Four chartered ships departed Kagoshima Bay on Friday evening to prepare to salvage a suspected North Korean spy ship that sank 390 km off Amami Oshima Islands in December.
The ships, chartered by the Japan Coast Guard, began preparations at the end of June but were able to work for only three days before having to halt operations to wait out a series of typhoons.
The ships plan to resume their preparatory work Sunday morning. The salvage process is expected to take about a month.
As of 4 p.m. Friday, waves were at 3 meters over the salvage site but are expected to be lower by the time the ships arrive. Waves should be no higher than 1.5 meters during preparations, according to coast guard officials.