Next week, workers will likely attempt to flip the shipwrecked Costa Concordia, which has been partially submerged off the coast of Italy for nearly two years.

The cruise ship struck a reef off the shore of Isola del Giglio in January 2012, leading to a wreck that cost 30 people their lives.

Now, Italian officials have approved the "parbuckling" plan to right the ship. The plan is incredibly complicated and involves rotating the ship onto underwater platforms, a process that could take several days. Once the ship is upright, it will be towed away and dismantled.

If it goes wrong, the backup plan is to break up the ship where it lies, at a huge cost to the local environment.

New aerial photos from Reuters show the tremendous job workers have ahead of them. The Costa Concordia weighs 114,000 tons, and held some 4,000 passengers and crew.







