The wreck of the ill-fated Korean ferry Sewol has been transported to the Port of Mokpo where it would be inspected for the remains of the missing passengers, the Associated Press reports.
The corroded hull of the ferry was lifted from the seabed in the morning hours of March 23 following overnight salvage operations and placed on a semi-submersible vessel.
It is expected that disconnecting the ferry from the heavy lift vessel will take several days at the port as the wreck had to be welded in place for safety reasons.
Sewol sank off Jindo Island on April 16, 2014, killing 304 people, 250 of which were high school students on a school trip. Nine persons are still missing.
The salvage project, conducted by a Chinese consortium led by Shanghai Salvage, started in June 2016. However, bad weather and technical problems postponed the project several times.
An investigation into the incident found that several factors had led to the sinking of the ferry, including an illegal remodelling of the ferry to increase the cargo load, cargo overloading, and the steersman’s poor helmsmanship.
World Maritime News Staff