Tugboat Sinks Off South Korea’s Busan Coast, Leaving One Dead and Six Missing

A major search-and-rescue operation is underway off the southeastern coast of South Korea after a tugboat carrying eight crew members capsized and sank near the port city of Busan, leaving one person dead and six others missing.

The 286-ton tugboat overturned at about 1:29 p.m. local time on Wednesday, September 2, in waters approximately 9 kilometres southeast of Oryukdo Island, according to the Busan Coast Guard. The vessel had departed Busan Port earlier in the morning to tow a commercial ship.

The crew consisted of six South Korean nationals and two Indonesians. One Indonesian crew member, reportedly in his 50s, was rescued by a nearby Liberia-flagged commercial vessel. A South Korean crew member was subsequently found unconscious and taken for medical treatment, but was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

The tugboat, identified in local reports as the TNS/T&S Catcher, sank completely at approximately 3:27 p.m., around two hours after it capsized. The wreck lies in waters about 87 metres deep, making the search and rescue operation particularly challenging.

The Coast Guard initially deployed 13 vessels along with aircraft and specialised rescue personnel. The Navy also joined the operation, deploying the ROKS Gwangyang salvage and rescue vessel and other assets.

By Wednesday evening, authorities had expanded the operation to 19 vessels, involving the Coast Guard, Navy, Busan Metropolitan Government and fire authorities. An overnight search was also launched for the six missing crew members.

Rescuers are facing difficult conditions, with waves reaching between 1 and 1.5 metres, strong currents and winds of up to 6 metres per second reported in the area.

President Lee Jae Myung ordered authorities to mobilise all available resources in an effort to locate and rescue the missing crew members. Busan authorities also activated an emergency disaster-response headquarters and began coordinating support for the victims’ families.

The exact cause of the accident has not yet been established.

The tugboat was reportedly dispatched to assist a 66,332-ton Liberia-flagged commercial vessel that had experienced a problem affecting its manoeuvrability. Local maritime reporting said the tugboat may have capsized while attempting to tow the much larger vessel, although investigators have not confirmed this as the cause.

The Coast Guard has established an investigation team to determine what happened in the moments before the tugboat overturned.

The search for the six missing crew members remains ongoing.