Sunken cruiser being straightened, may be lifted already on Monday

MOSCOW, July 18 (Itar-Tass) -- The MS Bulgaria, which sank on the
Kuibyshevskoye dam lake more than a week ago, is planned to be lifted in
case of no problems. Before this the cruiser is to be brought to an even
keel that is one of the most important stages of the lifting operation, a
source in the emergency headquarters of the lifting operation told
Itar-Tass on Sunday.
The cruiser was planned to be straightened already by Sunday night.
But when the Bulgaria was being brought to an even keel a balancing sling
ruptured. Thus, the cruiser is planned to be brought to an even keel
completely by Monday morning, spokesman for the emergency headquarters of
the lifting operation Timur Khikmatov told Itar-Tass on Sunday.
After the straightening the divers are to plumb the starboard, on
which the cruiser was lying on the river bottom, search through the river
bed and the ship premises, where some more people may be found dead, then
enroll the ship hull in broad and flexible metal plates so that the
wrecked ship would not break into two in the lifting operation. Only after
that the lifting operation will be launched.
The Bulgaria lifting operation may be launched after 10 a.m. Moscow
time on Monday, a source in the emergency headquarters said. However, the
specialists prefer not to call the exact time of the start for a lifting
operation of the cruiser from the depth of 20 meters, only affirming that
"all works are going on according the schedule."
However, the works are complicated by the fact that the cruiser had
stuck in the silty bottom and the visibility is very bad on the river bed.
The lifting operation has many stages and is a technologically
sophisticated operation. The preparatory work to the lifting operation
started back at the beginning of the previous week and was done
simultaneously with the search operation. Then the hoisting equipment and
the water pumps were brought to the shipwreck site. Two floating cranes
Moguchy from Volgograd and KLM-351 from Dubna were brought to the
shipwreck site on Saturday morning. The specialists needed one more day to
fasten the balancing slings to the bow and the stern and to place cushions
in order to prevent the hull from damages when straightening.
"We hope that we will lift it (the cruiser) to the main deck. Then we
will put the pumps in place and will start pumping water out of the
cruiser," Deputy Transport Minister Viktor Olersky, who heads the
emergency headquarters of the lifting operation, said.
After the water pumping operation (1.5 cubic meters of water are to be
pumped out) the MS Bulgaria will go on its last trip to the Kuibyshevsky
dockyard.
The MS Bulgaria sank on July 10. The cruiser had 208 people aboard,
including several unregistered passengers. Some 79 people were saved,
including ten children, 29 women and 40 men. Some 114 people drowned, 15
people are reported missing.
The Bulgaria wreck is the most horrible disaster on the Russian rivers
for the past 30 years.