The Costa Concordia ship is seen after it was lifted upright, on the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Italy, Tuesday morning. Engineers declared success on Tuesday as the Costa Concordia cruise ship was pulled completely upright during a complicated, 19-hour operation to wrench it from its side where it capsized last year off Tuscany, an unprecedented feat that sets the stage for it to be towed away next year.GIGLIO ISLAND, Italy – The extraordinary righting of the Costa Concordia from its watery Tuscan graveyard has given Italy a boost of sorely needed pride, helping erase the shame many felt after an Italian captain took the cruise ship off course in an apparent stunt, crashed it and then abandoned ship before everyone was evacuated.
It didn’t seem to matter that the chief salvage master was from South Africa or that his 500-member crew hailed from 26 different nations. Italy, beset by two years of recession and such political instability that each day brings relief that the government hasn’t fallen, had pulled off an unprecedented engineering feat as the world watched live on television.
“Well done!” retiree Aldo Mattera said Tuesday morning as he surveyed the Concordia, upright for the first time since the Jan. 13, 2012, shipwreck that killed 32 people near Giglio Island.
Premier Enrico Letta also weighed in, emphasizing the importance of restoring the nation’s civic pride.
As he personally thanked Franco Gabrielli, the head of Italy’s civil protection agency who oversaw the project, Letta said the operation had demonstrated what it means to take responsibility for something, no matter how risky or how high the stakes.