Posted on 06/26/2002 9:28:28 PM PDT by HAL9000
KAGOSHIMA, June 27, Kyodo - The Japan Coast Guard on Thursday morning began an operation to salvage an unidentified ship which sank in the East China Sea after a shoot-out with coast guard vessels last December.
The coast guard at around 8 a.m. began lowering two submersible vessels -- one manned and one unmanned -- into the water at the place where the sunken vessel lies on the seabed about 390 kilometers west-northwest of Amami-Oshima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan.
The unmanned submersible will survey the wreckage, which is lying at a depth of about 90 meters, to check for possible obstacles to the salvaging work, while the manned submersible will check the seabed surrounding the wreckage, the coast guard said.
The operation was initially scheduled to start Wednesday, but was postponed because of rough seas. Waves about 1.5 meters high were observed near the site on Thursday morning, according to the coast guard.
Once the survey is completed, obstacles will be cleared from the vicinity of the wreckage, a task which is expected to take about six days.
The 3,992-ton patrol ship Izu is serving as the command ship for several coast guard patrol vessels providing security in the area.
The salvage operation is likely to be completed by the end of July, at the earliest, the coast guard said.
The ship sank in China's exclusive economic zone. The Chinese government gave permission for Japan to undertake the salvage operation and has two observer ships in the vicinity.
Japan alleges the ship was North Korean and probably on a spy or a drug-trafficking mission off the Japanese coast when it was spotted by the coast guard. North Korea has denied the allegation but denounced the sinking of the ship as ''an act of piracy.''
There were an estimated 15 people on board the sunken ship, all of whom are believed to have died in the incident. The remains of four people have been recovered by the Japan Coast Guard.
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