Costa Concordia raised

The wrecked cruise liner Costa Concordia was raised Tuesday from the reef where it capsized 20 months ago. Engineers used a method known as parbuckling to rotate the ship out of its watery grave, and it was one of the most complex and costly operations ever attempted. View a time lapse video of the process.

Pictured: An aerial view showed the Costa Concordia on its side next to Giglio Island on Aug. 26.

The wreckage of the Costa Concordia sat between workers accommodations and recovery machinery on Sept. 13. A series of cranes and pulleys were set in place to rotate the ship.

South African salvage master Nick Sloane, head of the multinational salvage operation Titan-Micoperi which raised the Costa Concordia. His resume also includes rescuing a burning ship from pirate-infested waters off Yemen and saving a sinking oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. He said the Costa Concordia was his “most challenging’’ operation yet.

The bow of the wreckage of the Costa Concordia, as seen on Sept. 14. Parbuckling, which involves applying leverage to right the ship before refloating it, had never been attempted on a ship of this size.

Beachgoers relaxed as the Costa Concordia sat surrounded by cranes outside Giglio harbor Sept. 14.

Workers inspected the Costa Concordia on Sept. 15.

The wreck of the Costa Concordia as seen through a small street near the harbor of Giglio Porto on Sept. 15.

A lightning storm over the sea near the Costa Concordia during preparations for the salvage on Sept. 15.

A banner near the red lighthouse at the port near the stricken Costa Concordia read “In Titan Micoperi we trust” as the parbuckling project began.

People looked on as engineering teams began lifting the wrecked Costa Concordia liner upright on Sept. 16.

A dark line, marking a previously submerged part, gave evidence of the movement of the ship.

Some of the salvage machinery is pictured next to the stricken ship.

The Costa Concordia ship, shown during sunset on Sept. 16.

Engineers worked on the wreckage of the Costa Concordia during the night as the parbuckling operation to raise the ship continued on Sept. 16.

The wreck began to emerge from water.

The ship was almost upright on the morning of Sept. 17.

The wreck was set upright shortly after 4 a.m. It will now be towed away and turned into scrap, a process that will be completed some time next year.

The severly damaged side of the Costa Concordia. While the ship sat for 20 months, its submerged side was significantly damaged while holding up the weight of the rest of the ship.

Sloan embraced a worker following the successful rotation of the wreck on Sept. 17. The ship’s horn sounded for the first time since the Jan. 13, 2012, tragedy, its sound mixing with applause and cheers in the port in a dramatic climax to the massive salvage operation.

The Costa Concordia, seen after it was lifted upright. The operation took 19 hours, with officials declaring a “perfect’’ end to a daring and unprecedented engineering feat.

A dark line crossed the command deck of the Costa Concordia on Sept. 17, showing the part of the ship that was submerged only two days before.