Hier der Bildauschnitt mit dem Küstentanker in der Nähe des Wracks der "COSTA CONCORDIA" von heute:
Ferner
Dan Askin von Cruisecritic hat sich in einer längeren Analyse mit der Havarie beschäftigt und schreibt im Abschnitt
"What happens to Concordia and the enviroment?" wie folgt:
There are two options for Concordia: Salvage the immobilized ship with the intent to return it to service or proceed with a wreck-and-removal job. Given either course, the Italian authorities have insisted Concordia must be moved from its current position.
"Typically, a decision has to be made by the owners of the vessels in discussions with insurers and relevant authorities," said James Herbert, spokesman for the International Salvage Union. According to a Costa statement, all manner of technical experts -- sent from parent company Carnival Corp. and sourced independently -- are advising the line on how and when to secure and move the ship.
As reported by industry publication Seatrade Insider, two companies, SMIT and Titan, are among those bidding on the contract to seal and right the vessel before towing it to safety. Unnamed industry sources told Seatrade that the cost would run well in excess of $100 million. However, that contract will not be awarded until the investigators complete their work.
The question of how to salvage the ship, if possible, is more complicated. "Every contractor will try to remove it in one piece because that's the easiest," Kees van Lessen, operations manager at SMIT, told the Associated Press (via ABC News).
David DeVilbiss, a vice president of Seattle-based Global Diving and Salvage, told The New York Times that, generally, a salvage company would first work with naval architects and create a computer simulation of the flooded liner, "which is going to tell you if the ship is going to break in half when you try to right it."
Then "divers [would] patch the holes with some waterproof material [Concordia's gash is 50 meters long], which will involve underwater welding," Douglas Hamilton, a semiretired surveyor for the Halifax-based Salvage Association, explained to the Toronto Star. "Then they pump out as much water as possible and as fast as possible, working delicately with the macabre knowledge that bodies may still be inside."
"It's very dangerous work. [Salvage workers] have lost their lives," Hamilton added.
To refloat the stricken liner, salvage crews would likely use "pulling barges strongly anchored to the sea bed and cables secured to the ship," former SMIT executive Hans van Rooij told the AP. "You can sometimes use giant air bags underneath the vessel to get it upright, though there wouldn't be any large enough to move this vessel on its own," said Herbert. Costa Concordia is 114,500 gross tons (a measure of volume), some 950 feet long and nearly 120 feet across.
Salvage companies face other hurdles. "If it does become a salvage job, the driving principle is that if the salvor doesn't succeed, it doesn't get paid," said Herbert, referring to the standard legal document known as Lloyd's Open Form. The contract dictates that, if successful, the salvor would be due some percent of the net worth of the vessel and its cargo, as determined by an arbitrator. If the company fails, it gets nothing.
Costa Concordia, which debuted in 2006, was purchased for 450 million euros (~$570 million). Appraisers would have to determine the current worth of the ship and cargo.
But all this speculation on salvage might be a moot point.
"In my opinion, from my experience, vessels in this position are most probably most times a total loss," Van Rooij told the AP. Experts have agreed with Van Rooij -- Concordia is unlikely to ever sail again.
So what could happen if the ship is declared unsalvageable? A wreck removal project would proceed, the course of which would be governed by Italian and European Union rules. The ship would more than likely be "carved up where it lies into chunks small enough to be carried away on barges," Van Rooij told the AP.
"There are certainly precedents where wrecks can be taken to pre-agreed and pre-determined scuttling locations -- after being thoroughly cleaned and decontaminated," said Herbert. "This sinking has actually been encouraged by the U.S. government for environmental reasons. Some former naval ships have been turned into artificial reefs."
Getting paid for a "wreck removal" would also take out the gamble for salvage companies. The Lloyd's Open Form contract would no longer apply. "There would be a fixed price for doing this job or the fee would be based on daily rate, or 'phase' rate," explained Herbert.
Before an official salvage or wreck removal can begin in earnest, all pollutants, including fuel and toxic chemicals, must be extracted from Concordia. Booms have been placed around the debilitated vessel to contain escaping fuel, though no leakages have been discovered. An oil spill could cause an environmental disaster in the waters off Giglio, where the stricken ship lies in approximately 50 feet of water. The wreck abuts a maritime sanctuary for dolphins, porpoises and whales.
SMIT, the Dutch salvage company, is standing by to begin work stabilizing the ship and extracting the roughly 500,000 gallons of fuel oil still held in Concordia's tanks. SMIT operations manager Kees van Essen estimated it would take two to four weeks to extract the fuel, the AP reported. The dangerous extraction process involves "penetrating the ship's 17 heavy fuel tanks and warming the oil, which in the cold becomes thick and viscous," said the AP. "That warming process makes it easier to suck out the oil using valves and pumps," van Essen explained."
mfg Peter Hartung
Quelle: http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/news.cfm?ID=4721
