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| The powerful currents and murky waters off the southwestern coast where the ferry Sewol sank have led to concerns that the bodies of many victims have drifted away. / Yonhap |
By Nam Hyun-woo
The bodies of passengers who died in the ferry Sewol's sinking are feared to have been swept away by strong currents.
At around 6:30 a.m. Friday, a body assumed to be a female passenger was found in waters some 4 kilometers southeast to the wreckage.
Two days earlier, a fishing boat assisting in the installation of oil fences found another body, thought to be a woman from the ill-fated ship, in waters 2 kilometers from the rescue site. The two bodies were found in different areas.
So far more than 40 bodies have been found while drifting, according to the rescue team. Most of them were found within a radius of 400 meters from the wreckage. Also, passengers' suspected belongings, including bags, sneakers and pajamas, were discovered on a nearby coast.
Since April 28, the government has been operating a task force for preventing body loss. However, previous shipwreck cases raised fears that many corpses might have already been swept away.
In 1993, when the Seohae Ferry sank in waters off Buan County, North Jeolla Province, two bodies were found in waters almost 32 kilometers from the accident site in just 16 days. Some bodies were reportedly found more than 50 kilometers from the wreckage. The ship carried 362 people and 292 died.
Then, all 262 bodies were recovered, but Navy officials who searched the Seohae Ferry say that was possible because of "good fortune."
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In 2010, when the frigate Cheonan sank, 46 sailors were reported as unaccounted for. Forty bodies were recovered, but six are still missing.
The strong currents of waters near the wreckage of Sewol also hampered divers doing search-and-rescue operations.
Until Friday, the currents at the accident site were affected by the spring tide. During the spring tide period, the difference between high and low tide becomes the greatest, strengthening currents by about 40 percent from that of neap tides. The speed of the currents was estimated at a maximum of 2.4 meters per second, Friday.
"Experts estimated that bodies could have been swept further than 60 kilometers," an official at the counter-loss task force said. "However, we don't think bodies have drifted further than the loss-preventing lines."
The emergency task force center's counter-loss plan is comprised of three lines.
In the first lines, fixed nets surrounded the wreckage in a radius of up to 15 kilometers. In the second lines, eight bull trawlers will operate around the clock in waters 15 kilometers from the Maengol Straits, where the ship capsized, to scour underwater with 70-meter-high nets.
In waters 15 to 70 kilometers from the site, government vessels will patrol and use sonar to search for bodies.
Though more than two weeks have passed since the Sewol sank, calls for raising the hull have been broached to prevent further body loss.
When the Seohae Ferry sank, the government first launched salvaging work eight days after the accident.
To prevent potential loss of bodies, the Seohae Ferry and the navy ship Cheonan were wrapped with nets when they were raised to the surface. Experts said that the raising of the Sewol will likely follow a similar procedure.
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