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NOVA: Sunken Ship Rescue

High angle wreck of the Costa Concordia at an early stage of the salvage operation before sponsons (air tanks) attached.
Courtesy of Windfall Films
High angle wreck of the Costa Concordia at an early stage of the salvage operation before sponsons (air tanks) attached.

Wednesday, July 24, 2024 at 9 p.m. on KPBS TV / Stream now with KPBS Passport!

On "Sunken Ship Rescue," NOVA follows the epic operation to secure, raise and salvage the Costa Concordia cruise ship, which ran aground and capsized off the coast of Italy on January 13, 2012, killing 32 people. The wreck stretches the length of three football fields, weighs 45,000 tons and lies half submerged on the site of a protected reef, with a 160-foot-long hole in its hull. Moving it from its precarious perch on the edge of an underwater cliff will be a huge technical and logistical challenge. Now, NOVA joins a team of more than 500 divers and engineers working around the clock as they attempt the biggest ship recovery project in history.

Sunken Ship Rescue | NOVA

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Bow of the Costa Concordia wreck. Salvage crews attach large air tanks, called sponsons, to the port side that will provide buoyancy when the ship is towed away from the island.
Courtesy of Windfall Films
Bow of the Costa Concordia wreck. Salvage crews attach large air tanks, called sponsons, to the port side that will provide buoyancy when the ship is towed away from the island.

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