The capsized Eastern Star has now been completely righted, and the ship’s blue top can be seen above the water surface. Teams are now trying to drain off the water inside the ship to make it float.
Two 500-ton lifting boats are being used to lift the capsized Eastern Star, using four iron ropes. In order to carry out the operation, four iron ropes welded on the ship should be lifting the hulk simultaneously.
The operation was earlier scheduled for Thursday night. But it was delayed because of three major difficulties in welding a fourth iron rope. One is that the bow is touching the river embankment, the second is the low visibility of the river, and the third is the large quantity of rubble that was used for flood prevention at the contact position.
Before the operation, the rescuers had cut holes in the bottom of the overturned ship to give divers easier access inside, in the hopes of reaching anybody who might still be alive. And after three days of divers combing compartments and searching nearby waters, rescuers on Thursday evening decided to hoist and upright the wreckage.
The Ministry of Transport’s spokesperson says that there are slim chances that more survivors would be found inside the hull. He says the decision to turn the ship would help find the missing “in the shortest possible time” and “protect the dignity of the deceased”.
The passenger ship Eastern Star capsized at around 9:30 p.m. Monday in the Jianli section of the Yangtze River. The ship was heading upstream from Nanjing to Chongqing. There were 456 people on board. Most passengers were tourists from Shanghai and its neighboring province of Jiangsu. Their ages ranged from 3 to 83, with most in their 60s and 70s.
To help the operation, the flow of water from the Three Gorges Dam, upstream from the site of the incident, has been reduced by more than half, from 17,200 cubic meters per second to just 7,000 cubic meters.
The ill-fated ship is owned by the Chongqing Eastern Shipping Corporation, which specializes in tourist routes in the popular Three Gorges river canyon region. The company was founded in 1967 and now has five luxury passenger vessels operating in China.
