[Anchor]
The search is now in its third day to find the six missing crew members following a tugboat capsizing accident off the coast of Busan. However, worsening weather conditions are causing difficulties for the search operations. Let us connect with the reporter at the scene.
Reporter Hong Seung-yeon, please give us an update on the search situation first.
[Reporter]
Strong winds are blowing and heavy waves continue in the waters off Busan visible behind me.
A high-waves advisory has currently been issued for the waters off Busan, and a strong wind advisory for the land.
In the search footage released by the Coast Guard depicting the situation from this morning (Sept. 4), heavy waves can be seen crashing over the search vessels.
The Coast Guard is continuing its search centered around the waters where the vessel sank to find the six missing crew members, but is facing difficulties due to the worsening weather.
Waves exceeding 4 meters are rising in the accident area, and winds are blowing strongly at over 20 meters per second.
Because of this, helicopter searches have been suspended since last night, and maritime searches are being conducted mainly using large vessels.
Underwater searches for the tugboat, which has sunk to a depth of 87 meters, have also been suspended.
The Coast Guard plans to continue overnight searches tonight as well, but the weather forecast predicting that the high-waves advisory will continue until the 8th remains the biggest variable.
[Anchor]
Are there any outlines of the cause of the accident yet?
[Reporter]
The Coast Guard is leaning toward the possibility that the tugboat capsized due to issues related to the towing line during the towing process.
The capsized tugboat, the TNS Catcher, was towing a container ship experiencing engine trouble along with two other tugboats at the time of the accident.
CCTV footage from the time of the accident captures the TNS Catcher flipping over as the tugboats changed direction.
The Coast Guard is focusing on the possibility that the tugboat got caught in the towing line or was flipped over by the recoil action of the towing line during this process.
The Coast Guard plans to investigate the cause of the capsizing by conducting investigations on shipping company officials and analyzing equipment such as the Automatic Identification System (AIS) and the Voyage Data Recorder (VDR).
(Video Reported by Jung Kyung-mun, Video Edited by Lee Hong-myung)
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