A technical review has concluded the physical recovery of a passenger ferry that sank last year will be possible, the government said Monday, although a decision on whether the country will actually salvage the ship still needs to be made.
In one of the nation’s worst maritime disasters, the 6,800-ton ferry Sewol sank on April 16 last year en route to the country’s southernmost resort island of Jeju, killing 304 people, mostly high school students on a school excursion.
“As we now have the final outcome of a technical review that says the ship’s recovery is (technically) possible, the government will file a request with the central disaster control center today for a decision on whether to salvage the ship,” Maritime Minister Yoo Ki-june said at a press briefing.
The ministry earlier said the outcome of its review will only help in making the final decision on whether to physically recover the ship, which could now easily weigh more than 10,000 tons with its cargo and the water that fills the ship.
However, the final outcome of the technical review comes after President Park Geun-hye pledged to salvage the ship as soon as possible, leaving the disaster control center only with the question of how the ship will be raised.
“I understand the disaster control center plans to make a final decision on Wednesday,” the minister said.
The families of the victims have strongly demanded the ship be pulled out of the water to help identify the exact cause of the accident and also to find the bodies of nine people still missing.
Still, such a decision also faces strong opposition from conservative groups, which insist spending hundreds of billions of won in taxpayer money just to confirm the exact cause of the accident is a waste.
A district court has sentenced 15 crew members of the sunken ship, including its 68-year-old captain, to prison terms ranging from five to 36 years for causing the accident through negligence and abandoning the ship without aiding their passengers.
The government said the move to salvage the ship will cost at least 100 billion won ($92 million) and that the cost could grow to over 250 billion won.
Since the tragic accident, the government has spent some 185 billion won, mostly for search and rescue operations that lasted nearly seven months until mid-November.
It has said at least an additional 250 billion won will be needed to pay government compensation to the victims and their families, as well as residents in areas close to the accident site who had been kept away from their daily jobs due to the months of search and rescue operations. (Yonhap)
