Two Missing After Fishing Boat Capsizes Off Jeju
Nine crew members were rescued after a 29-ton fishing boat capsized northwest of Jeju, while the Coast Guard mounted a large search for the Korean captain and an Indonesian sailor.
A fishing boat carrying 11 people capsized in waters northwest of Jeju early Monday, leaving two crew members missing and prompting a large Coast Guard search operation.
The Jeju Regional Coast Guard said it received a report at about 3:04 a.m. that the 29-ton longline fishing vessel had overturned roughly 65 kilometers northwest of Chagwido, an island off the western side of Jeju. The vessel was registered in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang Province.
Nearby fishing boats rescued nine foreign crew members: eight Indonesians and one Vietnamese national. The rescued sailors reported symptoms of hypothermia, but authorities said none appeared to have serious health problems. A Korean captain and one Indonesian crew member remained unaccounted for as the search continued.
Authorities discovered a discrepancy between the boat’s departure report and the number of people actually aboard. The vessel had declared eight people before leaving port, while investigators determined that 11 were on board when it capsized. The circumstances behind that difference were not immediately explained.
The Coast Guard dispatched helicopters and patrol vessels to the scene. A rescue helicopter arrived at about 4:28 a.m., and an airborne rescuer descended to check for the missing crew but detected no response. A state fisheries patrol vessel reached the area at around 5 a.m. and joined the operation.
The search involved nine Coast Guard patrol vessels, two helicopters and one aircraft. One Navy ship, another government vessel and three civilian fishing boats were also mobilized. The multi-agency response focused on the overturned boat and surrounding waters as crews worked against difficult conditions.
Northwesterly winds at the scene were blowing at 12 to 14 meters per second, with waves reaching about two meters. Those conditions complicated the effort and added urgency to the search for the two missing men.
The accident adds to continuing concerns over fishing-vessel safety, accurate crew reporting and the risks faced by multinational crews working in Korean waters. Officials had not announced the cause of the capsize, and the immediate priority remained finding the captain and sailor.