Seoul: South Korean ships and aircraft on Sunday resumed search for for 46 sailors still missing after a warship sank in waters near the border with North Korea.
The 1,200-tonne navy corvette with 104 crew on board went down in the Yellow Sea late Friday after being ripped into two by the blast in one of South Korea's worst ever naval disasters.
Only 58 sailors have so far been rescued after the sinking of the Cheonan near Baengnyeong island, and hopes for the remaining crew were fading fast.
South Korean defence ministry spokesman Won Tae-Jae told a briefing on Sunday that it would take "a significant time to reach a reliable conclusion" about the cause of the blast on the Cheonan.
Navy frogmen, who had earlier failed to reach the sunken ship because of strong winds and rough waves, resumed work on Sunday along with a 3,000-ton salvage ship and two 730-ton mine-detecting boats.
"We plan to mobilise all possible means to search for and rescue possible survivors given the sea currents in waters there," Won said.
The weather office said water temperatures in the Yellow Sea were 3.7 degrees Celsius and the Yonhap news agency quoted coastguard officials as saying humans could not survive for more than three hours in waters between eight and 10 degrees Celsius.
President Lee Myung-Bak, who held a fourth round of emergency security meetings Sunday, has ordered a swift and thorough probe into the sinking as well as a search for survivors.
