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The whole hull of the capsized Costa Concordia is lifted upright, raising confidence that the daring $800 million engineering feat off the coast of the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Italy, Sept 16, 2013, will be successful. Engineers on Monday succeeded in wresting the giant ship from the Italian reef where it ran aground and capsized in January 2012, leaving them cautiously optimistic they can rotate the luxury ship upright and eventually tow it away. [Photo/Xinhua]
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GIGLIO ISLAND, Italy - Engineers have declared the crippled Costa Concordia cruise ship completely upright after a 19-hour operation to pull it from its side where it capsized last year off Tuscany.
Shortly after 4 am Tuesday, a foghorn rang out on Giglio Island and the head of Italy's Civil Protection agency, Franco Gabrielli, announced that the ship had reached vertical and that the operation to rotate it was complete.
Applause rang out among firefighters in the tent where Gabrielli and other project engineers made the announcement.
Officials said there was no apparent pollution in the waters around the ship as a result of the operation.
Shipwrecked Concordia declared vertical off Italy
