Tugboat capsized off the coast of Busan, two crew members confirmed to have fallen at sea

It was confirmed that two sailors fell into the sea when the tugboat TNS Catcher capsized off the coast of Busan on the 2nd.

It is presumed that they were swept away by sea water and drifted away.

According to the Busan Maritime Police Station on the 7th, the 'TNS Catcher Capsule Incident Investigation Headquarters', which is investigating this accident, secured statements to this effect from the crew of the container ship M, which was being towed by the TNS Catcher at the time of the accident.

The story is that two sailors were seen around the TNS Catcher immediately after it capsized.

Based on this, as a result of the Coast Guard's analysis of closed-circuit (CC) TV footage of the M, it was determined that two people fell into the sea when the TNS Catcher capsized.

The Coast Guard said, "About a minute after the capsize, it was confirmed that a person wearing a black jacket was pushed toward the stern at the bow of the ship. After that, a person wearing orange work clothes was confirmed to have surfaced and disappeared in about 10 seconds."

It is known that while the crew of the M ship saw this and brought a life ring for rescue, the people who fell into the sea were not seen.

However, their exact identities have not been confirmed.

On the 2nd, the TNS Catcher capsized while towing the M in the sea about 9km east of Oryukdo Island.

At the time, eight crew members, including six Koreans and two Indonesians, were on board the TNS Catcher.

Among them, one Indonesian was rescued, but one Korean was found unconscious on the ship and died. The remaining six people are missing and have been searched for six days.

Currently, the TNS Catcher is sunk at the bottom of the sea at a depth of 87 meters, but underwater search is difficult due to bad weather, such as a storm warning in effect off the coast of Busan.

The Coast Guard is considering various options, including deploying divers, to begin searching the ship as soon as weather conditions improve.