Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky - One person was killed in the sinking of the South Korean fishing trawler Oriong-501 in the Bering Sea off the coast of Chukotka and another 53 crewmembers are missing, Artur Rets, head of the Petropavlosk-Kamchatsky port's sea coordination and rescue center, has said.
“The Oriong-501 has sunk,” he told Interfax on Monday, Dec. 1.
Rets specified that six people, including a Russian inspector, have been taken aboard the Russian fishing trawler Karolina-77 and they are alive. The body of one South Korean fisherman, who is believed to have died of hypothermia, has also been taken aboard the vessel.
“Another six people have been taken aboard the Russian vessel Zaliv Zabiyaka. Fifty-three people are currently missing. A search operation is going on,” Rets said.
According to earlier reports, the South Korean fishing trawler Oriong-501 was in distress off the coast of Chukotka. “Information on the accident was reported around 5 p.m. local time, when the emergency buoy of the Orion-501 activated,” Rets said.
It has come to light that the vessel inadvertently took on seawater while its nets were being hauled in, Rets told Interfax earlier.
