Family Members Who Viewed CCTV of Accident: "Makes No Sense... Thorough Investigation Needed"

On the second day of the tugboat capsizing accident off the coast of Busan today (Sept. 3), the families of the missing crew members and the bereaved families, after viewing closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage capturing the moment of the accident, urged a thorough investigation and probe into the cause of the sudden capsizing.

Earlier today (Sept. 3), the Korea Coast Guard visited the family waiting room set up in Dong-gu, Busan, to show the bereaved families and the families of the missing persons the CCTV footage containing the moments when the vessel capsized.

Some of the families of the missing crew members covered their faces with their hands as they watched the scene of the accident.

"As you can see from the footage, it makes no sense from a common-sense perspective that the ship capsized in a split second," one family member of a missing person asked the Coast Guard. "Could there have been a problem with the wire connecting the merchant ship and the tugboat, or did the line get caught in the screw?"

Another family member demanded, "I have also worked as a seaman, and a ship does not just capsize all of a sudden. We ask that the Coast Guard thoroughly investigate the cause of the accident."

In response, an official from the Coast Guard kept silent, saying, "We will prioritize verifying the matters you have mentioned, and the detailed facts can only be known through investigation."

The families of the missing crew members intensively questioned the shipping company and the Coast Guard regarding the reasons behind the vessel's capsizing, including whether the statement of the pilot aboard the container ship had been secured.

The bereaved family of the deceased second officer stated, "If a problem had occurred, the ship would have sent out a distress call, but seeing how the ship capsized suddenly without any such thing, this is definitely not an accident caused by a problem within the tugboat itself."

Another navigator's family member said, "From the footage, I got the feeling that the wire (towline) was suddenly yanked hard. This is an accident caused by someone's fault, and it is presumed that the wire connecting the tugboat and the merchant ship was suddenly pulled or experienced a problem."

During a press briefing today regarding the cause of the accident, the Busan Coast Guard stated, "Two tugboats were towing from the front left and right sides of the container ship while another was pushing from the stern, and it is presumed that the TNS Catcher capsized due to the mooring line (towline) while making a starboard turn (change of direction)."

The families of the missing crew members gathered in the family waiting room today, listening to explanations of the search operations and anxiously waiting for news of rescues.

The 286-ton Busan-registered tugboat TNS Catcher capsized at around 1:29 p.m. on September 2 in waters approximately 9 kilometers east of Oryukdo, and completely sank about two hours later at 3:27 p.m.

One Indonesian crew member was rescued by a merchant ship at the accident site, and one South Korean was found unconscious inside the vessel and transported to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

The remaining six individuals are missing, and search operations are currently underway.

(Photo: CCTV footage provided by the Busan Coast Guard, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.