DISCOVERY CHANNEL CAPTURES RECOVERY OF COSTA CONCORDIA, THE MOST EXPENSIVE, DAUNTING SALVAGE OPERATION EVER ATTEMPTED

Special to air Friday, September 20 at 10 PM E/P on the Discovery Channel and to Broadcast in Over 220 Countries and Territories Around the World

(Los Angeles, Calif.) - What does it take to lift a ship bigger than the Titanic? On January 13, 2012, the Costa Concordia -- one of the largest and most luxurious cruise ships ever built -- ran aground off the coast of Italy leaving 32 people dead. The hulking vessel still remains where it first capsized - becoming a painful eyesore for locals as well as a growing environmental hazard.

Now Discovery Channel returns to the scene of the shipwreck with INSIDE RAISING CONCORDIA, premiering Friday, September 20, at 10 PM E/P, to capture the major salvage operation taking place and reveal the inside story told by the elite team of engineers tasked with the seemingly impossible -- rotating the massive ship into an upright position and eventually removing it from the sea. The special will also air on Discovery Channel in more than 220 countries and territories. Beginning Wednesday, viewers will be able to watch never-before-seen, time-lapse footage of the ship's recovery at Discovery.com/RaisingTheConcordia.

"In terms of the size of the operation basically you could take all the other salvage operations I've been involved in and times them by ten," said Nick Sloane, the project's senior salvage master. "It's the biggest salvage operation by a long way."

Most salvage jobs are relatively simple -- where the ship is removed or just destroyed. However, breaking up the Costa Concordia onsite would be an environmental catastrophe. Concordia's owners needed a revolutionary solution. That's when they turned to Titan Marine, an outfit with a reputation for radical salvage operations.

In this 1-hour special, Discovery will show how the engineers prepped for the job, which included building colossal barges complete with a hospital, gym and living quarters for the hundreds of divers and specialists. It will also reveal the step-by-step process involved with pulling the ship upright - a process known as parbuckling - and how they plan to refloat it before finally being towed away to be scrapped.

Tune in to see the incredible story of Costa Concordia as the salvage team prepares for the largest refloat in history. The special will also include insiders' accounts of what really went down in one of the cruise line industry's biggest disasters.

INSIDE RAISING CONCORDIA is produced for Discovery Channel by Darlow Smithson Productions. Howard Swartz serves as executive producer for Discovery. To learn more, go to www.discovery.com, on Facebook at Facebook.com/discovery and on Twitter @Discovery.

About Discovery Channel

Discovery Channel is dedicated to creating the highest quality non-fiction content that informs and entertains its consumers about the world in all its wonder, diversity and amazement. The network, which is distributed to 100.8 million U.S. homes, can be seen in 210 countries and territories, offering a signature mix of compelling, high-end production values and vivid cinematography across genres including, science and technology, exploration, adventure, history and in-depth, behind-the-scenes glimpses at the people, places and organizations that shape and share our world. For more information, please visit www.discovery.com.

About Discovery Communications

Discovery Communications (Nasdaq: DISCA, DISCB, DISCK) is the world's #1 nonfiction media company reaching more than 1.8 billion cumulative subscribers in 209 countries and territories. Discovery is dedicated to satisfying curiosity through 149 worldwide television networks, led by Discovery Channel, TLC, Animal Planet, Science and Investigation Discovery, as well as U.S. joint venture networks OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, The Hub and 3net, the first 24-hour 3D network. Discovery also is a leading provider of educational products and services to schools and owns and operates a diversified portfolio of digital media services, including Revision3. For more information, please visit www.discoverycommunications.com.