apparently the "debunkering" of the concord is about to begin.
the activity of bunkerage consists in supplying of petroleum products the ships for their own consumption (motor of propulsion and diesel alternators).
the products used are distillates of oil, such as fuel oil of the category "havy residual oil" generally called "fuel oil" (fo) and diesel (especially for smaller and faster engines).
the first is a typical “black” or “sporco” product, while the oil is considered “white” or “clean”. a more refined fuel in the "diesel oil"(do) category can be used in the start and maneuver stages. deposits and circuits for boarding, disembarkation, travase and fuel service must be approved by the class register (for the rena, ref. part. c, chapt 1, sect 10, 11 fuel oil system.
the circuits are divided into - boarding / landing, travaded and, service. the travased circuit serves, as it is understood by name, to travasare the fuel from one case to another for example for reasons of stability and thirst and, to travasare the fuel from one case to the decantation cases. the deposits for the fuel oil are heated, as well as the circuit, to decrease its viscosity. the fo is transferred into the decantation cases through the travased pumps and from here to the system of purification of filters and separators to centriguga.
the "smit salvage", a Dutch company specialized in this type of operations that in 2001 had taken care of the safety of the Russian submarine kursk.
Dutch technicians have surrounded the ship with a cordon of floating barriers, the "pannes", whose task is to contain any losses. then the 20 cases can be completely empty.
It will be a long and complex operation, which will last from two to four weeks and will involve 15 tankers on which the fuel aspirated by the wreck will be stored.
Dutch technicians will use the hot-tapping technique, i.e., they will drill the tanks of the ship and, after preheating the oil to reduce the density caused by the low temperatures of these days, will pump it on the ships support. At the same time, in order to maintain unchanged the weight, they will inject in the water tanks of sea.
but how much will this cost?
At the moment it is difficult to say: in 2007 the company louis hellenic cruises spends 4.5 million euros only to empty the tanks of the diamond sea, a ship large less than half of the concord, 143 meters long with 1,156 tourists and 391 members of the crew, shipwrecked off of santorini on 6 April 2007 after the impact with a snare.