The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Salvage crews bid to raise sunken ferry
South Korean salvage workers have begun the process of raising a ferry that sank in 2014, killing more than 300 people.
Workers on two barges slipped 66 cables beneath the Sewol ferry, which has been lying on its left side in about 40 metres of water.
The cables are connected to a frame of metal beams which divers have spent months putting in place.
The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries believes that workers will be able to lift the upper side of the ferry about 13 metres above the surface by this morning if water and weather conditions remain stable.
Workers will then begin loading it on to a heavy-lifting vessel that will carry it to a mainland port.
That process, including emptying the ferry of water and fuel, is expected to take days.
The bodies of 295 passengers – most of whom were students on a high school trip – were recovered after the sinking on April 16, 2014 but nine are still missing.
The ferry disaster touched off an outpouring of national grief and triggered anger over what was seen as a botched rescue job by the government.
The ferry’s captain survived and is serving a life sentence after a court found him guilty of committing homicide through “wilful negligence” because he fled the ship without issuing an evacuation order.
“Committing homicide through wilful negligence”