Two crew members rescued: one Indonesian and one Korean, who was unconscious
Six crew members remained missing Wednesday after a tugboat capsized off Busan, with strong waves and currents hampering rescue operations, according to the Busan Coast Guard.
The 286-ton vessel, carrying eight crew members, capsized at around 1:29 p.m. about 9 kilometers southeast of Oryukdo.
It had departed from a government vessel pier at Busan Port to tow a merchant ship involved in an earlier accident, the Coast Guard said.
The crew comprised six South Korean nationals and two foreign nationals. An Indonesian crew member was rescued shortly after the accident by a passing merchant vessel.
A second crew member, a Korean believed to be in his 50s or 60s, was found unconscious and transported to a hospital aboard a Coast Guard rescue vessel. His condition remained unknown as of press time.
Rescuers continued to search for the remaining six crew members.
The Coast Guard deployed 13 patrol and rescue vessels, aircraft and its special rescue unit, while requesting assistance from the Navy, other government vessels and private boats.
The Coast Guard said waves of 1 to 1.5 meters and strong currents were complicating the operation. Northwesterly winds were blowing at 4 to 6 meters per second.
The tugboat had become fully submerged and was lying at a depth of about 87 meters, according to local media reports.
President Lee Jae Myung ordered authorities to “mobilize all available resources to save lives,” presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said.
shwang9@heraldcorp.com