6000-Ton Ship Completely Sinks After Drifting Amid Fire in Tongyeong Waters

Fire at 3:51 AM on the 11th... All 60 Crew Members Rescued
Firefighting Operations Halted Amid 'Sinking Situation'... Submerging into the Sea on the Afternoon of the 12th

At 5:42 PM on the 12th, a 6,293-ton optical cable ship caught fire and sank off Maemuldo, Tongyeong-si, Gyeongnam. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kang Woo-kwon] A 6,000-ton class optical cable laying ship that was drifting on fire off the coast near Tongyeong City, Gyeongnam, has completely sunk.

According to the Tongyeong Coast Guard on the 12th, at around 5:42 PM that day, the 6,239-ton class optical cable laying ship A, which was drifting 42 nautical miles (approximately 77.7 km) south of Yokjido, Tongyeong City, sank into the sea.

Earlier, at around 3:51 AM on the 11th, an unknown cause fire broke out at sea 57.412 km south of Maemuldo on ship A. The coast guard and fire authorities conducted firefighting operations until 1:30 PM the same day but were unable to control the flames. Considering the situation of sinking, firefighting personnel were withdrawn.

After the firefighting operations were halted, the ship drifting from Maemuldo to Yokjido began to submerge its bow underwater at 4:55 PM on the 12th, and disappeared from the sea at 5:42 PM, 47 minutes later.

The ship had a total of 60 people on board, including 49 Koreans, 10 Vietnamese, and 1 Italian. The crew transferred to a nearby tugboat on the morning of the 11th, resulting in no casualties. The Tongyeong Coast Guard has increased the deployment of patrol vessels in the surrounding waters for safety management and is preparing for secondary accidents and marine pollution.

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