Tongyeong Abalone Fishing Boat, Missing Person Not Found Despite Night Search... "Towing Completed by Morning"

Additional Search for Missing Persons After Ship Lifted

Search efforts continued overnight to find the missing crew members following the fishing vessel capsizing accident that occurred on the morning of the 9th in the waters off Yokjido, Tongyeong-si, Gyeongnam, but the missing persons have not yet been found.

According to the Tongyeong Coast Guard on the 10th, the coast guard set a wide search area centered on the accident site (20 nautical miles wide, about 37 km, and 10 nautical miles long, about 18 km) and conducted a nighttime search for the missing persons, but no additional discoveries were made.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The search on this day involved 14 patrol vessels, 2 navy ships, 6 vessels from related agencies, and 4 aircraft.

The coast guard installed nets inside the vessel the previous day to prevent the loss of missing persons and moved the ship to the safe waters of Yokjido where the currents are weak. Once the towing is completed in the morning, they plan to use a crane to lift the vessel and continue the search. The coast guard expects that this operation will allow them to check for hull damage and estimate the cause of the accident.

Earlier, at around 6:29 a.m. on the 9th, a 20-ton class nearshore longline fishing vessel registered in Jeju capsized about 37 nautical miles (approximately 68 km) south of Yokjido, Tongyeong-si. This vessel had formed a fleet with another vessel 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 vessel in the fleet reported to the Jeju Fishing Vessel Safety Operation Bureau at around 6:29 a.m. that contact was lost with the accident vessel, and at about 6:43 a.m., the capsized vessel was confirmed floating. Among the nine crew members on board, including one Korean captain, three foreigners were found unconscious and transported to the hospital, but all died.

Of these, three (one Korean and two foreigners) were found inside the capsized vessel, and one foreigner was found about 7 nautical miles (13 km) from the accident site. The remaining one Korean and four foreigners are still missing.

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