Captain of Abalone Fishing Boat near Soyeonpyeongdo Found Dead... Search Underway for 2 Missing Crew Members

The Coast Guard installed lift bags on the 12-ton fishing vessel A, which capsized off Soyeonpyeongdo, to prevent it from sinking further, and is conducting a search for the missing persons.
[Photo by Incheon Coast Guard]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] The captain of a 12-ton fishing vessel A, which capsized off the northern part of Soyeonpyeongdo in the West Sea and whose crew members were missing, was found dead two days after the accident.

According to the Incheon Coast Guard on the 16th, at 1:29 p.m. that day, the captain of the missing vessel A, Mr. B (63), was found by the coast guard but was already deceased. The coast guard discovered Mr. B's body on the right side of the vessel while attempting to upright the capsized vessel A on the 14th.

With this, the death toll from the accident has risen to two, and two crew members remain missing.

The coast guard and navy divided the nearby sea area of the accident site into four zones and deployed 17 vessels including patrol ships and 10 aircraft including helicopters to search for the missing persons.

Vessel A capsized on the 14th at 6:07 p.m. about 43 km southwest off Soyeonpyeongdo, Ongjin-gun, Incheon.

At the time of the accident, five crew members including Mr. B were on board, one of whom was rescued earlier by a nearby vessel. Later, Mr. C (57) was rescued by the coast guard that afternoon but eventually died.

Just before the accident, vessel A requested help from nearby fishing boats as the 'net hauling operation' was not proceeding normally.

The coast guard believes that during the process where another fishing boat connected a rope to the bow of vessel A and pulled it, the balance of vessel A shifted to the left side, causing it to capsize.

A coast guard official stated, "The current speed at the accident site is relatively fast at 5.6 km/h," and added, "We are continuing to search for the remaining two missing persons."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.