There are plans to start pumping seawater from the sand pump vessel Perlan (Pearl) this afternoon, RÚV reports. The ship sank in Reykjavík harbor Monday. Divers have been busy securing all openings of the ship before pumping can begin.
Two steel shafts, 7.5 meters (25 feet) long, will be fastened to hatches on the stern and the bow, and once every opening has been sealed tightly, 715 tons of seawater will be pumped out and the ship lifted. A crane will be in place on the dock to secure the ship won’t capsize while being lifted.
Pumping the ship is expected to take six hours.
Who would have expected a pearl at the bottom of our harbor to be bad news? We never anticipated one of this size.
