The Costa Concordia cruise ship remained partially submerged off the coast of Giglio Island, Italy, for approximately two and a half years. The disaster occurred on January 13, 2012, and the massive salvage operation to "re-float" the vessel was not completed until July 2014. During this time, the ship sat as a visible "stranded whale" on its side, a constant reminder of the tragedy. The recovery process was one of the most complex and expensive in maritime history, costing over $2 billion. It involved "parbuckling" the ship (turning it upright using massive cables) in September 2013, followed by a months-long process of attaching giant "caissons" (air tanks) to the sides to provide buoyancy. The ship was finally towed away to the port of Genoa on July 23, 2014, where it took an additional 22 months to be fully dismantled and recycled.