Yeosu Coast Guard Launches Investigation Into Cause of Accident
Yeosu Coast Guard personnel are searching for six crew members of the 22nd Seogyeongho who went missing after the ship sank off the coast of Yeosu. Photo by Yeosu Coast Guard
The Coast Guard is continuing its investigation into the cause and search for missing persons following the sinking of a fishing vessel sailing in the waters off Yeosu, Jeonnam.
According to the Yeosu Coast Guard on the 9th, a report was received at 1:41 a.m. that day that the 139-ton large trawler, Je22 Seogyeongho, carrying 14 people (8 Koreans, 3 Vietnamese, and 3 Indonesians), had sunk approximately 17 km east of Habaekdo, Samsan-myeon, Yeosu.
Immediately after the accident, the Coast Guard dispatched equipment and personnel to the site and rescued 8 people, but 4 died and, as of 5 p.m., 6 remain missing. All of the deceased, including the captain (66), were Korean.
The Coast Guard is conducting search operations to locate the missing persons, but is reportedly facing difficulties due to worsening weather conditions.
The Coast Guard has also begun analyzing the cause of the accident separately from the search for the missing.
At the time the vessel was reported missing, the accident area was experiencing winds of 12 to 14 m/s and waves reaching around 2.5 meters in height.
However, as Je22 Seogyeongho is a large fishing vessel capable of operating even under a high seas warning, there are opinions that the weather may not have had a significant impact.
The Coast Guard is investigating the circumstances based on testimony from surviving crew members that "the boat suddenly tilted."
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