S.Korean diver dies in warship rescue

[sabbath999]

A South Korean diver died Tuesday while trying to rescue dozens of sailors believed trapped inside a warship that sank near the North Korean border after a mysterious explosion.

The full story:

S.Korean diver dies in warship rescue as military on alert - Yahoo! News

 

[SkimFisher]

Very sad indeed.

On a side note, this caught my eye in the article:

Navy Lieutenant Colonel Song Moo-Jin said the divers were working "in a very vicious environment" and could stay underwater for only about 20 minutes at a depth of 40 metres (130 feet).

Not exactly what I'd expect out of a Navy dive program. Did they send down a PADI rescue class? Could be an error, but...

 

[Rick Murchison]

Very sad indeed. ...Not exactly what I'd expect out of a Navy dive program. Did they send down a PADI rescue class? Could be an error, but...

Well, let's see... they got there fast with what they could muster quickly. 20 minutes is pretty good on a working dive at that depth with a single tank under typical conditions for the area. The area frequently has vicious currents, lousy visibility and water temps this time of year that are near freezing. The last report I got says they lost at least 40 lads to the sea. Don't know if the diver was included. The PDRK is strangely quiet...
Rick

 

[snakedr]

Well, let's see... they got there fast with what they could muster quickly. 20 minutes is pretty good on a working dive at that depth with a single tank under typical conditions for the area. The area frequently has vicious currents, lousy visibility and water temps this time of year that are near freezing. The last report I got says they lost at least 40 lads to the sea. Don't know if the diver was included. The PDRK is strangely quiet...
Rick

As well as working a ship wreck that was blown in half with explosives

 

[DandyDon]

Getting anything done in 4 knot freezing currents with lousy viz sound heroic, even if it is their job. There are hundreds of stories, but here are a few excepts with some emphasis added...

A South Korean diver died today during a tense rescue operation to reach possible survivors trapped underwater in the ship that sank last Friday, officials said. Another diver who lost consciousness has been transferred to USNS Salvor, one of four U.S. Navy ships assisting in the search recovery.

These rescue efforts are underway near Baengnyeong Island, at the western tip of a disputed maritime border between South and North Korea, where a blast ripped a 1,200-ton South Korean ship apart during a patrol mission.

Rough waves and strong underwater currents are hampering expert divers from reaching the two parts of the sunken ship. Fifty-eight crew members, mostly at the front of the ship at the time, were saved but 46 are still unaccounted for.

Military divers struggled to open holes in each half of the bisected hull of the sunken Chenonan in desperate efforts to find the sailors believed to be trapped inside the wreckage.

Late Monday, divers succeeded in putting air into the stern of the ship, where most of the missing crew are believed to have been trapped since the 1,200-ton ship sank near the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto sea border with North Korea, in the West Sea (Yellow Sea) after a mysterious explosion, the ministry said.

The ministry released an 80-second video image taken right after the incident occurred in waters 1.8 kilometers south of Baengnyeong Island.

The image was recorded by a thermal observation device (TOD) set up on Baengnyeong, the country's northernmost island, ministry officials said.

It shows some crewmen waiting for rescue on the capsized bow, while two patrol boats approach the scene to help.

I don't know about that video? Most articles say no signs of life.

Navy Warrant Officer Han Joo-ho suffered sudden breathing problems and fainted on Tuesday evening while taking part in day-long operations to search for possible survivors. The 53-year-old member of the Navy's underwater demolition team was pulled out of the water and rushed to the 3,000-ton U.S. rescue ship Salvo but died two hours later. He had been taking part in the search for four days running in freezing weather.

Two members of the Navy's ship salvage unit also fainted during a search operation Tuesday afternoon and were moved to a hospital for treatment. A military officer said divers worked in terrible conditions including rapid currents and bad visibility and sometimes violated safety rules as pressure mounted to find and rescue the missing crew.

Divers are required to put on deep-sea diving devices when they go deeper than 40 m. The stern of the Cheonan, where any survivors were believed to be trapped, lies 45 m under the sea.

Published: March 31, 2010

Filed at 2:23 a.m. ET

BAENGNYEONG ISLAND, South Korea (AP) -- Stormy conditions forced the military to suspend the search for 46 sailors missing since a mysterious blast blew apart their navy ship last week, officials said Wednesday, a day after a diver died during the rescue mission.

 

[widget]

To be honest, I dont think this is a job suited to military divers. True, they probably jumped in and did what they could at short notice, but I would have thought that they (the military) would have seconded a major salvage company with the required equipment and a contingent of trained sat divers to hot foot it to the site as well - but its three days now and they appear to be sticking with the 20 minute dive option, which strikes me as a little short sighted maybe.!

 

[SkimFisher]

To be honest, I dont think this is a job suited to military divers. True, they probably jumped in and did what they could at short notice, but I would have thought that they (the military) would have seconded a major salvage company with the required equipment and a contingent of trained sat divers to hot foot it to the site as well - but its three days now and they appear to be sticking with the 20 minute dive option, which strikes me as a little short sighted maybe.!

That's kind of where I was going

 

[Epinephelus]

Very sad indeed.
On a side note, this caught my eye in the article:

Navy Lieutenant Colonel Song Moo-Jin said the divers were working "in a very vicious environment" and could stay underwater for only about 20 minutes at a depth of 40 metres (130 feet).

Not exactly what I'd expect out of a Navy dive program. Did they send down a PADI rescue class? Could be an error, but...

To be honest, I dont think this is a job suited to military divers. True, they probably jumped in and did what they could at short notice, but I would have thought that they (the military) would have seconded a major salvage company with the required equipment and a contingent of trained sat divers to hot foot it to the site as well - but its three days now and they appear to be sticking with the 20 minute dive option, which strikes me as a little short sighted maybe.!

I am holding my tongue as best I can. This type of "Monday morning quarterbacking" of the people on the scene risking their lives in horrid conditions just makes me furious! You two have no idea what they're up against. And as for hiring a major salvage company... who, exactly? What "required equipment" do you have in mind for high current?
I suggest you pray for and praise those on the scene, and keep your long-distance uninformed criticisms to yourselves.
E

 

[widget]

I am holding my tongue as best I can. This type of "Monday morning quarterbacking" of the people on the scene risking their lives in horrid conditions just makes me furious! You two have no idea what they're up against. And as for hiring a major salvage company... who, exactly? What "required equipment" do you have in mind for high current?
I suggest you pray for and praise those on the scene, and keep your long-distance uninformed criticisms to yourselves.
E

There was no malice intended, its just my opinion, backed by more than 25 years of salvage experience as a sat diver in a working enviroment, so I am hardly a "Monday morning quaterback" - anyway, I am not going to argue a point about "what they are up against" although I have more than a pretty good idea and there are many ways of dealing with high currents, ask some of the salvors called in to raise the "Kursk" in a near freezing Baltic sea when the military option failed dismally and lives were lost.

 

[SkimFisher]

I'll plead ignorance. Where should I send the flowers?