Hope fading for survival of sailors

Social Affairs

Published: 29 Mar. 2010, 22:06

Hope fading for survival of sailors

The landing ship Seonginbong continues a search and rescue mission yesterday in the area where a ship exploded and sank. After locating the stern of the Navy patrol ship near Baengnyeong Island, an orange-colored buoy was installed to mark its location. [YONHAP]

Hopes of finding survivors possibly trapped inside a sunken Navy patrol boat diminished yesterday as rescue divers heard no reply from inside when they knocked on the hull.

The 69-hour window of survival closed yesterday evening as the divers made vigorous attempts to enter the sunken ship. The 1,200-ton patrol combat vessel Cheonan sank after an unexplained explosion tore it in half Friday night. Military authorities were able to locate the submerged front and rear sections near Baengnyeong Island in the Yellow Sea days after the incident.

The stern is where most of the 46 sailors unaccounted for were believed to be located at the time of the explosion. Military specialists said sailors had up to 69 hours - or until sometime between 6 to 7 p.m. yesterday - to breathe if they managed to seal the compartments.

Rescue divers were able to reach the rear half of the ship in the afternoon and knocked on the hull around 1:20 p.m., but nothing was heard from inside, said Defense Ministry Spokesman Won Tae-jae. Divers had reached the front half of the sunken ship yesterday morning and knocked on the hull around 8:13 a.m., but no response was detected there as well, he said.

Despite the lack of response, divers geared up to enter the hull, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said. The operation was planned to continue until 8 p.m. yesterday, Commodore Lee Ki-sik, who is in charge of intelligence operations at the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said at a media briefing.

“We were able to find that the bow completely submerged, while the stern was tilted about 90 degrees to the left,” Lee said. “We are trying to find ways to enter the hull of the stern.”

“Each team of divers can remain underwater for up to 13 minutes,” said Lee. “Taking into account the time it takes to go down and resurface, they have up to eight minutes to work [on the ship].” Won said divers found the bow around 7:57 p.m. Sunday and managed to attach buoys. The stern was found around 10:31 p.m. Sunday and the buoys were placed yesterday morning around 9 a.m.

The stern was discovered about 180 meters (590 feet) north from the explosion site.

“To refloat the sunken stern, we attached it to three-inch thick nylon rope,” said Commodore Lee.

As the clock continued ticking into the evening, 150 family members waiting to be briefed about the situation at the barracks of the Second Navy Fleet erupted with rage. They scuffled with soldiers demanding to know the fate of their loved ones. “What can I possibly say?” Jeon Byeong-cheol, uncle of missing Petty Officer Sohn Su-min, told Yonhap News. “The tragedy happened because the military did not hurry up to rescue the survivors immediately after the sinking!”

The mother of Petty Officer Seo Dae-ho collapsed as she cried before the military officials. “Save my son!” she said. His father, Seo Yeong-hee, also said he won’t believe the military’s announcement unless he sees with his own eyes what had happened to his son.

Defense Minister Kim Tae-young said yesterday that “the possibility of survival is very low.” Kim was speaking before lawmakers on the Defense Committee of the National Assembly. Regarding the military’s report that divers heard no signal back from inside the sunken ship, he said the situation can be interpreted in many ways.

“Two and a half days have passed since the sinking, and it is possible that they are still alive, but I also think that the condition [inside the sunken ship] won’t be easy for them to react to outside sounds,” he said.

The underwater rescue mission has been hampered by extremely low visibility and strong currents, the minister told lawmakers.

“Divers have to rely on their touch during the underwater mission,” Kim said. “They have worked in the areas for two days, but the waters were extremely muddy. The visibility is near zero when the depth reaches five meters.”

According to the Defense Ministry, 154 rescue divers from the Korean military and 15 divers from U.S. forces have been used in the mission. A total of 50 vessels from the South Korean and U.S. forces are also working in the areas to assist the operation.

While the top priority will be the search and rescue of possible survivors, the military also began preparation to salvage the sunken ship. A floating crane capable of moving 2,200 tons left Tongyeong in South Gyeongsang yesterday and is scheduled to reach the area on Saturday. A 3,000-ton barge will leave Pyeongtaek Harbor today to reach the area tomorrow.

“Now that we have found the sunken ship, we have to analyze how the ship sank,” Commodore Lee said. “At this point, I cannot conclude for sure what the cause of the explosion was.”

By Ser Myo-ja [myoja@joongang.co.kr]

Related Korean Article

한 사람당 산소 5000L 필요, 몸 젖으면 서너시간 못 견뎌, 마실 물 있느냐도 큰 변수

천안함 실종 군인들의 생존 마지노선으로 알려진 69시간이 지났다. 하지만 69시간을 한계점으로 정한 데 대해 대다수 전문가는 의문을 표시한다. 한림대 한강성심병원 응급의학과 왕순주 교수는 “과거 바다에 가라앉은 잠수함에서 69시간까지 생존한 기록이 있지만 배의 규모나 크기에 따라 다르기 때문에 이 사례를 그대로 천안함에 적용하기는 곤란하다”고 말했다.

전문가들은 실종 군인들이 살아있으려면 몇 가지 조건이 맞아떨어져야 한다고 지적한다. 가장 중요한 조건은 군인들이 바닷물과 접촉하지 않은 상태여야 한다는 점이다. 건국대 의학전문대학원 김보경(생리학) 교수는 “4도(사고 현장의 수온)의 물에 몸이 젖은 상태라면 저체온증이 와서 서너 시간도 버티기 힘들다”고 말했다.

다음으로 갇혀 있는 공간의 면적이 넓어야 한다. 서울성모병원 응급의학과 박규남 교수는 “밀폐 공간에서 생존 기간은 대개 산소의 양이 좌우하는데 갇힌 사람 수와 공간의 크기를 알아야 대략적인 생존 가능 기간을 추정할 수 있다”고 말했다. 게다가 스트레스를 심하게 받고 흥분하면 산소 소모가 더 빨라진다. 숨을 쉬면서 산소를 써버려 공기 중의 산소가 부족해지면 저산소증이 온다. 산소가 고갈되면 3~5분 내에 의식이 사라지고 곧 호흡을 멈추게 된다.

한글 기사 보기