One Indonesian crew member rescued

Korean crew member found unconscious, later dies

Coast guard raises response to highest alert level

Rough seas hamper search for missing

Coast guard personnel conduct rescue operations after a tugboat capsized off the coast of Busan on Wednesday afternoon. [Yonhap]
Coast guard personnel conduct rescue operations after a tugboat capsized off the coast of Busan on Wednesday afternoon. [Yonhap]

A tugboat capsized off the coast of Busan on Wednesday, killing one crew member and leaving six others missing. The coast guard raised its regional rescue command to the highest level — Stage 3 — and mobilized all available resources to search for the missing.

According to the Busan Maritime Police Agency, a report came in at around 1:29 p.m. Wednesday that the 286-ton tugboat, identified as Vessel A, had capsized in waters about 9 kilometers southeast of Oryukdo, Busan. The vessel was carrying eight crew members — six South Koreans and two Indonesians.

About 20 minutes after the capsizing, a merchant vessel passing through the area rescued one of the crew members, an Indonesian man in his 50s.

Coast guard officers then found an unconscious Korean crew member in the overturned hull, transferred him to a coastal rescue boat and transported him to Millak Port. He was handed over to emergency medical personnel waiting onshore and taken to a nearby hospital, where he died. The remaining six crew members are still missing, and the coast guard is continuing its search.

Search efforts have been hampered by poor weather conditions in the accident area, with waves reaching 1 to 1.5 meters and northwesterly winds of 4 to 6 meters per second. Vessel A sank completely at around 3:27 p.m. Wednesday, about two hours after the accident, in waters approximately 87 meters deep.

Vessel A is believed to have capsized while heading out to tow a 66,332-ton Liberian-flagged container ship, Vessel B, after departing from the government vessel pier at Busan Port at around 10:15 a.m. It was Vessel B — the ship Vessel A had set out to tow — that first reported the accident to the Busan Port vessel traffic service system.

The coast guard deployed 13 vessels, including patrol ships and coastal rescue boats, along with aviation units and the Central Maritime Special Rescue Unit, and also requested assistance from the Navy. In response, the Navy dispatched the ROKS Gwangyang, Chamsuri-class patrol boats, a destroyer, a rescue ship, a minesweeper and two aircraft. Government vessels and civilian ships have also been mobilized for an all-out search operation.

President Lee Jae Myung was briefed on the accident Wednesday and ordered authorities to "mobilize all available resources to save lives." The coast guard is concentrating personnel and equipment on the search for the missing while also investigating the exact cause of the accident.


kaf2002@heraldcorp.com