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| Crews Right Cruise Ship in Waters Off Italy | Crews Right Cruise Ship in Waters Off Italy |
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| GIGLIO, Italy — Salvage workers righted the scarred and discolored hull of the cruise ship Costa Concordia early Tuesday after coaxing it from two granite reefs it ran aground on just off this tiny tourist island 20 months ago, killing 32 people. | GIGLIO, Italy — Salvage workers righted the scarred and discolored hull of the cruise ship Costa Concordia early Tuesday after coaxing it from two granite reefs it ran aground on just off this tiny tourist island 20 months ago, killing 32 people. |
| As the vast hull slowly emerged during the complex, 19-hour salvage operation, the full extent of damage to the vessel became apparent. It looked as if a giant fist had driven into the ship’s flank. | |
| Ships’ horns blared over Giglio’s tiny port to celebrate the moment, and some of the island’s 1,500 residents hugged salvage workers as they came ashore from what is likely to be seen as a bold step toward redressing some of Italy’s anguish after the Costa Concordia, the length of three football fields, careened into the reefs on a wintry night in January 2012. | Ships’ horns blared over Giglio’s tiny port to celebrate the moment, and some of the island’s 1,500 residents hugged salvage workers as they came ashore from what is likely to be seen as a bold step toward redressing some of Italy’s anguish after the Costa Concordia, the length of three football fields, careened into the reefs on a wintry night in January 2012. |
| “This was an important, visible step,” Franco Gabrielli, head of Italy’s Civil Protection Agency, told reporters at 4 a.m., accompanied by applause from a few residents who had stayed up all night to follow the operation. | “This was an important, visible step,” Franco Gabrielli, head of Italy’s Civil Protection Agency, told reporters at 4 a.m., accompanied by applause from a few residents who had stayed up all night to follow the operation. |
| He was echoed by Franco Porcellacchia, project manager for Costa Cruises, the ship’s operator. “There is no evidence so far of any impact to the environment,” he said. “If there are debris to be removed, we will do it tomorrow.” | He was echoed by Franco Porcellacchia, project manager for Costa Cruises, the ship’s operator. “There is no evidence so far of any impact to the environment,” he said. “If there are debris to be removed, we will do it tomorrow.” |
| On Tuesday morning, at a crowded news conference on Giglio port, Italian officials seemed almost surprised by how precisely their calculations had worked, but expressed caution about future steps to secure the vessel before it can be towed away and scrapped, probably in the spring. “The phases to come will be just as complicated,” Mr. Porcellacchia said. | On Tuesday morning, at a crowded news conference on Giglio port, Italian officials seemed almost surprised by how precisely their calculations had worked, but expressed caution about future steps to secure the vessel before it can be towed away and scrapped, probably in the spring. “The phases to come will be just as complicated,” Mr. Porcellacchia said. |
| Nick Sloane, the salvage master, said the operation exceeded his expectations. “It was nice to see that at 4 a.m.,” he told reporters Tuesday afternoon. | Nick Sloane, the salvage master, said the operation exceeded his expectations. “It was nice to see that at 4 a.m.,” he told reporters Tuesday afternoon. |
| Mr. Sloane explained that a full survey of the damage, which he called substantial, would be possible only after Italian authorities carried out their inspections and searched for the bodies of two people aboard the ship who are still missing. | Mr. Sloane explained that a full survey of the damage, which he called substantial, would be possible only after Italian authorities carried out their inspections and searched for the bodies of two people aboard the ship who are still missing. |
| The operation left the 951-foot ship resting on an artificial platform 90 feet below the surface, with only about a third of its once-sleek white lines visible above water. Engineers said the badly damaged starboard side would need to be welded and reinforced, so that other steel chambers, known as caissons and crucial to the operation to right the ship, can be attached. The vessel will also need to be further secured to withstand winter weather, engineers said. | |
| “We will consider the operation concluded once the ship leaves Giglio Island,” Mr. Gabrielli told reporters, acknowledging that risks remained while the wreck was at sea. “We’ll carry out all the needed interventions to mitigate it and allow the ship to face the next winter in secure conditions,” he said. | “We will consider the operation concluded once the ship leaves Giglio Island,” Mr. Gabrielli told reporters, acknowledging that risks remained while the wreck was at sea. “We’ll carry out all the needed interventions to mitigate it and allow the ship to face the next winter in secure conditions,” he said. |
| Mr. Sloane said he could hear workers jumping around with relief and delight as the ship was gently laid on the platform. “It was like a roller coaster,” he said. | Mr. Sloane said he could hear workers jumping around with relief and delight as the ship was gently laid on the platform. “It was like a roller coaster,” he said. |
| The righting of the vessel did not draw universal applause. | The righting of the vessel did not draw universal applause. |
| “I don’t necessarily think that this is a great victory for Italy, maybe for the Italian and American companies involved,” said Suzanne Kmetyko, 50, a tourist from Austria who has visited the island for the past seven years. | “I don’t necessarily think that this is a great victory for Italy, maybe for the Italian and American companies involved,” said Suzanne Kmetyko, 50, a tourist from Austria who has visited the island for the past seven years. |
| “And the real success for the island will come only once people around the world will stop remembering it for the shipwreck rather than for its natural beauty,” she said. “A long way to go.” | |
| Italian news media, by contrast, portrayed the salvage, broadcast live on television and the Internet, as a chance for the country to revamp its image after the wreck, in which the captain fled the damaged ship and the evacuation was chaotic. The leading national daily, Corriere della Sera, called the shipwreck “a monument to human stupidity” and a “humiliation” for Italy. It said it hoped that the salvage effort would provide a “new and different story” for the country. | |
| It was not always clear what that story would be. | It was not always clear what that story would be. |
| As parts of the Concordia emerged in the late afternoon on Monday, stained and rusting, from the waters where the vessel had languished, engineers had said the operation would most likely take longer than initially planned. | |
| The sheer size of the Concordia had created what salvage specialists called unparalleled challenges not only to right the ship but also to protect Giglio Island, a marine sanctuary, from environmental hazard. | |
| Salvage workers used huge jacks, cables, pulleys and specialized equipment, first to ease the vessel off its rocky perch and then to right it. The first few hours “were the most uncertain, as we could not establish how much the hull was wedged,” Sergio Girotto, project manager with Micoperi, the project’s underwater construction and offshore contractor, said on Monday. | Salvage workers used huge jacks, cables, pulleys and specialized equipment, first to ease the vessel off its rocky perch and then to right it. The first few hours “were the most uncertain, as we could not establish how much the hull was wedged,” Sergio Girotto, project manager with Micoperi, the project’s underwater construction and offshore contractor, said on Monday. |
| The ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, is scheduled to go on trial this fall on charges of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the vessel before everyone was safe. He has denied wrongdoing. A company official and four crew members have already pleaded guilty to reduced charges. | The ship’s captain, Francesco Schettino, is scheduled to go on trial this fall on charges of multiple manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning the vessel before everyone was safe. He has denied wrongdoing. A company official and four crew members have already pleaded guilty to reduced charges. |
| Salvage masters and the Italian authorities had prepared for complications. Most of the fuel was siphoned off within months of the wreck. But the vessel that once transported and entertained 4,229 people still contains chemicals and diesel fuel that could leak into the pristine Mediterranean waters for which Giglio, a popular tourist spot, is known. | Salvage masters and the Italian authorities had prepared for complications. Most of the fuel was siphoned off within months of the wreck. But the vessel that once transported and entertained 4,229 people still contains chemicals and diesel fuel that could leak into the pristine Mediterranean waters for which Giglio, a popular tourist spot, is known. |
Gaia Pianigiani reported from Giglio, and Alan Cowell from London. | Gaia Pianigiani reported from Giglio, and Alan Cowell from London. |