North Korea continues its efforts to recover the Choe Hyon–class destroyer, which suffered an accident on May 22 during its launch, capsizing onto its side and leaving the bow stranded on the shore. For reasons still unclear, North Korea openly acknowledged the incident and attributed it to "unscientific empiricism."
Despite promises to fully restore the ship in just 10 days, fresh satellite imagery shows that the salvaging operation is not even close to its finish.
Read more: How N.Korea Even Managed to Capsize a Destroyer During Its Launch: A Simple Explanation For a Deep-Rooted Problem
Sentinel-2 satellite imagery from today shows the second Choe Hyon-class destroyer (hull number 52) still lying capsized on its stern and partially submerged at the Hambuk Shipyard.#NorthKorea #KPN #ChongjinESA pic.twitter.com/BF5sVQJZwV — Vegard Steensnæs (@N4_O13) May 28, 2025
A few details to remind what happened. Soon after the incident, a special investigative group was formed to assess the situation. The specialists said the destroyer did not sustain any critical damage, though the starboard side was scratched, the rescue passage at the stern was affected, and several internal compartments were flooded.
The group’s experts estimated that pumping water from the flooded compartments, shifting the bow, and restoring the vessel’s balance would take two to three days.
The timeline for a complete restoration of the destroyer, however, was said to be a highly unrealistic 10 days. Earlier, the Korean Central News Agency reported that dictator Kim Jong-un had given shipbuilders exactly one month to rectify the consequences of the accident and restore the vessel.
Yet, as shown by satellite images from Beyond Parallel (May 26) and European Space Agency (May 28), six days into the salvage operation, little visible progress has been made. The destroyer remains on its side, now covered by a tarpaulin, while a number of small boats — presumably carrying divers — have approached the ship.
NEW 5/26 satellite imagery of the damaged North Korean guided missile destroyer that failed to launch.Salvage operations continue at Chongjin Progress has been slow 4 North Korean officials arrested What now?https://t.co/FohZw4EqXScc: @CSIS @VictorDCha pic.twitter.com/9F7LKv5JEv — CSIS Korea Chair (@CSISKoreaChair) May 27, 2025
Additionally, the new imagery reveals that dredging work has begun to deepen and widen the fairway at the harbor’s exit. Defense Express suggests that this could be in preparation to bring in heavy equipment, possibly a large barge with a crane.
However, the DPRK lacks sufficient barge-mounted cranes capable of lifting and repositioning the destroyer’s bow. Instead, inflatable balloons have been deployed. The most likely concern is that even if the destroyer is successfully rebalanced, it may not be able to exit the harbor and could run aground.
The fairway is 30 meters wide, which should be adequate for the 16-meter-wide destroyer, but the critical issue is depth. The draft of the Choe Hyon-class is unknown, but given its dimensions and displacement, it is likely around 5 meters.
Old satellite imagery shows that the fairway was artificially deepened in 2021. However, the general depth remains shallow, having been designed for fishing boats and barges — not warships of this size. It is therefore likely that the existing depth is either insufficient or marginal for the destroyer’s passage. To avoid another failure and further embarrassment, North Korea has apparently decided to deepen the fairway further.
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