The deep-sea search ship Seabed Constructor is docked at a port in Cape Town, South Africa. (image: a family member of a missing crew member of the sunken Stellar Daisy bulk carrier)
SEOUL, Feb. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — Deep-sea search operations have begun for the ill-fated South Korean bulk carrier Stellar Daisy that sank in the South Atlantic two years ago, Seoul’s foreign ministry said Friday.
The search ship, Seabed Constructor, arrived at the scene of the sinking on Thursday (local time) and launched the operations employing four autonomous underwater vehicles, the ministry said in a press release.
Stellar Daisy sank in the South Atlantic, some 3,700 kilometers off Uruguay, in March 2017. Eight South Korean and 14 Filipino crew members remain missing.
Seabed Constructor plans to conduct the first round of search operations for up to 10 days and will return to Montevideo, Uruguay, for a change of staff and other reasons. It will then return to the scene for the second round of operations that will last for around 15 days.
In December, the South Korean government signed a contract with Ocean Infinity, a Texas-based exploration firm that runs Seabed Constructor, for the search. The deal is worth 4.84 billion won (US$4.29 million).
(Yonhap)
