Eight dead after South Korean tanker capsizes in rough seas off Japan
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The capsized vessel, Keoyoung Sun, is a South Korean-flagged chemical tanker.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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TOKYO - Eight people died after a South Korean-flagged tanker capsized off Japan on March 20, the coast guard said, reversing its earlier statements that they were rescued.
“They were confirmed dead at a hospital,” a spokesman told AFP. One other person was in a non-life-threatening condition while two others remained missing.
The chemicals tanker had 11 people on board including two South Koreans, eight Indonesians and one Chinese, the coast guard said.
The tanker was carrying 980 tonnes of acrylic acid, but there was no information on whether the chemicals had leaked into the ocean, according to the coast guard.
Footage from Japanese broadcaster NHK showed the overturned red hull of the ship as well as a life raft, as a coast guard ship pounded through heavy waves and a helicopter flew overhead.
The crew notified the coast guard early on March 20 that the vessel was tilting and requested help near the island of Mutsure, off Japan’s southwestern coast, NHK said.
The Japan Coast Guard received the rescue call soon after 7am local time (6am Singapore Time) saying that the ship was “tilting, please help us”, the spokesman said.
NHK named the vessel as the Keoyoung Sun, which specialist website vesselfinder.com said is a chemical and oil products tanker built in 1996, measuring 69m in length.
The ship’s operator declined to comment.
Japan was being buffeted by strong winds on March 20 with high waves and heavy snow forecast in the coming days especially along mountainous areas.
Gusts of up to 126kmh were expected in several areas, NHK reported.
Earlier in March, a South Korean fishing boat carrying nine crew, including seven Indonesians, capsized off the country’s southern coast, leaving six missing.
The vessel overturned in waters 68km south of an island in the coastal city of Tongyeong in the early morning of March 16, according to South Korea’s Yonhap news agency.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol ordered relevant authorities to “do their best to save lives by mobilising all available personnel and equipment, including navy and fishing boats,” his office said in a statement.
The boat that capsized had set sail from the country’s southernmost island of Jeju on two days earlier, and was engaged in fishing, Yonhap said.
The news agency said patrol boats, navy vessels, and aircraft have been deployed for the ongoing search efforts. AFP
