Costa Concordia Salvage Operation Attempt To Begin Soon (VIDEO)

Salvage crews will have a “one-chance opportunity” to get the capsized Costa Concordia liner upright before it collapses under its own weight. Salvage crews are working against time to remove the Costa Concordia as the shipwrecked cruise liner is being crushed under its own weight off the Italian coast.

The ship slammed into a reef off the tiny Tuscan island of Giglio in January 2012, after its captain took it off course in a stunt to bring it closer to the island. The disaster claimed the lives of 32 people.

As it took water in, the ship rolled onto its side – and it has since been resting off the coast of Giglio, becoming a macabre tourist attraction.

Salvage master Nick Sloane said the Concordia has compressed some 10ft (3 metres) since the disaster. A ship is not designed to be on its side like that,” he said.

“The sheer mass of the weight of the ship has moulded her onto the reef and she has actually subsided about three metres around that reef since she first arrived here.

“And that sort of continued to happen every weather system, the waves and the buoyancy distribution.

“So the sooner we get her upright the better. She’s got to come up now.”

Mr Sloan, an engineer for Titan Salvage, said that experts would have one chance at getting the ship upright and float it away to the mainland for demolition.

The attempt is expected to take place in September but the operation to right the ship has been running over budget and behind schedule because of the enormous technical challenges faced by the salvage team.

“There is no way to go back. Basically the grout mattresses that we put underneath – everything will be taking a lot of strain during that operation and you cannot do it again. “So it’s a one-time, one-chance opportunity. And when we start we have to be a 100% ready.”

Crews have been trying to secure the 952ft-long cruise liner, which is twice the weight of the Titanic, and helping it stay afloat until it can be removed. Over 400 engineers have been working on the salvage efforts.

The luxury cruise liner’s captain, Francesco Schettino, went on trial last week. He is charged with manslaughter, abandoning ship, which was carrying some 4,200 people between passengers and crews, and causing the shipwreck.

Survivors have described a chaotic and delayed evacuation. The captain argues he managed to prevent a worse disaster by steering the vessel into shallow waters after the impact to help the rescue operation.

VIDEO