The Korea Coast Guard launched a nighttime search to find six crew members missing after a tugboat capsized off Busan, but did not find the missing. Strong winds hampered the search.
According to the Busan Maritime Police Station on the 4th, the Korea Coast Guard conducted a nighttime search starting at 6 p.m. on the 3rd but did not find the missing. They had planned to deploy ships and aircraft, but a strong wind advisory was issued off Busan and strong winds made the search difficult. Some small vessels withdrew during the search, and aircraft also suspended operations due to strong winds.
The Busan-registered 286-ton (t) tugboat TNS Catcher capsized at about 1:29 p.m. on the 2nd in waters about 9 kilometers east of Oryukdo, Busan. At the time, it was towing the Liberia-registered 66,332 t container ship M together with other tugboats. Closed-circuit (CC) TV from the container ship released by the Korea Coast Guard showed the TNS Catcher turning right and then rolling to the left.
Of the eight crew members, only one Indonesian was rescued, and one Korean was found unconscious and taken to a hospital but died. The remaining six are missing.