Five Consecutive Nights of Nighttime Searches
Search efforts for the missing persons from the sinking of the 135 Geumseongho continue through the night of the 12th.
The Jeju Regional Coast Guard announced that nighttime search operations will be conducted from 6 p.m. on the 12th until 6 a.m. the following day to find the 10 missing individuals.
Search operations by the Coast Guard to identify the missing persons from the 135 Geumseongho, which sank in the waters off Jeju, are underway near the accident site on the night of the 8th. Photo by Jeju Regional Coast Guard Headquarters
A total of 37 vessels will be deployed for the nighttime search, including 23 Coast Guard ships, 5 Navy ships, 7 government vessels, and 2 private fishing boats.
The Coast Guard will expand the search area to 68 km wide and 37 km long to conduct maritime searches and will also deploy 60 personnel to conduct simultaneous coastal searches.
The Navy conducted the first round of underwater searches using a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) but found no notable findings. The second round of underwater searches is currently underway.
On the 9th, the second day after the sinking of the 135 Geumseongho near the northwest sea of Biyangdo, Jeju, the Coast Guard is conducting a search for the missing persons near the accident area. Photo by Jeju Regional Coast Guard Headquarters
The Geumseongho, a 129-ton large purse seiner registered in Busan, sank after a report of listing around 4:31 a.m. on the 8th near 22 km northwest of Biyangdo, Jeju.
Of the 27 crew members on board, 15 were rescued, but 2 of the Korean crew members died.
Among the 12 missing persons (10 Koreans and 2 Indonesians), the bodies of 2 Korean crew members were additionally found during nighttime searches on the 9th and 10th, bringing the current death toll to 4 and the number of missing to 10 (8 Koreans and 2 Indonesians).
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