By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
The Navy uses some vessels that have cracks or other flaws after maintenance, or whose lifespan was exceeded years ago, cable news network YTN reported Monday.
The report said that although the military has denied it, a so-called fatigue fracture might be one of the probable causes of the sinking of the frigate Cheonan in the West Sea on March 26.
Citing documents submitted to Rep. Song Young-sun back in 2004, the report said nine Navy vessels that were used in military drills had stress-corrosion fractures or cracks.
The documents also said the Navy used some ships after fixing some part of the vessels where flaws or cracks were found.
The increasing cases of metal fatigue on some vessels leave sailors' safety vulnerable to maritime accidents, they noted.
A 2006 report from the Navy also said about half of its ships were used beyond their lifespan ― 9 percent of them were nine years past their operational life.
The report comes amid the military keeping all options open ― except a fatigue fracture ― as the cause of the sinking of the frigate, which left one confirmed death and 45 crewmembers missing.
An official from the Navy said in an interview Saturday that metal fatigue fracture was not a cause, saying the Cheonan had a refit two years ago and had no such problems.
Aides to Rep. Song told The Korea Times that they cannot confirm if the YTN report was true because they had not seen the documents the television news program cited for the report.
They said they threw away all documents received from the military before 2007.
The aides added that YTN might have accessed the National Assembly archives for the information, and they were looking to see if this was the case.