South Korea raises stern of sunken warship

Seoul - Salvage teams off the west coast of South Korea recovered the stern of a sunken warship Thursday, nearly three weeks after it went down following an unexplained explosion.

The rear part of the 1,200-ton corvette Cheonan, hoisted to the surface by a giant sea crane, is suspected to contain the bodies of the 44 still-missing crew members.

The section of the wreck will be pumped free of water and put on a barge it is inspected at a naval base.

The authorities hope that the recovered ship part will shed some light on the cause of the sinking. Experts from several countries have joined the salvage operation, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported, including the United States, Australia, Britain and Sweden.

The vessel sank in 45 meters of water near the disputed maritime border with North Korea on March 26, in an area of the Yellow Sea where the navies of North and South Korea have clashed in 1999, 2002 and 2009.

Fifty-eight members of the Cheonan's 104-strong crew were rescued after the sinking. In addition to the 44 presumed drowned, a further two bodies have been recovered.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/318804,south-korea-raises-stern-of-sunken-warship.html.