Data picture: On April 6, at Mopo New Port, South Jeolla Province, the victims of the "Sewol" waited for salvage operations. (Source: Yonhap News Agency)
China News Service, April 12, According to Yonhap News Agency, according to the South Korean Ministry of Marine and Fisheries on the 11th of this month, the salvage operations of the "Sewol" shipwreck were completed on the same day. It has been 1,091 days since the Shou-Wu sinking. Before the third anniversary festival arrived, the Shou-Wu-Wu was finally able to fully land.
The note that remembers the victims sways in the wind. (Photo source: Yonhap News Agency)
"Sewol" sinking accident
"Sewol" passenger ship is 45 meters long, 22 meters wide, 14 meters deep, and the hull is 6825 tons. On April 16, 2014, the Sewol sank near the sea of Jindao County, Jeolla South Jeolla Province, killing 295 people. To date, 9 people are still missing, and most of the victims are students.
The entire salvage process of "Sewol"
April 22, 2015 The South Korean government decided to salvage the hull of the Sewol to prevent the bodies of the victims from being washed away;
From May 22 to June 22, 2015, the South Korean government conducted an open bid for the "Sewol" shipwolite salvage project;
Data picture: On August 4, 2015, the South Korean Ministry of Marine and Fisheries and the Shanghai Salvage Bureau Enterprise Consortium signed a contract to salvage the "Sewol" shipwolite. (Source: Yonhap News Agency)
In August 2015, in the bidding involving 19 well-known salvage companies around the world, the humanized salvage plan for "steel beam bottom" formulated by a corporate consortium of South Korea's Underwater Engineering Company (Ocean CI) and other companies won the bid in one fell swoop. On August 7, the Ministry of Marine and Fisheries of South Korea signed a contract to salvage the Sewol. Subsequently, relevant companies built offshore operation bases on the Menggu waterway between Monggu Island and Juci Island in Jeondo, South Jeolla Province, and conducted underwater investigations from the 23rd;
On March 22, 2017, the Ministry of Marine and Fisheries of South Korea officially launched the "Sewol" shipwreck salvage operation;
On March 23, 2017, part of the structure of the "Sewol" passenger ship, which seemed to be shaking fins, surfaced, and the "Sewol" that touched the hearts of the Korean people, saw the light of day again after 1,073 days of sinking;
On March 25, 2017, the entire hull of the "Sewol" was released from water;
On March 31, 2017, The hull of the "Sewol" was transported to the Mokpo New Port;
Data picture: On the afternoon of April 10, 2017, at the Mokpo New Port, the "Sewol" was waiting to "get ashore". (Source: Yonhap News Agency)
On April 9, 2017, the "Sewol" landing operation started;
On April 11, 2017, the "Sewol" shipwreck salvage operation ended. After the landing operation of the "Seyue" is completed, the Ministry of Marine and Fisheries will clean and prevent the hull to prepare for the search for the bodies of the missing.
Data picture: On the afternoon of April 11, 2017, at Mokpo New Port, staff were pulling the module transport vehicle out of the hull of the "Seyue". (Source; Yonhap News Agency)
"Sewol" salvage steps
Related companies finally decided not to drill holes in the hull and set up a steel frame at the bottom of the ship to salvage the "Sewol" passenger ship. The specific salvage steps are: handle the fuel inside the ship; to prevent the body from being washed away, set up net bags at the windows and entrances; inject air and buoyant materials into the inner space of the cabin; use a crane to lift the hull slightly; set up more than 20 steel frames at the bottom of the ship at a spacing of 3.5 meters; connect the steel frames and the crane with a wire rope, pull the hull up 23 meters, and then drag the hull to a safe water area about 2 kilometers away; place the hull on a semi-submersible barge to transport it to Mopo New Port 90 kilometers away, and move it ashore.
The mystery behind the Sewol
The Sewol shipwreck accident is the worst shipwreck accident in South Korea in recent decades. After the accident, then Prime Minister Zheng Boyuan resigned, and then President Park Geun-hye personally apologized to the people for the shipwreck accident and disbanded the Marine Police Department. More than 400 people, including the supervisor of the "Seyue" shipping company, the captain, crew member, and the person responsible for the navigation of the shipping union, were investigated and 154 were arrested. In November 2015, the Grand Court ruled that the captain was found guilty of murder and sentenced him to life imprisonment; the chief mate, second mate and the chief engineer were found guilty of abandoning death, and sentenced him to 7 to 12 years in prison.
Data picture: The picture shows the family members of the missing shipwreck "Seyue" buried flowers in the sea, praying that the missing will return home safely.(Source: Yonhap News Agency/Provided by the Ministry of Marine and Fisheries) Park Geun-hye's 7-hour whereabouts on the day of the
accident have always attracted much attention. It is suspected that Park Geun-hye was given a beauty injection and had a long hair removal that day to delay the opportunity for search and rescue. The Congressional Impulse Committee believed that Park Geun-hye was neglectful and failed to respond to disasters, and listed her as one of the reasons for impeachment and submitted a 1,600-page opinion letter, including evidence, to the Constitutional Court.
Some public opinion also questioned Park Geun-hye's whereabouts 7 hours after the incident. Kato Tatsuya, former president of the Seoul branch of Japan's Sankei Shimbun, also published a report titled "Park Geun-hye is unknown on the day of the shipwreck, whom did she meet?", saying that Park Geun-hye was with her former secretary's office director Zheng Runhui on the day of the accident.
Data picture: In April 2014, former President Park Geun-hye (first from left) listened to the report of a shipwreck accident. (Source: Yonhap News Agency)
At the trial of Park Geun-hye’s impeachment case, Park Geun-hye’s lawyers submitted a defense letter to the Constitutional Court, explaining Park Geun-hye’s seven-hour whereabouts on the day of the “Sewol” shipwreck on April 16, 2014. In the defense statement, Park Geun-hye said that she stayed at the official residence to work that day due to poor health.
Data picture: On April 16, 2016, the memorial ceremony for the second anniversary of the shipwreck of the Sewol was held at Gwanghwamun Square in Seoul. (Source: Yonhap News Agency)
htmlOn December 10, South Korean Constitutional Court pointed out that although the "Sewol" accident is extremely painful, whether Park Geun-hye performed her duties conscientiously on the day of the incident does not fall into the category of impeachment trial. Some judges added in the main sentence of the judgment that although Park Geun-hye has not fulfilled her obligation to perform her duties faithfully, this is not enough to relieve her of her presidency.However, judging from the investigation process of the "confidence door", Park Geun-hye has no sincerity to protect the constitution and has failed the trust of the people. It is an intolerable major unconstitutional act. It was announced that the presidential impeachment case filed by Congress in December last year was established, and Park Geun-hye was removed.
Korean media pointed out that the "Sewol" shipwreck accident is not only an important turning point in Park Geun-hye's ruling career, but also an eternal pain in the hearts of the people. At present, searching for the remains of the victims is still an urgent task. The chairman of the hull investigation committee of the "Sewol" previously stated that after the hull is fully ashore, after conducting safety investigations and epidemic prevention, the search for the bodies and relics of the victims will be carried out quickly. Only when the bodies of the last nine victims are discovered as soon as possible can the people be at ease.
