Salvage co. to move wreckage of Costa Concordia

GIGLIO, Italy (NBC) -- The American salvage company that is working around the clock to move the massive wreck of the cruise ship Costa Concordia said the vessel has been burglarized and is decaying.

We always see the view of the Costa Concordia from a distance, but get closer and you’ll see what nine months of weather and salt will do, to a half-billion dollar behemoth.

It is broken, faded and the entryways, made by rescuers, are the same ones police now think burglars used, to somehow get away with paintings, watches from the gift shop, clocks off walls. Even the ship's bell has been stolen.

But-- on the other side-- a project just as huge and unprecedented, as the wreck itself, now operating 24 hours a day.

"This is beyond any expectation, any wild dreams, you couldn't imagine anything this,” said Franco Porcellacchia.

Dwarfed by the hull-- workers build a structure over it. Also, underneath, across the seafloor, they've managed to pull all of the granite boulder out of a gaping hole.

But they don't actually have to seal it-- because they're installing enormous steel boxes all over this port side-- each one, at least seven stories tall. Filling them with water, will help pull the ship upright.

Installing them on the other side then, they'll act as giant floats.

So why is it taking so long? They said it is an extremely delicate operation, it's dangerous on an enormous scale, there are constant weather delays, they've been trying to protect the environment.