Navy Gearing Up to Salvage Sunken Ship
Rescue Mission Halted After 1st Body of Missing Sailors Found
By Lee Tae-hoon
Staff Reporter
The Navy began preparations for raising the two sections of the sunken frigate Cheonan, Sunday, after halting an underwater search and rescue mission for the ship's missing sailors at the request of their families.
"The search operation was suspended at 11 p.m. Saturday at the request of family members," said a Navy officer. "From today, the military will speed up preparations for the recovery of the bow and stern sections of the ship."
Observers say the salvage operation, which will be jointly carried out by the Navy and private companies using giant cranes, could take up to a month due to adverse weather conditions and the weight of the Cheonan.
Sources say five floating cranes and three barges will be used to hoist the wreckage of the ill-fated 1,200-ton frigate from the seafloor.
The families of the missing crew urged the Navy to end the underwater operation because of life-threatening conditions facing rescue divers and the low chance of the remaining sailors being found alive.
"We have requested the military to stop the search and rescue operation," Lee Jeong-guk, president of the Union of Families of Missing Sailors, said in a news conference at the 2nd Navy Fleet headquarters in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.
"We made the decision out of fear that more lives could be lost in the dangerous undersea search, in which divers have to put their lives on the line."
Last Tuesday, Han Joo-ho, a 53-year-old Navy warrant officer, died after experiencing decompression sickness.
The decision was made after the first body of the 46 missing sailors was found at around 6 p.m. Saturday inside the cafeteria in the ship's stern.
The body has been identified as Senior Chief Petty Officer Nam Ki-hoon.
Of the Cheonan's 104-member crew, 46 were listed as missing after the ship was torn into two, following an explosion in waters 1.8 kilometers southwest of Baengnyeong Island in the West Sea. Fifty-eight sailors, including the captain, were pulled to safety soon after the ship sank.
Some suspect North Korea was involved in the incident as it took place near the inter-Korean maritime border, the scene of deadly naval clashes in 1999 and 2002.
Defense Minister Kim Tae-young also hinted at the possibility of Pyongyang's involvement, saying the more-likely cause of the Cheonan's tragic sinking was a torpedo attack rather than an underwater mine.
However, Kim did not rule out the possibility that a floating mine could have been the cause, saying some mines placed during the 1950-53 Korean War have yet to be retrieved, or mines could have been drifted from North Korean waters.
Experts say the exact cause of the sinking will be determined after the ship is recovered
They say if the blast took place within the vessel, the steel of the hull should be bent outward; but if it was split in two due to an external force or impact, the steel of the hull should be bent inward.
침몰 선체 인양에 박차
실종 승조원 가족들의 요구로 수색작업을 중지하면서 해군은 일요일 선체 인양작업 준비에 들어갔다.
해군 당국자는 “가족들의 요구로 수색작업은 토요일 오후 11시 이후 중단됐다” 며 “군은 오늘부터 선미 선체의 인양작업에 속도를 가하겠다”고 밝혔다.
인양작업은 해군과 민간 회사가 공동으로 벌어지며 험악한 날씨와 천안호의 무게로 1개월 이상 소요될 것으로 보고 있다. 인양작업에는 대형 이동 크레인 4기와 바지선 세척이 동원될 것으로 알려졌다.
한편, 실종 승조원 가족들은 잠수부들의 위험한 수색 작업과 살아 있을 가능성의 희박함을 들어 수색작업을 중단해 달라고 촉구했다.
지난 주에 베테랑 잠수요원 한주호 (53) 원사가 수중 수색 중 사망했고 어선 한 척이 수색에 참여하다 충돌로 어부들이 사망했다.