Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

[tpenfield]

I just saw that there will be some coverage of the current happenings with the Costa Concordia on 60 minutes tonight.

 

[QC]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

Cool!! Thanks for the note. I just hope they are fair and technically correct. Yes, I know that is asking a lot . . . :facepalm:

 

[rallyart]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

It's 60 Minutes so the chances are they will be objective and correct. (for the entire time that the credits role, but not the show)

 

[QC]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

LOL :lol: Roger that!!

 

[Another retired guy]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

That was an interesting update on how they're going to refloat it Can't wait to see if it works !!

 

[QC]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

I agree, very interesting, and what a challenge!! I am sure smarter guys than me figured this out, but it seems like they coulda patched her and pumped the water out a lot easier than what they are doing. Welding sponsons on both sides? Why not weld on a patch? That $500M seems like it could buy some pretty massive pumps.

 

[tpenfield]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

Yea, I guess they didn't go for the 'fill it with ping pong balls' idea that I sent in . . .

It sounds like one of the big challenges is that it is lying on an underwater mountain side, and bareley holding on. So, there is big concern about it sliding down the slope as it is attempting to float. That is proabably why they went with the platform and the 'quick roll' approach. Even with all of the engineering analysis, the ship could fracture and cause a mess, and the proverbial monkey wrench.

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

Link to video;
Costa Concordia: Salvaging a shipwreck - 60 Minutes - CBS News

A very complex project indeed.
I'm not a smarter guy, but based on the photo's I've seen, I think patching her just wasn't safe, or even really feasible. With the amount of damage, plus where she's perched, IMHO this was probably the best solution possible, with the least likely chances of her breaking apart, or dropping off the edge.

Interestingly enough, I'm going on a cruise this coming April, on the Carnival Freedom. I'm hoping my captain doesn't have the same moment of Hesperus as the Concordia's disgrace of a captain, and try showing off to the locals...:disgust:

 

[26aftcab454]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

I would think filling the hull with flotation bags and patching the hole then rotate over & pump out .

of course I'm the King of the No Plug Club! lol:grumpy:

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

the problem with that idea is the very likely loss of life from sending that many divers into a ship that size for the months or so required to fill that hull with bags and plumb in the hoses to fill them.... it might take hours to navigate to parts of the hull and they are limiting dive time to 45 minutes.... the dang boat is just too big

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

seems like it would have been easier to use pre-fab shipping containers, LOTS of them, and air bladders inside...

so any divers on the thread? Not exactly a diver myself, but maybe it was poor reporting, but you need a decompression chamber after 45 minutes at 40 feet? And it looks like they were tethered already, why not tether air?

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

they did have tethered air plus an backup tank

I think it is really hard for most folks to understand just how big this boat is
952 feet long.... that's nearly 1/5 of a mile.... that's 3 football fields..... the size and weight of this thing is just mind boggling.... the thing has sleeping room for 4000 people

 

[rallyart]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

With regard to the diving, you would need decompression if you repeatedly dove for 45 minutes at 40 feet as the effects tend to be cumulative. However they are talking about 30 meters of depth for some some of the work. You have only a couple minutes before you need a decompression schedule at that depth. The 40 feet is the depth that they can rise to without much risk. From that point they need to decompress underwater or take a very limited amount of time at low pressure (getting to the surface) and back under higher pressure to let the blood gasses release more slowly and avoid damage to the diver. The tether is communication and air. The tank on their back is emergency air.

 

[Alwhite00]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

Interested to see how this all pans out.


LK

 

[H20Rat]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

With regard to the diving, you would need decompression if you repeatedly dove for 45 minutes at 40 feet as the effects tend to be cumulative.

So what limits them to 45 minutes? seems it would be more effective to spend a little more time down, considering they are going in the decompression chamber anyway. (not being snarky, actually want to know! Complete non-diver here...)

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

I think it is really hard for most folks to understand just how big this boat is
952 feet long.... that's nearly 1/5 of a mile.... that's 3 football fields..... the size and weight of this thing is just mind boggling.... the thing has sleeping room for 4000 people

Agreed.
For fun when I was on one of my cruises, I went down to deck 1, which is usually the longest, uninterrupted deck (open hallways with no doors), and on most ships houses nothing but cabins.

I went to the very end of the ship, turned around, faced the opposite direction, and looked down the hall. You can't see the other end of the ship! It takes minutes to walk from one end to the other. The scale of everything is huge. It's honestly like walking through a multi-level mall in places.

 

[dan02gt]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

Agreed.
For fun when I was on one of my cruises, I went down to deck 1, which is usually the longest, uninterrupted deck (open hallways with no doors), and on most ships houses nothing but cabins.

I went to the very end of the ship, turned around, faced the opposite direction, and looked down the hall. You can't see the other end of the ship! It takes minutes to walk from one end to the other. The scale of everything is huge. It's honestly like walking through a multi-level mall in places.

I've done the same thing on the Carnival Glory and Fascination. It will almost blow your mind. I'm going on the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas in April and it is much larger than any other cruise ship I have been on.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

So what limits them to 45 minutes? seems it would be more effective to spend a little more time down, considering they are going in the decompression chamber anyway. (not being snarky, actually want to know! Complete non-diver here...)

They can control the pressure and type of gasses(more oxygen likely) easier in a compression chamber. Also, the diver doesn't have to be in the water longer than necessary, especially if its cold and if there are other hazards. Basically, get him out of the water as soon as possible into the warm decompression chamber.

 

[PS94]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

I can't believe they're scrapping her...for the price of it, you'd think a gut and re-fit would be more cost effective than scrapping and building another vessel...Maybe one of you starcraft guys can pick it up cheap and redo it....Isn't it essentially a big islander?

 

[RogersJetboat454]

Re: Costa Concordia Update on 60 Minutes (12/16/2012)

I can't believe they're scrapping her...for the price of it, you'd think a gut and re-fit would be more cost effective than scrapping and building another vessel...Maybe one of you starcraft guys can pick it up cheap and redo it....Isn't it essentially a big islander?

I'm sure they've spent allot of time weighing the costs of repair, and rehab VS scrapping.
At this point, repair and rehab would probably actually cost more then building a whole new one.

Think about it...
They would have to some how dry dock her with a damaged hull.
Then figure out how to repair extensive damage, both from the initial accident, and also from laying on her side in the ocean for over a year.
The ship would need to be gutted, and stripped.
Then would come re-fitting it with EVERYTHING...

After that's all said and done, they still have a ship on their hands with a bad image that people died on, and new passengers may be reluctant to sail on.

P.S. This thing makes an Islander look like a toy boat for your bathtub...