▲ Authorities are conducting rescue operations after a tugboat capsized off the coast of Busan on the 2nd, leaving one dead and six crew members missing. The tugboat, carrying eight people, capsized off Oryukdo while towing a merchant vessel, leaving one dead and one rescued so far.
The TNS Catcher, the tugboat that capsized off the coast of Busan yesterday (the 2nd), was confirmed to have suffered the accident while turning to the right while towing a container ship alongside two other tugboats.
The Busan Coast Guard held a briefing today to announce the preliminary investigation results regarding the accident.
When asked about the cause of the accident, an official from the Busan Coast Guard responded, "Two tugboats were towing from the front left and right of the container ship, and another was pushing from the stern. It is presumed that the TNS Catcher, the front right tugboat, capsized due to the towing line while making a right turn."
"It appears to have capsized due to a mismatch in speed and timing during the course change, and it has not been confirmed whether it got caught in the towing line," the official added.
In the CCTV footage of the container ship released by the Coast Guard today, the TNS Catcher was captured capsizing to the left while turning to the right.
The 286-ton tugboat TNS Catcher capsized at around 1:29 p.m. yesterday in waters about 9 kilometers east of Oryukdo.
At the time, it was towing the 66,332-ton Liberian-flagged container ship M.
Among the eight crew members on board, one Indonesian national was rescued, while one South Korean was found unconscious and later died. The remaining six are missing, and search operations have entered their second day.
The capsized TNS Catcher drifted to waters 4.5 kilometers northeast of the accident site, sank, and was then tracked back 0.8 kilometers to the southwest, according to authorities.
The Coast Guard discovered an object presumed to be the sunken vessel on the seabed about 6.5 kilometers east of Songjeong Port at around 8 p.m. yesterday, and confirmed at a depth of about 87 meters that the vessel was the TNS Catcher.
Afterwards, the Navy's Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) was deployed for underwater searches, but underwater visibility was only about 30 centimeters, and no missing persons were found.
Considering the time elapsed since the accident, the Coast Guard expanded its search area today to 66 kilometers wide and 40 kilometers long, dividing it into 17 zones to carry out search operations.
With cooperation from military and government authorities, 24 vessels and 7 aircraft have been deployed for a joint search.
The Busan Coast Guard has established an investigation headquarters for the capsizing of the TNS Catcher, involving 41 investigators, to look into the circumstances of the accident.
So far, 6 shipping company officials have been questioned, and data including the Automatic Identification System (AIS), Voyage Data Recorder (VDR), and CCTV footage from the tugboat and container ship have been secured.
The Coast Guard stated, "Based on objective evidence and confirmed facts, we will thoroughly and impartially clarify the cause of the accident and accountability."
(Photo provided by Busan Coast Guard, Yonhap News)
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