Raising the Costa Concordia

By Michael J.W. Stickings

The Costa Concordia, as you may know, is a cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of Italy in January 2012 and then basically tipped over onto its side. Thirty-two people died.

Twenty months and a massive, still-in-progress salvage operation later, the ship has finally been righted. It is still partially submerged, its right side (the one that was under water for more than 600 days) is discolored, and part of its hull has been crushed by the ship's own weight, but at least it can now be repaired enough for it to be towed to port, likely next year, and scrapped.

Here's a time-lapse video of the "parbuckling" operation:


And here are a few amazing photos from The Atlantic (linked above) -- I recommend checking out the full spread of 38 photos.