Work on raising the wellboat “Seikongen”, which sank outside the village of Chonchi, just south of Castro on Isla Chiloé in southern Chile nine months ago, will start Thursday.
The operation has had three unsuccessful attempts to salvage it.
The raise starts Thursday confirmed Pedro Montes Cortés in an email to SalmonBusiness. He is a public relations officer in the Chilean Navy, adding that there will be ongoing updates during the operation.
According to the Chilean newspaper La Estrella de Chiloé, the preparations for the elevation will start at 08.00 local time, equivalent to 13 BST (UK time). The actual raising of the vessel will start at 11.00 local time and last for 3-4 hours if everything goes as planned. Then the process of keeping the wellboat afloat will start.
Almost 100 people will participate in the work, including 30 experts from the Dutch salvage and wreck removal company Ardent and CPT Empresas Maritimas. The latter owns the boat. In addition, around 60 people from the Chilean Navy will help.
“After the raise, the boat will be towed to Talcahuano, where it will be repaired” said a spokesman from CPT Empresas Maritimas.
