South Korean workers have started tests to determine if they can begin salvaging a ferry that sank in 2014, killing more than 300 people and triggering a public uproar that contributed to the recent ouster of Park Geun-hye as president.
Workers on two barges have slipped 66 cables beneath the Sewol, which has been lying on its left side in about 40mof water. The cables are connected to a frame of metal beams divers have spent months putting in place.
South Korean Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official Lee Cheoljo said workers have lifted the ferry about 1m above the seafloor, and divers are inspecting the ship underwater.
Photo: AP/Yonhap
He told reporters that a balancing operation is required because of the ferry’s tilt.
Lee said the government would then decide whether to start the salvaging operation or put the ferry back down and try another time.
Once the salvage operation begins, it is expected to take at least 10 hours to raise the top part of the ferry about 13m above the surface.
Workers will then begin loading it onto a semi-submersible, heavy-lift vessel that will carry it to a mainland port. That process, including emptying the ferry of water and fuel, is expected to take days.
Workers had conducted tests on Sunday, but delayed the operation after some cables became tangled.
The bodies of 295 passengers — most of whom were high-school students on a school trip — were recovered after the sinking on April 16, 2014, but nine are still missing.
Relatives are hoping that those remains will be found inside the ferry.
Emotional parents of victims urged people to pray for a successful recovery.
“I am a mother who just really misses her daughter. Please pray for us so we can go home with Eun-hwa,” said Lee Keum-hui, one of a handful of relatives who have been living in makeshift homes at Paengmok, the closest port to the wreck, since the accident.
“We will be grateful if you pray with us so that the last remaining victims can return to their families,” she said, breaking down.
The ferry disaster touched off an outpouring of national grief and triggered anger over what was seen as a botched rescue job by the government.
The ferry’s captain survived and is serving a life sentence after a court found him guilty of committing homicide through “willful negligence” because he fled the ship without issuing an evacuation order.
South Korea initially planned to salvage the ferry by the end of last year, but the process was delayed due to strong currents and unfavorable weather conditions.
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