After the wreck, workers raced to secure the ship. They worked around the clock, 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.
One of the biggest dangers has been weather: The ship is held in place by steel cables, but it could be dislodged by a strong storm. It's now sitting on two underwater mountain peaks. If it sinks, salvaging it would be nearly impossible.
Fortunately, tests have shown no alterations of the water around the site, which remains as clean as it was before the wreck.
But right now, it's filled with seawater so it won't float. To create buoyancy, the teams are welding enormous, hollow steel boxes onto each side of the ship.
They started with the exposed side. Before beginning, workers had to take a four-day mountain climbing course.
The next, crucial step is the parbuckling itself. The ship will be rotated using hydraulic pulleys.
[Source: CBS News]
Once this process begins, it can't be stopped, even if something goes wrong. It will take several days.
If all goes well, the Costa Concordia will come to rest on a huge underwater platform built for the operation.
After the parbuckling, more of the hollow boxes (called sponsons) will be welded onto the other side of the ship.
[Source: CBS News]
Then the defunct cruise liner can be towed away and cut up for scrap — a process that's expected to last two years.
If the parbuckling goes wrong, the backup plan is to break up the ship where it lies, and likely damage the sensitive local environment.
[Source: CBS News]