5 Missing Persons Remain from Tongyeong Abalone Fishing Boat... Nighttime Underwater Hull Search Underway

Three of Four Rescued Declared Dead
One Transferred in Unconscious State

The Coast Guard will continue nighttime search operations to find the remaining 5 missing persons from the fishing boat capsizing accident that occurred on the morning of the 9th in the waters off Yokjido, Tongyeong-si, Gyeongnam.

Tongyeong Coast Guard announced that with the support of a naval rescue ship that arrived at the accident site, rescue workers will enter the capsized vessel and conduct underwater searches even after sunset.

The naval rescue ship will attach buoyancy buoys to prevent the capsized fishing boat from sinking, surround it with a drift-prevention net, and then move it to a safe sea area near Yokjido that is less affected by weather before conducting underwater searches.

The Coast Guard expects it will take more than 8 hours to move the capsized fishing boat to the safe sea area.

The capsized fishing boat is about 20 tons in size, so it is not very large.

Tongyeong Maritime Police Station and others are conducting rescue operations at 6:29 a.m. on the 9th at a 29-ton fishing boat that capsized 68.52 km (37 nautical miles) south of Yokjido, Tongyeong-si, Gyeongnam.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Tongyeong Coast Guard explained that the search will take time because divers must ensure their safety while removing fishing gear tangled inside the vessel, such as fishing lines, one by one.

There were 9 people on board the capsized fishing boat: 2 Koreans including the captain, and 7 Indonesians.

Among them, 3 people (2 foreigners and 1 Korean) were found unconscious inside the overturned vessel, and 1 foreigner was found unconscious at sea about 7 nautical miles (13 km) from the accident site.

The 3 people found inside the vessel were declared dead, and the remaining person is being transported to Tongyeong Port.

At around 6:29 a.m. on the same day, a 20-ton nearshore longline fishing boat registered in Jeju capsized about 37 nautical miles (approximately 68 km) south of Yokjido, Tongyeong-si, Gyeongnam.

The vessel had formed a fleet with another ship and departed from Hallim Port, Jeju City, Jeju Island at 10:36 a.m. on the 7th to fish for tilefish in the waters near Yokji, Tongyeong.

One of the vessels in the fleet reported to the Jeju Fishing Vessel Safety Operation Bureau at around 6:29 a.m. that it had lost contact with the accident vessel, and at about 6:43 a.m., the capsized vessel was confirmed floating upside down.

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