Costa Concordia was declared a constructive total loss by the cruise line's insurer, and her salvage was one of the biggest maritime salvage operations. On 16 September 2013, the parbuckle salvage of the ship began, and by the early hours of 17 September, the ship was set upright on her underwater cradle.

While no "mega" cruise ships sank with passengers on board in 2013, several notable maritime incidents occurred. The most famous was the Lyubov Orlova, a small Yugoslavian-built cruise ship that became a "ghost ship" after its towline snapped in January 2013; it is believed to have foundered in the North Atlantic later that year. Additionally, the Carnival Triumph suffered a catastrophic engine room fire in February 2013, which, while it didn't sink, left the ship adrift in the Gulf of Mexico for days in what became known as the "Poop Cruise." In the world of smaller vessels, the Sabret, a Turkish passenger ferry, caught fire and sank in the Marmara Sea in April 2013. It is often confused with the Costa Concordia, which famously capsized in 2012 but was still being salvaged throughout 2013, remaining a visible wreck off the coast of Italy during that year.