▲ Navy vessels conduct a maritime search operation to find six missing crew members in the waters near the site of the tugboat capsizing and sinking off the coast of Busan on the 4th.
Search operations entered their fourth day for the six missing individuals from the tugboat TNS Catcher, which capsized off the coast of Busan on September 2.
The Busan Coast Guard announced that daytime search operations began at 9 a.m. today in the waters surrounding the accident site.
Five vessels, including those from the Coast Guard and the Navy, have been deployed. However, due to a strong wind advisory currently in effect off the coast of Busan, only large vessels weighing 1,000 tons or more have been mobilized.
Nine aircraft are also participating in the search operations.
The Coast Guard plans to focus its search on a designated zone measuring 64 kilometers in width and 32 kilometers in length.
The accident site is experiencing waves reaching 4 to 5 meters in height and strong northeast winds blowing at 20 to 22 meters per second, compounding difficulties for the search efforts.
The strong wind advisory is forecast to be lifted only on the morning of September 8.
The Central Regional Coast Guard Special Rescue Team will also search the hull of the container ship M, which is currently moored at Jasongdae Pier.
Previously, the TNS Catcher capsized while towing ship M.
The search of ship M was reportedly launched at the request of the families of the missing crew members, who suggested that personal belongings of the TNS Catcher crew might be located around the vessel's hull or nearby areas.
The military has been deployed to conduct search operations along the coast near the accident site.
The Busan-registered tugboat TNS Catcher capsized on the afternoon of September 2 in waters about 9 kilometers east of Oryukdo Island.
Of the eight crew members on board at the time, one was rescued, while another was found unconscious and later died.
The remaining six crew members remain missing, and while search operations are underway, they have not yet been found.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
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