 A mother of a lost seaman wipes away the tears of a surviving sailor, while she herself cries during a meeting between families of missing sailors and survivors from the sunken ship Cheonan at the 2nd Navy Fleet headquarters in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, late Thursday. / Korea Times Photo |
Overseas Experts to Assist Investigation
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
The Navy has located fragments and debris of the sunken naval frigate Cheonan, which are expected to give it a decisive clue as to the cause of the incident, the Ministry of National Defense said Thursday.
Experts say the remains of the ship’s bow and stern will help determine the exact cause of the sudden sinking of the 1,200-ton warship which tore in two after an unexplained explosion in waters near the western sea border with North Korea on March 26.
They have said that if the vessel was destroyed by a torpedo or mine, there would be fragments or debris from the weapons.
But Won Tae-jae, spokesman of the ministry, said, ``The salvage of the sunken bow and stern should be accomplished first, so we’re not in a hurry to retrieve the debris at the moment.’’
Navy divers were trying to attach chains to parts of the sunken ship but later halted salvage operations due to strong winds and withdrew from the site.
The Navy plans to put three to four chains around the separated stern and bow of the warship to bring it to the surface. Although they expect to refloat the bow next week, it is still uncertain how many days it will take to fully salvage the broken ship.
In a related move, the United States, Britain, Australia and Sweden are expected to dispatch experts to Seoul to help determine the cause of the sinking of the ship, ministry officials said.
The U.S. government, which had already announced plans to dispatch experts, will select about 10 personnel with expertise in analyzing naval warfare and disasters, they said.
``The American team is believed to have both civilian experts and retired military officials,’’ an official said, asking not to be named. U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Walter Sharp is known to be consulting on the issue with
Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Gary Roughhead.
Sharp, who concurrently serves as commander of the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command and the United Nations Command, has expressed his willingness to fully support South Korea’s efforts to determine the cause of the ship sinking.
As soon as American experts arrive in Seoul, South Korea will establish a joint investigation team to determine what caused the warship to sink, he said
The team will conduct a simulation of the ship’s sinking and analyze ship fragments to be collected from underwater, he added.
Britain, Australia and Sweden also expressed their willingness to take part in the joint investigation by sending experts, said the official.
President Lee Myung-bak called for the creation of a multinational investigation team in a bid to enhance transparency of the investigation into the incident.
The navy arranged a meeting between families of the missing sailors and survivors at the 2nd Navy Fleet headquarters in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. The family members asked whether there were any problems with the ship before the sinking, and if rescue operations ran properly afterwards. They also expressed worries about their health.
A total of 58 people were rescued from the bow of the ship soon after it started sinking. The bodies of two sailors have been recovered, while 44 others remain missing.
Twelve survivors including Choi Won-il, the captain of the Cheonan didn’t participate in the meeting.
The cause of the sinking has yet to be uncovered, while speculation mounts. Possible scenarios include an onboard explosion, a torpedo attack from North Korea, a metal fatigue fracture in the ship, or a strike by a mine either intentionally or by accident.
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