Sewol Ferry back onshore in 1,081 days

Sewol Ferry back onshore in 1,081 days. April. 01, 2017 07:08. by Hye-Ryung Choi herstory@donga.com.

Almost three years have passed for a departed ferry to arrive at the port. With passengers on board for their school and alumnus trips, it took 1,081 days after departing Incheon Port on April 15, 2014, and 1,080 days after the sinking.

The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries announced that the semi-submersible White Marine salvaged the hull and arrived around 1 p.m. on Friday at Mokpo New Port, and completed docking along the pier 30 minutes later. White Marine that departed at Donggeocha Island at Jindo County in South Jeolla Province straits was expected to arrive around 2:30 p.m. at Mokpo New Port. However, the ship arrived sooner than expected, thanks to mild waves hovering below one meter and clear sky.

Standing on the fishery inspection boat, the bereaved of the missing bodies looked at the submersive ship dock from the left side of Sewol ferry. Their tense faces gradually disappeared as they drew closer to Mokpo New Port. Park Eun-mi (47, mother of Heo Da-yoon) and Lee Geum-hee (48, mother of Cho Eun-hwa) held tightly to each other and bursted into tears.

The docked hull will go through the process of removing melted down slimes, and will be completely drawn onshore after changing its posture on May 6.