Golden time has passed… Where did the missing fishing boat sinking off the coast of Geoje go?
Reporter Minjin Kim [email protected]
Input: 2021-01-24 16:46:53Revision: 2021-01-24 18:14:00Posted: 2021-01-24 17:07:42 (p. 01)
The crew is looking for the missing crew from an aircraft that was put into search for the missing persons on the 127 Seas Lake that sank off the sea near Geoje Galgot Island. Provided by Tongyeong Maritime Police Station
The search for the missing persons on the Busan-ship large-scale fishing trawler that sank off the coast of Geoje, Gyeongsangnam-do has been sluggish for the second day. Haekyung is struggling with an all-night search at the site where the storm warning took effect, but the news of the life he was looking forward to for the golden time to pass has not been heard.
According to the Tongyeong Maritime Police Station, on the 23rd at 3:40 p.m., 127 Oceans (339 tons) with ten sailors sank 0.6 nautical miles (1.1 km) southeast of Galgot Island in Geoje Island. Daeyang was a mackerel carrier and was injured on the 19th at 9:30 am on the 19th, departing from the Nam Port of Busan and returning to the Port of Busan with fish caught off the coast of Jeju Island.
Captain A (67), who confirmed that seawater was entering the hull before sinking, requested help through the VHF-DSC, and the coast guard, receiving the danger signal, immediately responded.
Shortly after the flood, the crew, wearing life jackets, plunged into the sea. As the hull sank, the lifeguards were automatically unfolded, but no one could get on due to the swelling waves. In the end, seven sailors who were drifting off the sea, missing an empty lifejacket in front of their eyes, were rescued by the seascape, arriving at the scene at 4:40, only 50 minutes after a rescue request. Cho Jang Cho, 41, who saved his life dramatically, stated in the seaview that “a wave that was much higher than usual hit the ship.” However, the captain, chief engineer C (68), and deck officer D (55), all went missing.
The Coast Guard mobilized all available resources, such as ships and aircraft, to find them. However, due to the bad weather enough to take effect of the storm warning, even a small clue was not found to trace the missing person. In particular, because the accident site was not far from the residential area, the flares could not be used at night due to the risk of fire, so the work was slow to scan the sea with a dim searchlight.
Fortunately, on the 24th, the storm warning was eased by one step from warning to warning, but strong winds and swelling waves seldom subsided. The water temperature was 12.3 degrees, down by 2 degrees from the previous day. Meanwhile, the golden time has passed. According to the Marine Ship Accident Crisis Response Manual, the maximum survival time for missing persons in various maritime accidents is 25 hours. In the case of this accident, 5 pm on the 24th is actually the Maginot line.
Nevertheless, the coastal police have not let go of hope. A maritime administration official said, “There are still strong winds and high waves on the site.” “The weather is bad, but we plan to continue the search work until the missing people return to their families as soon as possible.”
Reporter Minjin Kim [email protected]