 |
| Passengers of a ferry that capsized near Jindo Island off Korea's southwestern coast Tuesday morning are rescued by maritime police. / Yonhap |
By Kang Seung-woo
Navy and Coast Guard divers began to search a ferry that capsized near Jindo Island off the southwestern coast Wednesday morning.
Despite a massive rescue operation that involved 90 vessels and 11 helicopters along with more than 200 divers from the Navy's ship salvage unit (SSU), underwater demolition team (UDT)-SEAL, poor underwater visibility and strong currents at the scene prevented divers from entering the sunken ship to find missing passengers.
They initially planned to search the ferry at 5 p.m., but bad underwater conditions postponed the operation until 6:30 p.m. According to the defense ministry, the ferry Sewol capsized in a depth of 30 meters, with sea currents flowing at a speed of 8 kilometers per hour.
The Navy said that its divers succeeded in entering three cabins, but failed to find missing passengers and crew.
It added that they can stay underwater for 20 minutes and will rotate dives during nighttime.
After receiving a call at 9:03 a.m., the Navy sent 22 vessels and a Lynx helicopter to the location.
"Among the vessels are the 4,500-ton Daejoyoung KDX-II destroyer; the Cheonghaejin, a 4,300-ton submarine rescue ship; and the 1,800-ton frigate Seoul," a Navy spokesman said.
The Air Force also dispatched a C-130 military transport aircraft carrying 46 life boats, and HH-47 and HH-60 combat search-and-rescue helicopters for rescue operations.
The Navy also sent the 14,000-ton amphibious landing ship Dokdo to conduct effective salvage operations.
The Army put four patrol ships and a CH-47 helicopter in the area, while sending about 10 emergency rescue teams, a military official said.
In addition, the Army's 40 scuba divers and 150 Special Forces personnel are participating in the rescue operation.
The Army said that should decompression devices arrive, they would be able to continue through the night.
Meanwhile, the defense minister announced that the USS Bonhomme Richard, a U.S. Navy amphibious assault ship equipped with two helicopters, was heading to the site. The ship was conducting a routine patrol mission in the West Sea.
In addition, the U.S. 7th Fleet will provide assistance at the request of the government, the ministry added.
![[INTERVIEW] Disney+ 'Big Bet' director on portraying greed and desire](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/99fc01c9a888412cbd3a14685e9ac23e.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
