PK's sailing posts: Korean Fishing Trawler sinks in Southern Ocean

Monday, December 13, 2010

Korean Fishing Trawler sinks in Southern Ocean

Sailors Missing as S. Korea Boat Sinks

By MARK McDONALD

Published: December 12, 2010 NYT

SEOUL, South Korea — Five crew members were killed Monday when a South Korean fishing trawler sank in the frigid waters off Antarctica, and 17 other crew members were missing and presumed dead, New Zealand rescue officials said.

Twenty of the crewmen were rescued by a nearby South Korean fishing boat, and two other South Korean vessels were enlisted in the search. But two New Zealand fishing boats stopped searching Monday afternoon because it was unlikely that any of the missing crew had survived, according to Dave Wilson, an official with the Rescue Coordination Center New Zealand, based in Wellington.

There was no immediate indication for the cause of the sinking, and the agency said no distress call had been issued.

The 190-foot trawler, the In Sung No. 1, sank quickly, according to rescue officials citing reports from the scene. The sinking occurred around 6:30 a.m., about 1,150 miles north of McMurdo Station, a United States science and research center on New Zealand’s Ross Island, in Antarctica.

The water temperature in the area was 2 degrees Celsius, or 36 degrees Fahrenheit.

"Survival times in the water are about 10 minutes without lifejackets or immersion suits,” the rescue agency said in a statement.

The New Zealand Air Force considered sending a P-3 Orion patrol plane to the area, Mr. Wilson said, adding that a Hercules from McMurdo Station also was a possibility.

“Unfortunately, given the short survival times in water of those temperatures and the length of time it would take for the Orion and Hercules aircraft to reach the search area, it was not a viable option,” Mr. Wilson said.

The In Sung, a 614-ton long-line fishing trawler, is reportedly based in Pusan, in southern South Korea. Among the crew were Chinese, Indonesians, Filipinos and one Russian.

In August, three people died when a South Korean fishing vessel went down 400 miles east of Dunedin, New Zealand. The New Zealand rescue agency saved 45 crew members from the ship, a spokeswoman said at the time.

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1,150 miles north of McMurdo Station, a United States science and research center on New Zealand’s Ross Island, in Antarctica.

There is a picture of the station on Google Earth...

The station is located at about 77°S and 168°E and Drina was located at the time at 43°12'S and 150°36'W. So by my calculations that put Drina about 900NM North and 2520NM East of the trawler...

So that answers all those with questions about Drina not being asked to search for the poor guys. Sorry boys and girls it's a big ocean out there..

All the best PK

Paul Kerrigan

Strewth on Bathurst Hbr