Costa Concordia salvage operation 'in final phase'
Stricken Costa Concordia ship set upright
(about 2 hours later)
Attempt to lift the capsized ship Costa Concordia are continuing overnight in Italy, with officials saying the operation is "in the final phase".
Engineers in Italy have succeeded in setting the cruise ship Costa Concordia upright, 20 months after it ran aground off the island of Giglio.
Engineers have stopped using giant pulling cables and are now filling with water huge metal boxes attached to the side of the ship for further rotation.
They said that the unprecedented salvage effort "reached degree zero, which was our target".
The cruise ship was earlier raised from rocks off the Tuscan coast and moved on to a platform built on the sea bed.
In the operation that took all of Monday and most of the night, they used cables and metal boxes filled with water to roll the ship onto a platform.
The Costa Concordia ran aground in January 2012, killing 32 people.
The Costa Concordia capsized in January 2012, killing 32 people.
The bodies of two of the victims of the disaster, by the island of Giglio, have never been found. There are hopes that they may be located during the operation, although officials said on Monday there was no sign of them so far.
The bodies of two of the victims of the disaster, by the island of Giglio, have never been found. There are hopes that they may be located during the operation.
Delays
Engineers have never tried to lift such a huge ship - over 951 feet long (290m) and twice as heavy as the Titanic.
Late on Monday, the ship rotated by 24 degrees, with officials now hoping that it will begin righting itself thanks to gravity and the boxes attached to the side and filled with seawater.
"We're in the final phase of rotation," said Franco Gabrielli, a senior official involved in the salvage operation.
The engineers said they hoped the vessel would be upright within hours, but declined to give an estimated time.
They had originally planned to complete the operation by Monday evening.
The start of this huge operation was potentially the most problematic phase, and the stage that worried the engineers the most, says the BBC's Alan Johnston at the scene.
The Italian Civil Protection Authority said the sea and weather conditions had mostly been right for the attempt, but the operation had to be delayed by three hours because of a storm.
But later the ship could be seen slowly emerging from the water as operators worked to hoist it upright.
Footage from the scene showed the watermark on the part of the ship that had been submerged for the past 20 months.
Our correspondent says that everything about the project is on a colossal scale.
Salvage workers have attached giant metal chains and cables to the 114,000-gross tonnage ship, which is roughly the length of three football fields.
More than 50 enormous chains and winches were used to break the ship away from the reef on which it had been lying and roll her up onto her keel.
This procedure must be carried out very slowly to prevent further damage to the hull, which has spent months partially submerged in 15m (50ft) of water and fully exposed to the elements.
Only after the ship is back up on her keel will it be possible to inspect it fully and begin to plan the next stage - the effort to repair and re-float it and eventually tow it away to be destroyed.
The head of the operation, Nick Sloane, told AFP news agency that it was now or never for the Costa Concordia, because the hull was gradually weakening and might not survive another winter.
If the operation goes wrong, environmentalists warn that toxic substances could leak out into the sea.
There are also concerns that filthy water trapped in the rotting, rusting wreck will pour out as the ship rises.
But booms and nets have been put in place to try to combat any pollution threat in what is a marine national park.
Five people have been convicted of manslaughter over the disaster, and the captain, Francesco Schettino, is currently on trial accused of manslaughter and abandoning ship.
Giglio mayor Sergio Ortelli said that the removal of the Costa Concordia would bring an end to "a huge problem that we have in our port and that we want to solve as soon as we can".
"Islanders can't wait to see the back of it," he said.
On Sunday, prayers for the operation were said during Sunday Mass on the island.
The small island's economy depends hugely on tourism and the presence of the wreck has discouraged visitors.
The salvage project has so far cost more than 600m euros ($800m; £500m) and is expected to cost much more before the operation is complete.
