The team hunting for the sunken VLOC Stellar Daisy says the wreck has been found in the South Atlantic.
The vessel is said to be at a depth of 3,461 metres and located about 1,800 nautical miles due west of Cape Town.
It was located by Houston-based Ocean Infinity working under a South Korean government contract to find the wreck, with a reported budget of KRW 4.8bn ($4.2m).
Working from Swire Seabed’s multipurpose offshore construction vessel Seabed Constructor (built 2014), the search involved the deployment of four autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), which, over 72 search hours, explored about 1,300 sq km of seabed.
Representatives of both the South Korean government and the families of the Stellar Daisy’s crew, were present throughout the operation.
Two researchers, one from the Korea Institute of Ocean Science & Technology and one from the Korea Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering, are also onboard the Seabed Constructor.
“We are pleased to report that we have located Stellar Daisy, in particular for our client, the South Korean Government, but also for the families of those who lost loved ones in this tragedy,” said Ocean Infinity chief executive Oliver Plunkett.
“This operation is further testament to Ocean Infinity’s leading, technology led, search capability.
“Through the deployment of multiple state-of-the-art AUVs, we are covering the seabed with unprecedented speed and accuracy.”
The Polaris-owned 266,000-dwt Stellar Daisy (built 1993) sank on 31 March 2017 while transporting iron ore from Brazil to China, with the loss of 22 of its 24 crew.
Ocean Infinity hit the headlines last year when it agreed to the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 on a “no-cure, no-fee” basis.
