Concordia Salvage Job.

[Jim Brady]

Just reading the salvage job has been given to a U.S. company Titan Salvage.The plan forsees removing the ship in one piece and towing it to an Italian port.The job is expected to take 12 months.
Regards.
Jim.B.

[Tony Wilding]

it must be a marathon undertaking, she is not in a very secure position, must be some very clever people who can plan her removal as one piece,i hear the contract is shared with an Italian company, would be interesting to see the method they plan to use. the equipment needed must be extreme.

[Captain Kong]

An Italian Salvage man was on the News last night saying he was going to use huge inflatable bags and then get some Poles. there are plenty of Poles here where I live, he can have those.
I presume the Poles are to be used as props as the ship is raised on the Balloons.
Sometimes , raising a ship that is leaning over to Starboard, when it is raised, the danger is it will then fall over to Port.
cheers Brian.

[Tony Wilding]

i just hope all goes to plan, and no further damage is caused to the ship so it can be removed whole, must be the biggest complete ship removal ever, untill the next one ?

[Peter Trodden]

Titan Salvage. I've seen their programs on Discovery ch, the last few weeks (DeepSea Salvage) They are world wide Marine Salvors with a mixed crew.U.S and UK. They seem to take on Jobs other Firms knock back. Catch their show,if you can.
ttfn. PeterT.

[Jim Brady]

I watched the Empress Of Canada being brought up in the Gladstone.The dock was closed for the day I always remember the reason was that if one of the hawsers carried away the damage would be horrific. I watched it from a barrell roof of a timber yard outside the docks.I was in the Sea cadets at the time and I used to see each week what was going on.Across the dock in the avenue behind the Blue Flu berth there were steam winches every couple of yards each one having its own individual steam supply so to ensure they all pulled at the same strength.Holes were knocked through the shed walls and the hawsers taken across the dock and attached to the Canada.Large camels were welded to the side of the ship,these were filled with water and when the time was right the water was pumped out to make them bouyant.Captain Kong mentioned the way you are pulling it up it could in fact capsize that way.I wonder was that the reason for those camels as they were'nt under the water with a view to helping raise her,thats something I often wondered was the reason for them.?
Regards.
JimB.

[Captain Kong]

Hi Jim,
all the salvage pictures on this site over 100 of them.
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.SEA NEWS - EMPRESS OF CANADA SALVAGED - [B]British Pathé-empress-of-canada-salvagedCached]Search Results - British Pathé
You +1'd this publicly. Undo
Sea News - Empress Of Canada Salvaged 1954. Please ensure you ... LV "Empress of Canada" on side in dock. Cables running from ship to shore. GV derricks ...
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I saw them rigging up the gear for raising, I was bunkering a ship in the Gladstone, but unfortuately we had gone before the lifts started.
Cheers ,Brian.
ps this link doesnt seem to go to it try on google.

[Gulliver]

British Pathe News--required Link HERE

[Captain Kong]

emp canada.jpgHi Gulliver,
That was interesting showing the burning, the Empress of France was lying astern of the Canada and is shown on the photos.
The one I saw, again same PATHE , showed the raising of the CANADA in 100 photos with all the winches and wires etc. until she is upright.
I often wondered if it was sabotage that caused the fire.
Around that time in the 50s there were a lot of unexplained fires on ships. I heard they were the communists who did it. There was a Communist traiining School in Liverpool , I wont mention the mans name who ran it, I dont want to be a tartget. and they were taught all about Industrial sabotage. Ships were easy targets. Fires started in several locations at the same time. and so on.
Cheers
Brian.
I have accidently posted the copy of the CANADA on this mail and cannot remove it , I think it may be copyright. does any know how to delete?please.

[Jim Brady]

Just looked at the footage as suggested by Captain Kong and Gulliver.I mentioned camels,BBC news called them Bouyancy Tanks I think,I always thought that they were welded to the ship but the footage shows them floating around the dock when the ship became upright.So what were these camels/ bouyany tanks for anybody with any idea?
Regards.
Jim.B.