing the danger. He may have intended to get very close and kind of skim by the edge, but he misjudged the distances. I know these ships have some kind of “black boxes”, but I don’t know whether there is a sound recording of commands issued on the bridge. AFAIK, there hasn’t been any public release of such a recording, so we don’t know if he made this turn trying to prevent a disaster, or just trying to impress somebody about how close he could get to the island. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/179 "2013-03-08T00:24:11Z")
Update and pics on the salvage operation. The plan now is to right and refloat it, then tow it elsewhere for scrapping: [http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/06/world/europe/costa-concordia-opinion/index.html?hpt=hp\_c2](http://www.cnn.com/2013/03/06/world/europe/costa-concordia-opinion/index.html?hpt=hp_c2) ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541/180 "2013-03-08T03:50:43Z")
Looks pretty cool on Google maps… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-chance-they-can-get-the-grounded-italian-ship-back-upright/609541.md?page=10)