Costa Concordia Defueling Operation Almost Finished

The operation to remove the fuel from the capsized Costa Concordia in Italy is just about complete, according to a joint statement from Costa Cruises, the municipality of Giglio Island and the Costa Concordia Emergency Commissioner’s Office.

Defueling operations, which were carried out by the Neri/Smit salvage team hired by Costa, began at 5 p.m. Feb. 12 and continued around the clock when sea and weather conditions were favorable.

The removal of the fuel from 17 tanks of the ship will be completed by March 23. The operations used a system of pumps and valves to remove the fuel. “Hot tap” valves were attached to the side of the ship, a hole was drilled into the tank and a pipeline was attached.

This enabled the oil to be heated and pumped out while seawater was pumped in to maintain the ship’s stability, the statement said. Minimal amounts of fuel cannot be pumped out of the bulkheads and remain in the tanks, but they pose no significant environmental risk, Costa said.

Now that the fuel has been pumped out of the tanks and teams are finalizing the wreck removal plan, the company is now focused on “caretaking” operations, which includes environmental monitoring and protection and cleaning the seabed and area around the hull. Caretaking will be conducted by Neri/Smit Salvage technical staff and will last one to two months.

Costa Crociere made a multimillion-euro investment in defueling operations, with the primary focus on removing the fuel from the ship as quickly and cleanly as possible. As previously announced, regarding removal of the ship, the six working plans submitted by the March 3 deadline are being evaluated.

A short list is being developed and the best plan will be selected and announced in early to mid-April. The operation to remove the wreck is expected to take from 10 to 12 months.