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Divers prepare to straighten Bulgaria ship on bottom

Divers have ended the work on sealing the sunken Bulgaria passenger ship, the Emergency Situations Ministry’s press service told Itar-Tass on Saturday. Now specialists are preparing the ship for straightening on the bottom, the press service said. “All lifeboats have been regrouped and cranes have been installed. The special cranes, Moguchiy and KPL-351, have been placed according to the plan for lifting the ship – left and right in parallel of the sunken Bulgaria. As of 7 p.m. divers ended the work on sealing the ship,” the press service said. In addition, cords have been fastened and now divers will straighten the ship on the bottom. “It is a long process. It will take not one hour,” an official of the ministry said. After the ship is straightened and after all mechanisms and equipment are verified, specialists will begin raising the ship to the surface, the official said. Earlier, Deputy Transport Minister Viktor Olersky said the ship could be begun lifting at 10 a.m. Moscow time on July 18.

Lifting of Bulgaria Riverboat launched

An operation has been started to lift the "Bulgaria" riverboat, which capsized and sank in minutes on the Volga River last Sunday, killing at least 116passengers, including dozens of children. "Two floating cranes arrived at the site of the tragedy today ahead of schedule. They are the Moguchy from Volgograd and the Shtorm from Dubna outside Moscow. They have cast anchor over the Bulgaria, officially marking the start of the operation to lift the vessel," Andrei Rodygin, spokesman for the Tatarstan branch of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry, told Interfax. On July 10, the Bulgaria riverboat carrying 208 passengers listed onto its right side during a thunderstorm and sank in minutes 3 km off the shore. Only 79 people were rescued. The accident occurred near the village of Syukeyevo in the Kansko-Ustinovsky district of the Republic of Tatarstan. The vessel, built in the former Czechoslovakia in 1955, had a capacity of 140 passengers, according to the website of the owner.