The Navy carried out a test run of the country's first indigenous salvage ship Wednesday to quell jitters over substandard equipment and push for its deployment.
The one-day test run of the 3,500-ton next-generation rescue and salvage ship Tongyeong was conducted at a naval base in the country's southern port city of Busan, which is close to the Okpo Shipyard where the vessel has remained idle for the past several years.
The state-of-the-art ship was first launched in September 2012, two years after the sinking of the warship Cheonan by North Korea, to enable the military to effectively carry out rescue operations and tow away damaged vessels.
The 160 billion won ($154 million) ship, however, has not been delivered to the Navy as its remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and hull mounted sonar (HMS) failed to meet the standards set by the military.
Prosecutors then found that retired and current military officers in private defense companies were involved in fabricating documents for parts and committing other irregularities.
In April, the military came under fire for failing to send the ship to the scene of the sinking of the Sewol ferry in waters near the southern island of Jindo. The disaster claimed more than 300 lives.
Despite the controversy, the military and the defense ministry are pushing to put Tongyeong into service "to prevent a possible vacuum caused by aging rescue vessels," with a plan to present the proposal to this week's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) meeting for approval.
South Korea now operates two salvage ships, one built in 1968 and the other made in 1972. Such rescue vessels usually have a life cycle of 30 years.
"The test run will prove that the Tongyeong has no problem serving its basic duties of towing and recovering hulls as well as supporting divers' underwater operations despite some flaws," a Navy officer said.
After having Tongyeong delivered, the military plans to fix the ROV and sonar systems, a process that should take some two years, he added.
Last week, the government launched a large-scale joint investigation team of prosecutors, military officers and government officials to root out corruption in the country's defense industry, with the Tongyeong at the center of its inquiries. (Yonhap)