City firm to salvage sunken SK ferry
Print Edition
SOUTH Korea says it has agreed to a 85.1 billion won (US$73 million) deal with a Chinese-led consortium to salvage a ferry involved in an accident that killed more than 300 people in April last year.
Yesterday, it said a formal contract could be signed as early as today.
The consortium, led by state-run Shanghai Salvage Co, plans to raise the 6,800-ton Sewol by next July, according to Seoul’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. Shanghai Salvage was involved in lifting a river cruise ship that sank in the Yangtze River in June with the loss of more than 400 people.
“Since the typhoon season usually comes around late July or August, we think it would be best to deploy all equipment and personnel before that period to give ourselves the best shot,” ministry official Yeon Yeong-jin told a news briefing.
South Korea formally approved plans to salvage the Sewol in April, after demands from victims’ families who staged protests in Seoul for months. The relatives hope that raising the ship will reveal details about the cause of the incident and help find the bodies of nine passengers still missing.
Experts say lifting the Sewol from a channel notorious for strong currents could be dangerous and much harder than previous salvage efforts around the world, which sometimes ended up costing much more than estimated. Two divers died searching for bodies inside the vessel last year.
Shanghai Salvage is planning to lift the ferry using a metal frame.
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