Kang Seung-woo is the Business Desk editor at The Korea Times. Prior to this position, he covered politics, national affairs, finance and sports.
Advanced equipment joins rescue efforts
A barge on Monday carrying a diving bell heads to where the Sewol ferry sank off the country’s southwestern coast on Wednesday. The equipment will enable divers to survey deeper waters around the site of the sunken vessel. / Yonhap
By Kang Seung-woo
By Kang Seung-woo
Remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and other advanced equipment were deployed Monday to boost search-and-rescue efforts amid fading hopes for survivors in the sunken ferry Sewol.
The Sewol carrying 476 passengers capsized off the southwestern coast Wednesday, but rescuers have failed to find any survivors other than 174 who hurriedly escaped the doomed ship as it sank.
As a result, the angry families of the missing have called for more-effective rescue operations, so the joint task force has decided to bring in equipment and rescue experts from overseas.
Two ROVs, which arrived at the scene on Sunday from the United States, are being used to hunt outside the sunken vessel for bodies or possible survivors inside the hull, especially the third and fourth decks, where many students are believed to have stayed during the sinking.
The underwater device is a tethered robot that allows the vehicle's operator to stay at a shore-based station, boat or submarine while watching a display that shows what the robot gets near.
However, it remained to be seen if the ROV will be able to work up to expectations in the strong tidal currents in the vicinity of the sunken ship.
One ROV was used Monday morning, but it could not perform well as the current was too strong.
"The use of the ROVs is one of the options available in the rescue operation, but its efficiency is not expected to be high," said a military officer.
In addition, three rescue specialists from the Netherlands were to participate in the operation Monday afternoon.
The Coast Guard has asked the Japanese manufacturer of the Sewol to visit the scene in order to help, while China was asked to supply two barges and as many floating cranes.
A number of floating cranes ― including an 8,000-ton one from Samsung Heavy Industries ― are being sent to the location, some 20 kilometers off the coast of Jindo Island, South Jeolla Province, to eventually pull the wreck out of the water.