Rescue teams in the Philippines will try to float the almost-submerged passenger ferry M/V Princess of the Stars to avoid leaks of the huge amount toxic chemicals kept inside the ship, a government official said Wednesday.
"We have made a decision that we want to just refloat the vessel," Transportation and Communications Undersecretary Elena Bautista said on local TV channel ANC.
Rescuers had to halt body retrieval operation after 10,000 metric tons of the highly-toxic pesticide, endosulfan, were found inside the ship. Officials and experts warned that the original plan to cut through the ship hull might cause an uncontrollable outspread of toxic pesticide in the ocean.
Bautista said the authority has realized that cutting through the vessel's hull and resuming diving operations have "too many risks involved," according to the report.
She said Sulpicio Lines will start looking for salvage companies that specialize in refloating sunken vessels.
Bautista on Tuesday said she would present Mrs. Arroyo the option of refloating the sunken ship.
High winds and heavy surf from Typhoon Frank capsized the 23,800-ton ferry with 862 people on board. Only 56 survived and around seven hundred remain missing. Nearly 100 bodies recovered by rescuers and villagers on Tuesday arrived at central city of Cebu for identification.
Relatives have appealed the authority to recover many of the bodies trapped inside the overturned ferry.
Source:Xinhua
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