Navy could get salvage ship in December despite defects

The South Korean military on Friday could deliver a new salvage ship to the Navy as early as next month, even though replacements for some substandard parts have not yet been installed, as the current 46-year-old vessel needs to be replaced to ensure sailors’ safety.

The decision was made at the Joint Chiefs of Staff Council meeting, which was presided over by JCS Chairman Adm. Choi Yoon-hee and attended by top military officials including the chiefs of the Army, Air Force and Navy.

The new 3,500-ton salvage ship, named the Tongyeong, has been mired in a high-profile corruption scandal involving a former procurement official who allegedly received a kickback when the ship’s sonar system was purchased from a U.S. firm.

Along with the hull-mounted sonar, the ultrasonic camera of the remotely operated vehicle failed to meet the Navy’s required operational capabilities ― the reason why the ship has sat idle at a shipyard of its manufacturer, Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, on Geojedo Island, South Gyeongsang Province. The ship’s delivery was originally set for last December.

“In consideration of a possible security vacuum due to the current aging salvage ship and the fact that the new ship can still carry out basic naval missions, the new vessel needs to be deployed,” said the JCS in a statement following the council meeting.

At the council meeting, the top military officials agreed to make the delivery before the end of 2014. They also agreed to delay the target year of the deployment of the ultrasonic camera and the sonar to December 2015 and September 2017, respectively, and allow the ship to be delivered to the Navy without the two parts as early as next month.

Under the previous delivery requirements, the ship could only be delivered to the Navy with the complete sonar system and remotely operated vehicle. But Friday’s decision paved the way for an early delivery of the vessel.

Stressing they would try to deliver the ship by the end of this year, officials said that the delivery could be delayed to early next year due to a set of final tests that still need to be conducted on the vessel.

Officials believe that after the delivery, the operational deployment of the Tongyeong will take three to five months, as the Navy needs to conduct more performance tests including a combat operational test.

The defects of the Tongyeong came into the spotlight in April, as the ship could not be mobilized in the desperate operations to rescue passengers trapped in the sunken ferry Sewol. Amid public calls for an explanation for the delayed delivery, the government found irregularities in the acquisition process for the sonar system.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)