Three hours after they were due to begin, engineers whose plans were delayed by a fierce overnight s

• Costa Concordia hit rocks in January hotel california eagles mp3 2012, killing 32 • Finally raising it back to vertical took 19 hours • Read a news report from Lizzy Davies in Giglio Watch a live video stream of the salvage operation • iOS compatible stream • Non-iOS stream
Authorities in Italy have announced the Costa Concordia cruise ship is back upright after a 19-hour operation. The cruise liner hit rocks and tipped on to its side in January 2012 as it was departing the Italian island of Giglio.
The moment of success was heralded by a foghorn that sounded over the port at Giglio shortly after 4am . With the re-emerged hull looming large over the port, Italy's civil protection agency chief, Franco Gabrielli, announced the ship's rotation had reached 65 degrees, meaning the operation hotel california eagles mp3 was complete.
Franco Porcellacchia, a representative of the ship's owners, Costa Crociere, said: "We completed the parbuckling operation a few minutes ago the way we thought it would happen and the way we hoped it would happen." Porcellacchia said it had been "a perfect operation" with no environmentally damaging spill detected so far.
When the Costa Concordia went down there were 32 people killed . Two of the bodies have never been found and so far in the salvage effort there has been no sign of the remains of Maria Grazia Trecarichi, a Sicilian hotel california eagles mp3 passenger, and Russel Rebello, an Indian waiter.
At a 4am press briefing in Giglio, with the re-emerged hull looming large over the port, Italy's civil protection agency chief, Franco Gabrielli, was applauded by firefighters as he announced that the ship's rotation had reached 65 degrees, meaning the operation known as parbuckling was finally complete.
A later statement from the project engineers said the wreck was "resting safely" on six platforms that have been built 30 metres below sea level. It will remain hotel california eagles mp3 there throughout the winter while the salvage hotel california eagles mp3 operation continues. The island hotel california eagles mp3 was notified of the news a landmark feat of engineering and big step towards the removal of the Concordia from Tuscan waters in one piece by a foghorn that sounded shortly after 4am and was heard across the port and beyond. The 114,000-tonne ship ran aground off the shore of Giglio on 13 January 2012. Thousands of passengers and crew made it to land safely but 32 people died, including a five-year-old hotel california eagles mp3 girl. The bodies of two people Maria Grazia Trecarichi, a Sicilian passenger, and Russel Rebello, an Indian waiter have never been found. Their recovery was a priority of the parbuckling but engineers have not yet seen any sign of their remains hotel california eagles mp3 in the wreck.
In the coming months the team carrying out the salvage operation Titan Salvage from the United States and the Italian engineering company Micoperi will have to examine quite how damaged the starboard side of the ship is in order to decide how to proceed.
Shortly after 4am a foghorn wailed on Giglio Island and the head of Italy's civil protection agency, Franco Gabrielli, announced that the Costa Concordia had reached vertical and that the operation to rotate it known in nautical terms as parbuckling was complete.
"We completed hotel california eagles mp3 the parbuckling operation a few minutes ago the way we thought it would happen and the way we hoped it would happen," said Franco Porcellacchia, project manager for the Concordia's owner, Costa Crociere SpA.
The operation to right it had been expected to take no more than 12 hours but dragged on after some initial delays with the vast system of steel cables, pulleys and counterweights. The final phase of the rotation went remarkably fast as gravity began to kick in and pull the ship toward its normal position.
The companies and authorities responsible for the "parbuckling project" the operation to right the Costa Concordia hotel california eagles mp3 have issued the following statement, forwarded by our correspondent Lizzy Davies who is at the scene and putting the story together right now:
Shortly after 4am Tuesday a foghorn rang out on Giglio Island hotel california eagles mp3 and the head of Italy's Civil Protection agency, Franco Gabrielli, announced that the ship had reached vertical and that the operation to rotate it was complete.
The white and black arrows on the photographs below show how far the Costa Concordia has been lifted. The black arrow shows the position of an upper deck before the salvage operation began, the white as it is in progress. The brown residue on the side of the vessel shows where it was submerged.
If you look at the footage from our live video feed you can see a good section of water-stained boat now on view. The vessel is now tilted at somewhere approaching 45 degrees a long way to go, but steady hotel california eagles mp3 progress. That said, it is almost 4pm in Italy so the operation will presumably continue long after dark, if not into Tuesday.
US Navy naval architects devised a plan where the superstructure was stripped hotel california eagles mp3 as far as possible to lighten the ship then watertight bulkheads were fitted internally to form buoyancy chambers. The ship was then pumped out and was allowed to effectively right herself.
How much is the operation costing? According to AP, the bill so far is about 600m (just over 500m). It's being paid by Costa Crociere SpA, the Italian arms of Miami-based hotel california eagles mp3 Carnival Corp, though insurers will end up absorbing most of it.
The experts say the so-called parbuckling operation, hotel california eagles mp3 involving hotel california eagles mp3 dozens of chains and a system of weighted tanks, has completed its most difficult section, and should take the rest of the day to right the ship . It is billed as the most ambitious parbuckling operation ever.
In the comments, a reader notes that as well as the parbuckling of the USS Oklahoma (see 9.25 BST ) the French liner the SS Normandie, marginally longer than the Costa Concordia at 299 metres, was righted in New York harbour in 1943, a year after it capsized following a fire. However, I'm not enough of an expert to say whether this was an equivalent operation it seems the vessel was partly stripped beforehand.
Franco Gabrielli, the head of Italy's civil protection agency, said that the parbuckling was proceeding "exactly according to predictions". He said: "There is a correspondence between the reality and the projection, and we note this with satisfaction."
Sergio Girotto, the project hotel california eagles mp3 manager, said that when they started exerting force on the wreck they immediately saw a response in terms of movement. But they couldn't see it becoming dislodged from the rock on which it has been moulded. However, when the force reached 6,000 tonness, the much-anticipated "distacco" detachment took place.
The team has noticed "large deformations" on the starboard side, Girotto said. He did not elaborate, but the extent hotel california eagles mp3 of the damage on that side of the ship will determine how the salvage attempt proceeds.
From an environmental point of view, for the moment things are looking good, said Gabrielli: "The water is clear at the moment; hotel california eagles mp3 there are no significant or visible spills. There are no problems but we are absolutely aware that we are really at the beginning."
So, all seems to be proceeding in an orderly fashion. But the team is clearly trying to avoid raising expectations. Quizzed by one journalist, Gabrielli joked that "the first 12 hours are the most dangerous". And "hitches" were still possible, he added.
Two people remain hotel california eagles mp3 missing after the ship collided with the rocks: Russel Rebello, a 33-year-old waiter from India, and Grazia Trecarichi, from Sicily, who was on board to celebrate her 50th birthday with her 17-year-old daughter, who survived.
The photo in this link, from the Ansa news agency, purports to show the evidence that the Costa Concordia is slowly righting . It shows a small section of the hull, circled hotel california eagles mp3 in the photo, which seems to have been darkened by immersion in the water, but is now visible.
The engineers are attempting to dislodge the ship from the rock onto which it has moulded itself. In a description issued to the press they say: "This is without doubt one of the most delicate phases of the entire recovery plan and it is hard to say how long it will last because the operation to dislodge the vessel hotel california eagles mp3 will have to be performed very slowly, striking hotel california eagles mp3 a balance in terms of the force gradually exerted so that the hull is not placed under high stresses."
The operation has been going on for about 90 minutes now, and as those watching the live stream will spot, there's no sign of movement hotel california eagles mp3 yet. But this was to be expected hotel california eagles mp3 the first stage of tightening the dozens of winches around the vessel and starting to ease it off the rocks was always expected to be the most delicate.
AP mentions in its story that the previously biggest parbuckling operation took place in 1943 when the US Navy righted the USS Oklahoma, badly damaged hotel california eagles mp3 during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, hotel california eagles mp3 with the loss of 429 of her crew. The battleship was, however, 178 metres long, against 290 metres for the Costa Concordia.
Three hours after they were due to begin, engineers whose plans were delayed by a fierce overnight storm announced they had begun an ambitious process of parbuckling at 9am local time that they hope will result in the 114,000-tonne vessel hotel california eagles mp3 being brought to rest securely on underwater platforms.
Twenty months after the cruise ship crashed into rocks off the coast of the island of Giglio, causing the deaths of 32 people, project manager Sergio Girotto said steel cables being tightened by hydraulic jacks were exerting a force of 2,000 tons on the Concordia s rusting hull. That would be increased by 200 tons and after each rise engineers would check for movement, he said.
The Italian civil protection agency gave the final go-ahead for the parbuckling on Sunday, saying wind and sea conditions had fallen within the range of operating feasibility . Initial testing, said senior salvage master hotel california eagles mp3 Nick Sloane, had shown that she [the ship] is ready to move .
The project, which is expected to take between eight and 12 hours, will be nail-biting. Parbuckling is a common means of salvaging wrecked vessels, but it has never been used on one