The floating crane, "Da Li Hao," the commander ship of the recovery of South Korea's sunken ferry Sewol, returned to Shanghai port this afternoon. 

Leaving China on August 12, 2015, "Da Li Hao" spent the past year and a half on this recovery mission, six months longer than expected. During the 590 days of recovery work, Shanghai Salvage, a Chinese state-run consortium of companies affiliated to the Ministry of Transportation and Communication, has contributed 2,170 man hours, over 3,000 ship hours, and 13,000 hours of underwater working hours, making the job the longest and one of the most difficult in the world.

The Sewol ferry weighed over 14,000 tons when it emerged from the water off South Korea's southwestern coast, with 3,000 to 4,000 tons of water and mud in the cabin. The mud layer reached 40 cm high in the vessel. The recovery crew from had to work double shifts to clean the wreckage. 

The Sewol Ferry capsized in 2014 with mostly teenagers on board. A total of 295 people died, and nine others remain unaccounted for. The South Korean recovery team has now begun searching for the bodies on the seabed.