As search-and-rescue teams race against time to find more survivors,… they’ll be assisted on Friday by the arrival of three salvage cranes, which are on their way to the scene as we speak.
However, as our Ji Myung-kil reports, it could take months for the ship to be lifted from where it lays. Three floating cranes are on their way to the accident site to help lift the 68-hundred ton Sewol ferry on its side.
Salvage efforts will start Friday as soon as the 36-hundred ton floating cranes arrive from shipyards in Jinhae and Geoje respectively,… both located near Korea’s southeastern port city of Busan.
One crane is expected to arrive in the morning and the other two in the afternoon to waters off Jindo Island in the southwestern Jeollanam-do province.
However, maritime experts say it may take two months for the huge cranes to lift the capsized vessel due to the sheer size and weight of the vessel.
There are other factors to take into account as well.
The depth of the waters, at 37 meters is one such factor.
Others include high tidal waves and the fact that the ship, which was loaded with freight and now sea water,… could now weigh up to 10-thousand tons.
Crane engineers say it will take at least two weeks to deploy chains around the huge vessel… and once the vessel is lifted to the surface… water will be pumped out slowly… after which time the ferry will be moved to nearby land.
Meanwhile, until the cranes arrive,… search and rescue operations will continue for anyone who may be still alive.
Ji Myung-kil, Arirang News.
