One foreign crew member rescued; vessel fully sinks 2 hours after accident
Coast guard and navy mobilized as high waves and strong currents hamper search
![Coast guard personnel conduct rescue operations after a vessel capsized off the coast of Busan on Wednesday. [Busan Maritime Police Station/Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/02/rcv.YNA.20260902.PYH2026090216150005100_P1.jpg)
A tugboat capsized off the coast of Busan on Wednesday, killing one crew member and leaving six others missing.
According to the Busan Maritime Police Station, the 286-ton tugboat, identified as Vessel A, capsized at around 1:29 p.m. in waters about 9 kilometers east of Oryukdo, Busan.
The vessel was carrying eight crew members — six South Koreans and two Indonesians.
One of them, an Indonesian man in his 50s, was rescued about 20 minutes after the accident by a merchant vessel, identified as Vessel B, which was passing through the area.
Coast guard officers who responded to the scene pulled a South Korean man in his 50s from inside the vessel, finding him unconscious. He was transferred by coastal rescue boat to Minlak Port.
Emergency medical workers waiting onshore transported him to a nearby hospital, where he later died.
The remaining six crew members are missing. The coast guard has launched an intensive search centered on the accident site.
However, the operation has been hampered by rough conditions — waves of 1 to 1.5 meters and northwesterly winds of 4 to 6 meters per second.
Vessel A fully sank at around 3:27 p.m. Wednesday, about two hours after the accident. The water depth at the site is approximately 87 meters.
Vessel A had departed from the government vessel pier at Busan Port at around 10:15 a.m. Wednesday to tow Vessel B.
The tugboat is believed to have capsized while en route to carry out the towing operation.
It was Vessel B that reported the capsizing to the Busan Port Vessel Traffic Service.
Vessel B is a 66,332-ton Liberian-flagged container ship.
![Coast guard helicopters fly over the waters off Busan on Wednesday after a tugboat capsized, leaving six crew members missing. The vessel, carrying eight people, overturned in waters off Oryukdo, with one person confirmed dead and one rescued. [Yonhap]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/09/02/rcv.YNA.20260902.PYH2026090218170005100_P1.jpg)
The Busan Maritime Police elevated its regional rescue headquarters to the highest alert level and deployed 13 vessels — including patrol ships and coastal rescue boats — along with aviation units and the Central Maritime Special Rescue Unit.
The navy also joined the operation, dispatching the ROKS Gwangyang, Chamsuri-class patrol boats, a destroyer, a rescue ship, a minesweeper, two aircraft, government vessels and a maritime disaster rescue team.
President Lee Jae Myung was briefed on the accident and ordered authorities to "mobilize all available resources to save lives."
mokiya@heraldcorp.com
