▲ This image provided by the Coast Guard shows a fishing vessel on fire with columns of black smoke billowing from the ship off the southern island of Jeju on March 14, 2026. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

ship sinking-search

Search under way for 2 crewmembers missing in ship fire off Jeju

JEJU, South Korea, March 14 (Yonhap) -- Coast Guard personnel were searching for two crewmembers Saturday after a fishing boat carrying them caught fire off the southern island of Jeju and sank, leaving them missing.

A fire was reported on the 29-ton vessel about 90 kilometers southwest of Jeju's Chagwi Island at 9:58 a.m., with 10 crewmembers aboard, according to the Coast Guard.

Eight of them were rescued by fishermen aboard nearby ships -- two South Koreans and six Indonesians -- but the two others -- both South Koreans -- remained unaccounted for.

In the afternoon, authorities succeeded in containing the fire, but the ship sank and was fully submerged as of 5:44 p.m. Rescuers were unable to enter the ship's interior, as the fiber-reinforced plastic vessel made it difficult to contain the fire quickly.

Coast Guard personnel continued their search for the two missing crewmembers into the night, mobilizing eight vessels.

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