12 Missing After Sinking of Korean Purse Seiner off Jeju Island

Two people are confirmed dead and 12 are missing after the sinking of a fishing vessel off the coast of Jeju Island, in the Yellow Sea. 

At about 0430 hours on November 8, the Korea Coast Guard received an alert about the purse seiner Geumseongho, a large fishing vessel of 130 tonnes displacement. The Geumseongho had departed the day before from the small port of Seogwipo, and she had a crew of 27 people aboard. She was in distress and going down, and by the time the first coast guard response vessel arrived on scene at 0449, she had already sunk. 

Based on early reports, the Korea Coast Guard believes that the vessel was involved in transshipping a catch of fish to a tender vessel at the time of the casualty. For reasons that remain under investigation, the seiner capsized and sank during the cargo operations. 

Most of the crew were on deck at the time of the capsizing, and were reportedly working without life jackets on. 15 survivors from the seiner were rescued and brought ashore at Hallim, Jeju Island. Two of them were already in cardiac arrest, and were pronounced dead at the hospital, leaving just 13 known survivors. 

12 others remained missing, including 10 Korean nationals, and the Korea Coast Guard launched a large-scale search. 18 coast guard vessels and five aircraft deployed to the scene. The Korean Navy joined the search as well, along with local first responders and more than a dozen Good Samaritan vessels. 

South Korean President Yoon Seok-yeol personally ordered the Korea Coast Guard to mobilize all possible resources, including all available civilian and government vessels, and directed other agencies to assist in any way possible.