No Sign of Six Missing Crew Members as Search for Sunken Busan Tug Enters Sixth Day

The search for six crew members missing from the sunken tugboat TNS Catcher entered its sixth day without a new discovery. Authorities found neither additional missing people nor personal effects during an intensive daytime operation off Busan.

The Korea Coast Guard deployed seven vessels, including four coast guard ships, two military vessels and one government ship, across an area 31 kilometers wide and 70 kilometers long. Five aircraft also took part, including coast guard, military and government planes.

Rough weather prevented underwater searches from resuming. Coast guard personnel, civilian maritime rescue teams, coastal safety volunteers and local government workers searched the shoreline and nearby waters. The military supported the effort with 76 personnel and 13 surveillance devices.

Seven vessels were scheduled to continue the search overnight. A medium-sized vessel that had not previously been deployed because of strong winds was expected to join after weather authorities forecast lifting the storm warning at 7 p.m. Air and underwater operations nevertheless remained impossible as conditions continued to deteriorate. Winds at the search site reached 18 to 22 meters per second, with swells of about 3 to 4 meters.

The 286-ton TNS Catcher capsized at about 1:29 p.m. on the second while towing the 66,332-ton Liberian-flagged container ship M near Busan’s Oryukdo. It sank completely at about 3:27 p.m. The wreck lies on the seabed 6 kilometers southeast of Daebyeon Port in Gijang County, at a depth of 87 meters.