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A family member of one student who died in the Sewol ferry sinking watches the ongoing efforts to raise the ferry

It seems unlikely that the Sewol hull will be raised by the end of September, either. The lifting beams have not yet been installed under the stern, although that was supposed to have been finished by the end of August. The lifting beams must be installed before the hull can be raised.

“We need to place eight lifting beams beneath the Sewol’s stern, but so far we have only placed one,” said South Korea’s Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries in a press conference on Sep. 26. The Ministry had predicted that it would finish installing the lifting beams under the stern by the end of last month and that it could then connect the wires to the offshore crane to lift the hull of the ferry above the water sometime this month.

“There is mud, sand and rocks piled up on the seabed below the hull, and in some areas there is irregular sedimentation, with the dirt and rocks as hard as concrete. Before we can place the lifting beams under the ferry, we have to clear away the dirt and rocks, and that is taking longer than expected,” said a Ministry official.

The layers of sediment under the hull are something that should have been considered before the lifting beams were installed, prompting criticism that the preparation for the work was shoddy.

“During our survey last year, we learned that there were some areas of solid sedimentation. But it was physically impossible to assess the geological conditions immediately under the hull,” a Ministry official explained.

“Our goal is to raise the hull of the Sewol by the end of next month,” the Ministry said.

By Kim So-youn, staff reporter

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