BUSAN — A tugboat carrying eight crew members capsized in waters east of Oryukdo Island off Busan, leaving one Indonesian sailor rescued and one South Korean sailor dead. The Coast Guard is conducting search and rescue operations to find six missing crew members.
According to the Busan Coast Guard Station, the 286-ton towing tugboat, identified as Vessel A, capsized at about 1:29 p.m. on the 2nd, roughly 9 kilometers east of Oryukdo Island.
The vessel was carrying eight people in total — six South Koreans and two Indonesians. A 53-year-old Indonesian national identified by the surname A was rescued at about 1:49 p.m. by a nearby merchant ship, Vessel M, and transported to a nearby port.
The Coast Guard's Central Maritime Special Rescue Unit found a 57-year-old South Korean crew member identified by the surname B inside the capsized vessel at about 2:14 p.m. He was unconscious. B was moved to Millak Port by a coastal rescue boat and then taken to a hospital by a 119 ambulance, but was pronounced dead. The Coast Guard confirmed his identity through photo comparison and fingerprint verification.
The Coast Guard raised its regional rescue headquarters alert from Level 2 to Level 3 and issued an emergency call-up. It deployed all available assets to the scene, including 13 patrol vessels and coastal rescue boats, an aviation unit and the Central Maritime Special Rescue Unit. The Navy's Gwangyang, Chamsuri-class fast patrol boats, a destroyer, a salvage ship, a minesweeper, two aircraft, government vessels and a maritime disaster rescue team are also taking part in the search.
Vessel A had departed the government vessel pier at Busan Port at 10:15 a.m. and was heading to tow Vessel M, a merchant ship at the accident site. Vessel M reported the capsizing to the Busan Port Vessel Traffic Service (VTS). The vessel sank completely at about 3:27 p.m., and the water depth at the site was measured at about 87 meters.
Search efforts have been hampered by northwesterly winds of 4 to 6 meters per second, waves of 1 to 1.5 meters and a current running northeast at about 0.5 knots.
