AP News, December 27th, 2007
The apparent wreckage of a cargo ship that disappeared along with 14 sailors has been found, but lay too deep in the water to raise immediately, South Korean officials said Wednesday. Meanwhile, the search continued for the missing.
The ship, carrying 2,000 tons of nitric acid, was feared sunk after it sent out a distress signal early Tuesday off Yeosu, 280 miles south of Seoul. One sailor was rescued.
On Tuesday night, a navy boat equipped with sonar detected an object of a shape and size matching the missing 1,323-ton South Korean ship, said navy spokesman Lt. Kim Su-min.
Kim said the sonar is very accurate and that no other similar objects have been detected in the area nearly 1,500 feet away from the site where the ship signaled for help. But the water there is more than 200 feet deep, making it difficult for rescuers to dive or salvage the object to determine whether it is the ship, he said.
Kim said the object could be raised eventually, once a salvaging company with the appropriate expertise was identified.
Dozens of Coast Guard and navy boats joined by helicopters continued search and rescue work to find survivors but have so far found only 18 metal drums and several life jackets and boats presumed to be from the ship, Coast Guard spokesman Kang Byung-mun said.
The survivor — a 28-year-old Burmese — told investigators he watched the vessel sink before he and the other crew members — 12 South Koreans and two Burmese — were swept away, Kang said.
Maritime officials have said the nitric acid on board was not likely to cause environmental damage because it easily dilutes.
But the coast guard dispatched boats to measure the acidity of the ocean and found waters 10 yards below the surface in the affected area were not contaminated, said Song In-chul, an official at the coast guard's marine pollution bureau.
He said, however, it was not known if deeper waters had been affected. The coast guard also planned to take deeper measurements, he said.
The accident came as South Korea battles to contain the nation's worst-ever oil spill, after a wayward barge hit a supertanker Dec. 7 and caused the tanker to leak 78,920 barrels of oil.
