The North Korean frigate that rolled over and was partially submerged during its botched launch ceremony last month is now floating on its own, a new satellite image shows. It is the latest sign of progress after a mishap that embarrassed North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, who attended the ceremony. This roughly fits in with North Korea’s initial estimate that it would take “10-odd days to restore the warship’s side.”
“Kim Jong Un’s instructions to restore” the unnamed Choi-Hyun class ship “before the end of June have been met with skepticism,” 38 North, a website devoted to the analysis of North Korea, noted on Thursday. “Commercial satellite imagery shows workers at the port in Chongjin have taken a significant step towards that goal.”
In the new image, captured by Planet Labs, the vessel can be seen moored in the middle of O-Hang harbor, away from the dock where it rolled into the water on May 21. There are two smaller vessels just off its starboard side and several more a bit further away on the port side. From the quality of the image, it is difficult to determine the level of damage the ship incurred after being partially underwater for more than two weeks. The ship was turned upright earlier this week, which you can read more about in our report here.
The image shows that North Korea “has successfully completed initial salvage operations,” according to the latest analysis by Beyond Parallel, a project within the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).
“As best can be presently determined, the vessel may be listing slightly to port, numerous small marine salvage balloons are visible alongside and aboard the vessel, and what appears to be a large lift bag or temporary ramp is visible on the slide slipway,” Beyond Parallel posited. “The slight listing and presence of the balloons suggest that the salvage operation is not complete, with continued pumping, stabilization, and refurbishment operations remaining. It remains unclear whether the vessel will remain at the Hambuk Shipyard at Chongjin or be moved to another shipyard for this work, fitting-out, and subsequent commissioning.”
Beyond Parallel could not ascertain from the image how badly the ship was damaged.
“Those are great questions, but not ones we can answer right now with the limited resolution of the image,” Jennifer Jun, Associate Fellow for Imagery Analysis at CSIS, told us. “We’ll continue to monitor for better collects in the coming days.”
At a press conference on Thursday, a spokesman for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said that additional repair work on the ship is in progress. However, he did not elaborate on whether Kim’s demand that the frigate be restored by the time the next Party Central Committee meeting is held later this month will be met. This goal is outright questionable, if not impossible to meet.
“Further analysis is needed, such as whether a change has occurred in the warship’s keel,” according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
“‘The North Korean warship inclined at the Chongjin port returned to an upright position earlier this week and additional (restoration) efforts are believed to be in progress,’ Col. Lee Sung-jun, spokesperson for the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS), told a regular press briefing,” Yonhap reported. “Both South Korean and U.S. intelligence authorities are closely monitoring activities at the Chongjin port and the nearby area.”
The vessel, which has an estimated displacement of 5,000 tons, is the second in its Choi Hyun class, following the Choi Hyon. That ship was officially unveiled in April. You can read all about the heavily armed class of frigates in our previous detailed analysis and follow-up report.
Earlier this week, a satellite image showed that second vessel finally upright, but still at the dock and covered in blue tarps. You can catch up with our story about that here. As we noted in that story, an analysis by 38 North showed the efforts North Korea was taking to right the vessel.
38 North suggested that the launch mechanism may have become stuck in the ship’s bow, pinning it onto the land while the stern slipped into the water, after which the boat overturned. In the May 29 imagery, there appeared to be damage around the bow section. That is in stark contrast to North Korea’s initial claim that the vessel was unharmed — a dubious, if not implausible assertion.
In our previous report, we noted that there is not a dry dock that the vessel could be moved into readily at Chongjin if major repair work is required. However, now that the ship is floating, it could be easier to take it to a facility that can fix major hull damage.
Contact the author: howard@thewarzone.com