North Korea’s Frigate That Partially Sunk Appears In Dry Dock With Mangled Superstructure

The North Korean Choi-Hyun class frigate that rolled over on its side during a botched launch ceremony attended by Kim Jong Un back on May 21st is now in a dry dock, and new satellite images give us a better view of the extent of the topside damage.

The images come to us from our friends at Maxar. They show the still unnamed frigate, the second in its class, in a dry dock facility in Rajin, which sits near the border with Russia in northeastern North Korea. The ship made the roughly 50-mile voyage under tow from its birthplace in Chongjin. The vessel was successfully refloated and turned upright around June 3rd, after what was likely a very high-pressure frenzy of a recovery effort.

“Detailed underwater and internal inspection of the warship confirmed that, unlike the initial announcement, there were no holes made at the warship’s bottom, the hull starboard was scratched, and a certain amount of seawater flowed into the stern section through the rescue channel,” per a report from KCNA on May 23.

“The extent of damage to the warship is not serious, and the result of the flooding process immediately after the accident is only information necessary to take practical rehabilitation measures. The above-said data have no connection with the cause of the accident and the identification of its responsibility… Experts estimated that it will take two or three days to keep the balance of the warship by pumping up the seawater from the flooded chamber and making the bow leave the slipway, and 10-odd days to restore the warship’s side,” KCNA also said in its May 23 report.

Somewhat stunningly, they met that 10-day goal. But Kim’s other deadline was to restore the ship to its previous state by the end of June, which is pretty much impossible. Still, even the appearance that this is the case would be a win for the extremely image-conscious regime.

The ship clearly has structural damage to its superstructure, with mangled metal and bent lines appearing in the satellite images. Some areas of the ship were flooded with seawater, which would have had a major impact on any machinery and electronics in those areas. All this will take time to remediate, and we still don’t know the condition of the ship’s hull, although it did make the 50-mile voyage to its current resting spot.

This is a large and complex vessel for North Korea to repair, and the facilities at Rajin are not extensive. It is still possible that the North Koreans are getting help from China or Russia, something we had initially speculated. The latter of the two, in particular, is working extensively with Pyongyang in terms of military assistance in return for North Korea’s support of its invasion of Ukraine. The location of the ship near the Russian border in an economic zone dominated by cross-border trade also points to the possibility that Moscow is lending a hand.

Whatever the case, North Korea seems set on ‘righting the ship’ after what was an incredibly embarrassing moment on the international stage — one that was impossible to conceal due to satellite imagery.

Contact the author: Tyler@twz.com