More than 20 companies, including six foreign firms, have submitted bids for a multi-million dollar project to salvage a sunken South Korean ferry, the government said Tuesday.

A total of 27 firms in seven consortia have submitted bids to salvage the ferry Sewol that sank off the southwest coast in April last year, claiming more than 300 lives, according to the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries. The government began receiving bids one month ago on May 23.

Out of the seven consortia, five were led by foreign companies while the rest were headed by local firms.

There were a total of six foreign companies, including two from the United States and two from China. The other two are from Denmark and the Netherlands, the ministry said.

The ministry said it will begin evaluating the bids early next month, while a preferred bidder or bidders is expected to be named later in that month.

It earlier said the bidders will be evaluated on a 100-point scale, with technological capabilities accounting for 90 percent of the evaluation.

The bidding price will account for the remaining 10 percent of the score.

The weight on technical possibility, instead of price, comes as the country seeks to hoist the sunken ship out of water without any significant damage so as to prevent the possible loss of any bodies believed to be inside.

The ship sank on April 16 last year while en route to the country's southern resort island of Jeju. So far, 304 people, mostly high school students on a school excursion, have been confirmed dead. Nine people remain missing to date. (Yonhap)