Bad weather postpones operation to raise Bulgaria ship

MOSCOW, July 19 (Itar-Tass) - Preparations for raising the sunken ship
Bulgaria were suspended late on Monday because of deteriorating weather
conditions, as the wind intensified and there was a thunderstorm,
spokesman for the Bulgaria lifting operation headquarters Timur Khikmatov
told Tass.
The operation to level the sunken ship Bulgaria on the riverbed is
nearing completion, after which the vessel will be sealed and the pumping
of water from it will be started, he said earlier. On Monday, specialists
began straightening the ship and putting it on the keel.
After that "towels" - broad metal sheets on which it will be lifted -
will be put under the vessel. There will be four such 15-meter-long
towels, two on the bow part and two on the stern. Work to put them under
the bottom will begin on Tuesday.
Khikmatov declined to say when this phase of the operation would begin
and give the exact the time of raising the vessel. "It is difficult to
forecast the time of the operation. This is difficult job, and we must not
rush things," he stressed.
"At first the vessel will be lifted a little and the portholes will be
batten down. Then the pumping out of water will begin," Khikmatov said.
After that the Bulgaria will be raised to the surface.
On July 10, 2011, Bulgaria sank in the Kuibyshev Reservoir of the
Volga River near Syukeyevo, Kamsko-Ustyinsky District, Tatarstan, Russia,
with 208 passengers and crew aboard when sailing from the town of Bolgar
to the regional capital, Kazan.
The sinking of Bulgaria is the largest Russian non-military ship
disaster since 1986 when the SS Admiral Nakhimov crashed into a cargo ship
and 423 people died.
At the time of the sinking, Bulgaria was owned by Kamskoye Rechnoye
Parokhodstvo (Kama River Shipping Company), which leased the ship to OOO
Briz, which in turn subleased it to OOO Argorechtur, which operated it,
according to media reports, on a bareboat charter. That means OOO
Argorechtur accepted sole liability for technical maintenance and crew
placement. Investigators claim that Argorechtur was operating the cruise
ship without a proper licence, and the director of OOO Argorechtur was
arrested on 12 July 2011.
On July 10, 2011, the Bulgaria was travelling in Tatarstan on the
Volga River when she was caught in a storm and sank in several minutes at
about 13:58 Moscow time (09:58 UTC), several hours after beginning her
cruise.
Survivors say that during the cruise, the Bulgaria encountered stormy
weather, and listed sharply to starboard. This was apparently compounded
by the captain trying to turn the boat around, and soon water rushed into
the vessel through portholes that had been opened because the ship had no
air conditioning. According to a survivor, the sinking came without
warning, and the vessel "listed to starboard (right-hand side of ship) and
capsized and sank." The boat sank within minutes, plunging nearly 20
metres (66 ft) to the river bed. The sinking occurred about 3 kilometres
(1.9 mi) from shore, in the Kamsko-Ustyinsky District.
The accident death toll is 114, with all bodies found so far
identified, and 15 persons remain missing. Search for the missing people
continues on the river, along its banks and on nearby islands within the
radius of 200 kilometres. A total of 400 people take part in the search
operation. They are assisted by 95 boats and 15 aircraft.