Raising the Costa Concordia

Engineers connect cables between the bow of the Costa Concordia and the control room platform ahead of the start of a salvage operation to remove the ship from the water in Isola del Giglio, Italy, Sept. 16, 2013.

The crippled Costa Concordia cruise ship was pulled completely upright early Tuesday after a complicated, 19-hour operation to wrench it from its side where it capsized last year off Tuscany, with officials declaring it a "perfect" end to a daring and unprecedented engineering feat.

The procedure, known as "parbuckling," was never been carried out on a vessel as large as the Costa Concordia before.

Read more Costa Concordia pulled completely upright off Italy

The Costa Concordia ship lies on its side on the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Sept. 15, 2013.

An international team of engineers used a never-before attempted strategy to set upright the luxury liner, which capsized after striking a reef in 2012, killing 32 people.

Workmen on a boat sail near the Costa Concordia ship as it lies on its side near the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Sept. 15, 2013.

The goal of the parbuckling operation was to raise the ship 65 degrees to a vertical position.

Workers board a boat to the wreckage of the Costa Concordia ahead of the start of the salvage operation, Sept. 16, 2013.

Captain Nick Sloane, Senior Salvage Master of the Consortium Titan Micoperi, arrives before the start of the salvage operation for Costa Concordia, Sept. 16, 2013.

The wreckage of the Costa Concordia is seen before the start of the salvage operation, Sept. 16, 2013.

A detail of the counterweights and cables attached to the Costa Concordia ship, lying on its side on the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Sept. 16, 2013.

Titan and Micoperi workers are seen on the stricken Costa Concordia, Sept. 16, 2013.

The Costa Concordia ship lies on its side off the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Italy, Monday morning, Sept. 16, 2013.

The Costa Concordia is readied for the salvage operation, Sept. 16, 2013.

Titan and Micoperi workers look at the stricken Costa Concordia as the parbuckling project to pull the ship up is prepared, Sept. 16, 2013.

Engineers at work on the Costa Concordia before the start of the salvage operation, Sept. 16, 2013.

A dark line, marking a previously submerged part, gives evidence of the movement of the Costa Concordia ship, lying on its side on the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Sept. 16, 2013.

Some 6,000 tons of force were applied using a complex system of pulleys and counterweights. "We saw the detachment" of the ship's hull from the reef thanks to undersea cameras, engineer Sergio Girotto told reporters.

Journalists watch as the salvage operation for the Costa Concordia starts, Sept. 16, 2013.

Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images, CBS News

Views of the deck of the submerged Costa Concordia, from June 2012 (left), and on Sept. 16, 2013 (center, right), show the progress of righting the capsized ship as the parbuckling operation commences.

Engineers inspect parts of Costa Concordia which were previously underwater, as the salvage operation continues, Sept. 16, 2013.

Engineers inspect parts of the Costa Concordia which were previously underwater, as the salvage operation continues in Isola del Giglio, Sept.16, 2013.

The Costa Concordia ship lies on its side on the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Sept. 16, 2013. After several hours the parbuckling operation had tilted the wreck by three degrees.

The Costa Concordia ship lies on its side on the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Sept. 16, 2013.

The Costa Concordia ship as it lies on its side on the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Italy, Sept. 16, 2013.

The Costa Concordia ship lies on its side on the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Sept. 16, 2013.

The Costa Concordia ship lies on its side on the Tuscan Island of Giglio, Italy, Sept. 16, 2013.

The stricken Costa Concordia is righted during a parbuckling operation which later successfully uprighted the ship at around 4 a.m., Sept. 16, 2013.

The severely damaged side of the stricken Costa Concordia is visible after the parbuckling operation successfully uprighted the ship around 4 a.m. in Isola del Giglio, Sept. 17, 2013.

The stricken Costa Concordia is upright after the parbuckling operation was successfully completed around 4 a.m. in Isola del Giglio, Sept. 17, 2013.

The severly damaged side of the stricken Costa Concordia is visible after the parbuckling operation successfully uprighted the ship around 4 a.m. in Isola del Giglio, Sept. 17, 2013.

Senior Salvage Master Nick Sloane is welcomed by residents of Giglio island after the parbuckling operation succesfully uprighted the Costa Concordia, Sept. 17, 2013.

Senior Salvage Master Nick Sloane kisses his wife after the parbuckling operation successfully uprighted the Costa Concordia, Sept. 17, 2013.