The Costa Concordia is hoisted fully upright, 20 months after crashing off the coast of a small Island

Engineers in Italy have succeeded in setting the cruise ship the Costa Concordia upright, 20 months after it ran aground off the coast of the small Island of Giglio. The ship was declared completely upright at 04.00 local time on Tuesday, following an operation which took all of Monday and most of the night. The Head of Italy's Civil Protection Authority, Franco Gabrielli, said the vessel was now sitting on a platform built on the sea bed. Franco Porcellacchia, leader of the technical team for Costa Cruises, said: "A perfect operation, I must say". He added that, so far, no environmental spill had been detected. As the 114,000 vessel was slowly hoisted off the rocks, and rusted waterline began to emerge and, once the vessel was upright on the platform, it was clear to see which side had been submerged for a year-and-a-half.