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🇰🇷 South Korea /Disasters & Emergencies

Sunken Tug Suddenly Capsized While Turning Right

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Official statement Under investigation
  • A 286-ton tug capsized off Busan while towing a container ship, killing one crew member and leaving six missing.
  • The coast guard believes the tug lost stability during a sharp right turn while traveling at three knots, although its towline had not broken.
  • Investigators are reviewing vessel data and deploying 24 ships and seven aircraft in a search covering 17 maritime sectors.

The tug TNS Catcher suddenly overturned as it turned right while towing a large container ship off Busan, according to the initial coast guard investigation.

The 286-ton tug was one of three vessels assisting the 66,332-ton container ship. Two tugs pulled from the ship’s front left and right sides, while another pushed from behind. The coast guard said TNS Catcher, positioned at the front right, appears to have capsized while turning the container ship to the right.

Closed-circuit television footage released by the Busan Coast Guard shows the tug making a sharp turn before losing its balance and overturning. The vessel was traveling at three knots, or 5.4 kilometers per hour, and the towline connecting it to the container ship had not broken. The coast guard said the speed and timing during the turn appeared to have been mismatched. It reported that no unusual problem had been found on the tug at the time of the accident.

The front-right tug, TNS Catcher, is presumed to have overturned while turning the container ship to the right.

· Busan Coast GuardInitial briefing on how the tug capsized during the towing operation.

The accident occurred at 1:29 p.m. on the 2nd, about nine kilometers east of Oryukdo off Yongho-dong in Busan’s Nam district. The tug sank completely at 3:27 p.m. in waters 87 meters deep. Eight people were aboard: six South Korean crew members and two Indonesian crew members. One Indonesian crew member, identified as 53-year-old A, was rescued by the container ship. A 57-year-old crew member, identified by his surname Lee, was found unconscious in the wheelhouse and later died in hospital.

The captain, aged 60, the chief mate, aged 68, the chief engineer, aged 67, the first engineer, aged 70, the second engineer, aged 56, and a first engine-room crew member, aged 49, remain missing. The coast guard has formed an investigation team of 41 officers and is examining the vessels’ automatic identification system data, voyage data recorders and CCTV footage. It has divided a 66-kilometer by 40-kilometer search area into 17 sectors, sending 24 vessels and seven aircraft to look for the missing crew.

It appears to have overturned because the speed and timing did not match during the turn.

· Busan Coast GuardExplanation of the suspected factor in the tug’s loss of stability.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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