Sewol ferry disaster – SoraNews24 —Japan News— https://soranews24.com Bringing you yesterday's news from Japan and Asia, today. Wed, 10 Dec 2014 20:00:04 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.1.4 https://soranews24.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/05/en_rocket_1024.png?w=32 Sewol ferry disaster – SoraNews24 —Japan News— https://soranews24.com 32 32 176746664 South Korean ferry disaster: Rescue ship was fitted with salmon-fishing sonar https://soranews24.com/2014/12/11/south-korean-ferry-disaster-rescue-ship-was-fitted-with-salmon-fishing-sonar/ https://soranews24.com/2014/12/11/south-korean-ferry-disaster-rescue-ship-was-fitted-with-salmon-fishing-sonar/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2014 20:00:01 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=202607 
Criticism of South Korean naval authorities has intensified as it is revealed that the country’s only salvage and rescue ship was equipped with a fish-finding sonar instead of military-grade equipment.
ATS-II Tongyeong, a naval rescue vessel, was completed in 2012 at a cost of 159 billion won (US $150.7 million). But when the Sewol ferry sank on April 16 this year, Tongyeong was back in the construction yard, unable to be deployed to the rescue mission.
Now, defence suppliers face allegations that in the weeks following the ferry disaster, they knowingly attached a commercial sonar only suitable for salmon-fishing to Tongyeong, and tried to pass it off to the navy.
According to South Korean newspaper The Hankyoreh, Tongyeong was fitted with a SH90 fishing sonar in May of this year, just after the Sewol ferry disaster. A source at a maritime equipment company told The Hankyoreh that a commercial fish-finding sonar like this could never meet the needs of a military vessel:
“The objectives of military sonar and fish-finding sonar are completely different… its performance will be worse and its range narrower than military sonar, which must be able to monitor a wide area and detect rapidly moving objects.”
Tongyeong is South Korea’s first and only salvage and rescue vessel, but the project has been plagued with problems since its inception. The ship was launched in 2012, but the Navy refused to accept delivery of it, saying its sonar was substandard, and Tongyeong was returned to the construction yard.
The revelation that Tongyeong was fitted with another unsuitable sonar in the weeks following the Sewol ferry disaster has led to speculation that the Defence Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA) rushed to fit a non-military sonar to make the ship appear complete, thinking the navy would accept it.
Military authorities faced criticism for being unable to deploy Tongyeong to help with rescue efforts in the sinking of the MV Sewol. At least 295 passengers died when the ferry capsized on April 16, most of them teenagers from one high school. Two rescue divers also died in the salvage attempt, which was finally called off last month as worsening conditions made it too difficult to continue.
▼ The capsized MV Sewol. The captain and company president, along with thirteen crew members, were jailed last month on negligence charges.
A spokeperson for the DAPA denied that the acquisition programme planned to pass on unsuitable equipment, saying: “We didn’t install the SH90 on the Tongyeong in order to quickly pass it on to the navy. We just installed the equipment on the ship because we needed to test its performance.”
However, the salmon-fishing sonar was fitted as part of a deal which saw the president of military supplier Hakenko, along with two former DAPA employees, arrested and charged with supplying 200 million won worth of equipment for 4.1 billion won (US$3.73 million).
A follow-up investigation is underway, and the government is said to be considering a joint investigation on corruption in the defence industry.
Sources: Sankei News, The Hankyoreh
Featured image: Naval Open Source
Other images: Simrad SH90 Sonar, Wikimedia/Ryuch
]]> https://soranews24.com/2014/12/11/south-korean-ferry-disaster-rescue-ship-was-fitted-with-salmon-fishing-sonar/feed/ 0 202607 Tongyeong Tongyeong SH90 South Korean ferry disaster to be turned into low-budget documentary next year https://soranews24.com/2014/07/14/south-korean-ferry-disaster-to-be-turned-into-low-budget-documentary-next-year/ https://soranews24.com/2014/07/14/south-korean-ferry-disaster-to-be-turned-into-low-budget-documentary-next-year/#comments Sun, 13 Jul 2014 23:00:25 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=165348 
After a tragedy like the April 16 sinking of the South Korean ferry Sewol, many are left wondering how to appropriately commemorate the lives lost without forgetting the awful truth of the actual incident. Last week a South Korean newspaper revealed that a two-hour documentary about the accident is being planned to be released next year to coincide with the one-year anniversary. The film’s backers are relying solely on donations and are seeking just 400 million won (US$392,000) to finance the low-budget project. And with the entire country paying extremely close attention to every tragic detail to come out of the investigations surrounding the accident, this film is destined to be an instant hit in Korean movie theaters.
The documentary is set to be called “A Goose’s Dream” after a song that high schooler Lee Bo Mee sang at a school festival. Lee was one of the 293 people who died in the accident and she sacrificed her own life while the Sewol sank to save others. Although any further details about the contents of the film weren’t revealed, the documentary will likely cover many aspects of the accident from the criticism of the government’s response to the intense media coverage of the sinking.
The filmmakers have said that they will use about 300 million won ($294,321) for production costs and spend the remaining 100 million won ($98,107) for advertisement. In October, they expect to have a 30-minute clip finished and plan to show it for free.
Although some Japanese netizens wondered if this was too soon to be making a film after the tragedy, others argued that it will always be “too soon” and that shouldn’t prevent people from moving forward. But with such a low budget, netizens worried that the quality of the documentary would be pretty poor and cynically thought this was to increase profits since any movie about the Sewol is likely to sell out across Korea.
With the death toll yet to be finalized as 11 people remain missing and the government is still investigating the details leading up to the Sewol’s final days, this tragedy is far from over and a two-hour documentary will probably not be able to cover every angle of the disaster. But for a country that has been mourning the almost 300 deaths of mostly high schoolers, the film could possibly be one way to continue to come to grips with what happened last April.
Feature Image: Wikipedia, Wikipedia edited by RocketNews24
Source: Alfafa
]]> https://soranews24.com/2014/07/14/south-korean-ferry-disaster-to-be-turned-into-low-budget-documentary-next-year/feed/ 0 165348 2014.07.12 sewol in theater South Korean government blamed for incompetent response to Sewol ferry disaster https://soranews24.com/2014/07/01/south-korean-government-blamed-for-incompetent-response-to-sewol-ferry-disaster/ https://soranews24.com/2014/07/01/south-korean-government-blamed-for-incompetent-response-to-sewol-ferry-disaster/#comments Mon, 30 Jun 2014 19:30:28 +0000 http://en.rocketnews24.com/?p=161835 
After the initial dust settles on the scene of a tragedy there comes the more protracted, but often less news-worthy, battle for answers and accountability. From the outset Korean authorities have come under fire from the public as well as government officials who claim that the immediate response to the incident was not good enough, and the accusations of incompetence continue to mount.
Korean passenger ferry the Sewol sank on April 16 while carrying hundreds of passengers, many of them school children. Reported death tolls vary, but according to Korean news site Airirang, the current total stands at 293 dead with 11 still missing.
At one point during the rescue operations, the rescue teams began injecting air into possible air pockets inside the sunken ship where it was thought there could still be survivors trapped. However, doubts have now been raised that the compressed air they were pumping in was in fact tainted with impurities such as fatal carbon monoxide. During the inquiry into the handling of the disaster, parliamentary member Kim Hyun-mi of the opposition party New Politics Alliance for Democracy disclosed evidence from divers involved in these operations. Independent news site News Tapa also reported that small-scale compressors were used which could only pump five cubic metres of air per minute.
The finger of blame for the accident itself has already been pointed at Captain Lee Jun-seok, who has been indicted on charges of murder. However, many people feel that it’s now time for the authorities to also take responsibility for their bungled approach to the rescue. It’s been commonly reported that the initial response to the sinking was slow and mismanaged, and that Korean authorities have been both incompetent and uncommunicative in the search for the missing passengers. The Prime Minister himself admitted to his government taking “inadequate measures” in response to the disaster when he resigned over the issue. More apologies are sure to be on the cards from here on out.
It’s understandable that the families of those who lost their lives in the tragedy need some kind of explanation and promise that the same mistakes will never be repeated in order to be able to move on. Hopefully the coming inquiries will prove an opportunity to learn lessons, rather than an exercise in passing off blame.
Source: 47News
Image: Vessel Finder
]]> https://soranews24.com/2014/07/01/south-korean-government-blamed-for-incompetent-response-to-sewol-ferry-disaster/feed/ 0 161835 sewol sewol