Yinchu, the largest vessel to capsize in the Huangpu River since 1949, will be raised from the water next week, maritime officials said yesterday.

Salvage work has been ongoing since the 15,000-ton ship went down in December.

The operation to finally lift the vessel from the Huangpu River will take about 11 hours and maritime officials expect to put limits on shipping in the area during the salvage work.

The cargo vessel was being refit and was anchored at a dock only a few dozen meters from the Nanpu Bridge when it was suddenly flooded and capsized on December 2.

The inclined wreck was partly exposed above the Huangpu River, imposing as a threat and barrier to shipping traffic on the busy waterway.

The Shanghai Salvage Bureau finally launched operations to raise the wreck on December 25 after the ship owners and the engineering company reached agreement to share the nearly 20 million yuan (US$2.5 million) cost.

(Shanghai Daily February 2, 2007)