Costa Concordia salvage progressing slowly [LIVE VIDEO]

Shortly before noon in Italy, workers wrenched the grounded Costa Concordia cruise ship off the shallow rock ledge where it has been lodged for more than 20 months. The process, expected to take more than 10 hours and cost some $800 million, got off to a late start Monday morning after it was delayed overnight by a thunderstorm. At a press conference Monday, senior engineer Sergio Girotto said the ship was completely detached from the reef by 11 a.m., rotated about 10 degrees. The ship needs to be rotated 65 degrees to turn completely upright. While weather was expected to worsen later in the day, Girotto said the wind's direction might actually aid in the effort. He added that, despite the delay and a long night ahead, the more than 500 engineers working to raise the ship are prepared to work into the night. The 114,000-ton, 950-foot ship is the largest ship ever to be righted using the method, known as parabuckling, which involves placing metal structures attached to the exposed side of the ship, filled with water and aided with pulleys, to help rotate the vessel. While normally, a salvage operation of this scale would normally involve blowing up the ship to break it into manageable pieces, thousands of pounds of rotten food inside the ship, as well as paint and insecticide provide too much of a risk to the ecosystem. Deputy civil protection chief Fabrizio Curcio said the engineers have not yet experienced leakage. Workers also hope to discover the bodies of a passenger and a waiter, the only two of the 32 people killed when the ship ran aground whose bodies were not recovered. The Costa Concordia's captain, Francesco Schettino, ran the ship aground Jan. 13, 2012, of the coast of the small Italian island Giglio. He is being tried for manslaughter and abandoning ship, and faces up to 20 years in prison.