The rusted wreck of the Sewol ferry sits on a giant submersible ship in waters off the island of Jindo, showing its entire hull Sunday, after it was successfully pulled from the water following several days of salvage work. The transport vessel will carry the wreck to Mokpo Port, about 90 kilometers away, as early as Tuesday , once the ferry is drained of water and oil. / Yonhap



Ferry to be hauled to Mokpo Port as early as Tuesday

By Lee Kyung-min

The Sewol ferry was fully raised out of the water and placed onto a semisubmersible ship Saturday, exposing its entire hull nearly three years after it sank in the waters off the southwestern island of Jindo.

The giant transport vessel will haul the Sewol to Mokpo Port by Tuesday at the earliest or Thursday at the latest, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said Sunday.

Salvage crews are speeding up the work to drain the remaining water and oil from the ferry, with the draining expected to take between two and four days. An additional 12 hours will be needed to take the ship 87 kilometers to the port at safe speeds no faster than 10 kilometers per hour.

At the sight of the salvaged ship, family members of those lost at sea, who sat up all night at Jindo's Paengmok Port, the closest port to the sinking site, hugged each other and wept, expressing hopes that the remains of the missing passengers will be recovered.

The search for the nine missing bodies will be possible after the ship is transported to Mokpo Port.

"All I want is that the remains of my daughter be recovered," said Lee Geum-hee, the mother of Cho Eun-hwa, who was a student at Danwon High School. Cho is one of the nine unaccounted for.

"I want to express my deepest gratitude toward the rescue workers and the people who understood and shared our grief. I, as well as the families of the eight victims whose bodies have yet to be recovered, have been less lonely because of the support and sympathy."

The ministry said water was being drained naturally through windows, entrances and drains inside the ferry but small holes could be drilled into the walls of cargo areas and the hull of the ship where no such drainage system was designed.

Seventeen ships were at work including eight ships occupied by officials from the Coast Guard and the ministry and nine ships from Shanghai Salvage, a Chinese contractor that raised the ferry using a hydraulic jacking device.

They helped prevent the ferry's oil from leaking into the ocean no further than the ministry-set radius of 4.8 kilometers and will recover the remains of the nine unaccounted for and the belongings of people who were on board. The ministry said underwater fences set up earlier are expected to help minimize damage caused by oil.

Safety top priority

Once the draining is complete, the large semisubmersible ship will navigate according to a pre-set route, the ministry said.

"We set the route prioritizing safety over all other concerns," a ministry official said.

"The routes we set are narrow for a semisubmersible ship that size (216.7 meters long, 63 meters wide) but it is where the least wave interference is expected. A certain number of pilots highly familiar with the area will be aboard to help the ship safely navigate to its destination," the official said.

The raising of the Sewol Saturday came a day after the successful removal of a complication caused by a vehicle-loading ramp that had been dangling off the side of the ferry when it was 10 meters out of the water early Friday.

The ministry cut the 11-meter long, 7.9-meter wide, 40-ton ramp as it was deemed to interfere with placing the ferry onto the semisubmersible ship.

The severed ramp, which has remained underwater since, will be taken to Mokpo Port and inspected after moving the ferry is complete, the ministry added.

The ministry addressed the concerns raised by the bereaved families of the nine, whose bodies have yet to be recovered, over the possibility of their loved ones' remains being lost through the open exit connected by the ramp.

"The exit that had been open after the ramp became partially detached from the ferry hull was an entrance only to the cargo section inside the ferry. Therefore, there is no way the remains could have gotten lost as the families worry," a ministry official said.

Favorable weather conditions are likely to end Sunday. Thunder and lightning are expected near the coastal region, Monday, according to weather forecasts. Wind speeds are likely to increase to up to 12 meters per second, and wave height is expected to reach up to 2 meters.

The Sewol sank on April 16, 2014, killing more than 300 people, mostly high school students on a school trip to Jeju Island. The sinking is remembered as the nation's worst maritime disaster.