Two dead, eight missing as cargo ship sinks off Jeju

By Steve Yoon



Two crew members were confirmed dead and eight others were missing Wednesday after their cargo ship carring 22 crew sank in rough waters off southern island of Jeju.



According to to the Coast Guard's Jeju branch, 14 Chinese and eight Myanmarese crew members were aboard the Jin Tian wood freighter. Nine sailors out of the 14 rescued are reportedly unconscious. Japanese medical authorities later confirmed two of those retrieved were dead.



The 6,651-tonne Jin Tian is registered in Hong Kong. It sank in international waters some 148 kilometers southeast of Seogwipo on Jeju island.



The Jin Tian transmitted its first manually operated distress signal via the Digital Selective Calling(DSC) system at around 1:45 a.m. Wednesday. About an hour later, the ship's captain used a satellite phone to tell South Korean coast guard officials that he and the crew would abandon the sinking ship.



Then, at around 3:07 a.m., the cargo ship sent a distress signal via the emergency position indicating radio beacon(EPIRB), which is normally activated after a ship sinks into water.



The Coast Guard is conducting a joint search and rescue operation with their Japanese counterparts for the eight others with the deployment of five patrol ships and four aircrafts. The rescued sailors were transported to Japan's Nagasaki region.



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Two dead, eight missing as cargo ship sinks off Jeju