Asia

Tender launched to salvage Sewol

Seoul: A tender has been launched to seek a salvage company to raise the Sewol ferry, which sank last year in Korean waters, killing more than 300 people.

The move to salvage the ship comes following huge pressure from the families of victims who are determined to identify how the ship sank as well as to try and find the bodies of nine people still missing.

Seoul wants the ferry salvaged by October 2016.

The operation is expected to cost between KRW100bn ($93m) and KRW250bn won.

Meanwhile, Nautilus International, the maritime trade union, slammed yesterday’s Korean court verdict to hand a life sentence to the Sewol ferry captain Lee Jun-seok.

Nautilus general secretary Mark Dickinson said, “Once again, a captain has been made the scapegoat as a result of political pressure and media misrepresentation.”

“Pinning the blame on an individual in this way helps to obscure the underlying causes of the accident, including regulatory failure, overloading, and design changes,” he said, adding: “It is the lawmakers that determine the actions of owners and set the levels of safety. It should not be masters that suffer for their failure.”

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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