There has been nothing in the news on it-I last heard that the fuel was being pumped out of the bunkers.
Can the ship be refloated and repaired? Or will it be taken out to deep water and sunk (a $600 million loss)?
Considering the work required to refurbish the vessel, even at $600 million it may be more economical to scrap the vessel and purchase a new one to replace it.
All furnishings would be assumed to have to be replaced, carpet, furniture, wall coverings, etc. Likewise, assume all electronics must be replaced, and all electrical systems broken down and thoroughly cleaned, if not replaced. The diesel engine is probably sound, but again will need a complete dismantling and refurbishing before it may be used - which may require cutting open larger access through the hull, removal of peripheral systems, and then reinstallation. Ventillation ducting would also require extensive deep cleaning, again to the possible degree that it would be a removal and reinstallation.
The longer the vessel sits off its keel the more likely that structural members will yield to the unplanned strain and bend - again requiring expensive rebuilding. And that’s ignoring potential damage being done by wave action (Granted, in the Med, this is less than the sort of wave action that did in the former S.S. America.) or by her slow slide down the slope of the bottom she’s resting on, now.
And that ignores the intangible issue: Just how hard a sell would it be to get passengers to purchase tickets on a ship that, rightly or wrongly, may be associated with passenger fatalities?
ETA: I should mention that being part of a famous disaster hadn’t kept the M.S. Stockholm from being in service to this day.
For a historical model - take a look at the fate of the S.S. Normandie after she was capsized at pier in NY during WWII. In spite of the terrific need for fast transportation for troops to (and later from) the European theatre, the work of cleaning and refurbishing the ship as the USS Lafayette never was given a high priority, because it was cheaper and faster to simply allocate resources towards more Liberty Ship transports to provide the transport required. After the war, in spite of the French being out millions of Depression-Era dollars for the construction of the ship, it was determined that restoring her to passenger service just wasn’t econmical. And this was in an era when labor, and environmental, costs associated with shipbuilding were far less than they are now.
In short, I’d assume the ship is a total loss, yes. And letting it sink in deeper water may be cheaper than trying to salvage those fittings and components that I would think might still be recovered.
Not an expert, just someone with enough knowledge to have the beginning, I think, of an idea of the extent of the job refurbishing the vessel might be.
On January 30, it was still up in the air as to whether it would be cut up or a refloat attempted:
The decision will probably be based on the bids from the salvage companies that are due in March:
Breaking news: Costa Concordia’s sister ship Allegra adrift and on fire in the Indian Ocean.
Italy: lovely country, shouldn’t be allowed to run a cruise line.
Not on fire: had small fire in engine room quickly put out.
Shh, you’re ruining my overdramatization of the story. Here’s more:
Somali pirate threat! Italian special forces en route to the ship!
(That’ one’s actually not exaggerated.)
In seriousness, they are adrift and from what I read they have no power either. I foresee significant problems for Costa because of this. Couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Pardon my ignorance, but exactly WHY does anybody send a cruise ship into pirate-infested waters? I mean there have only been about 200-odd ships hijacked…and they send a cruise liner here?
Why not stay in the Mediterranean?
Boooring, Dahling! Let’s go where the action is!
Besides, they had some soldiers on board. :dubious:
Because they have to go through that ‘pirate-infested’ area to get to where they were going – it’s a ‘choke point’, a rather small section of sea that ships have to traverse.
That’s the kind of places where pirates operate, traditionally. The pirates of the 1600’s & 1700’s on the “Spanish Main” mostly operated in similar places in the Caribbean Sea (and Nazi submarines in WWII sometimes used the same locations).
Thousands of ships pass through there every day, so your odds are low. Secondly, it’s not exactly easy to board a cruise liner by force. I reckon it’s pretty safe.