Body found in harbor suspected to be crew of Korean tug missing in Taiwan Strait
A body found floating in Magong Harbor on Penghu Island is believed to be one of four Korean crew members who remain missing after a Korean-owned Sierra Leone-flagged vessel went missing, presumed to have sunk in the Taiwan Strait two days ago.
Penghu County Fire Bureau received a report of a floating body at the south embankment of the Suogang Wharf in Magong Harbor at 11:50 am this morning, April 9. Police and coast guard personnel retrieved the body shortly after noon.
The Korean push-tug Kyoto No. 1 went missing after making a distress call on the morning of April 7 around one nautical mile east of the Penghu Islands. Two bodies were found by coast guard search and rescue crew yesterday, April 8. According to the age, clothing with Korean script, and physical features, it is likely that the three bodies recovered so far belong to the missing all-Korean crew of six. However, the bodies still await formal, definite identification.
A Korean Coast Guard patrol ship dispatched from Jeju Island arrived in the Taiwan Strait to assist with the ongoing search for the remaining missing crew members this morning.
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My guess is that the victims were not actually ROK (South Korean) but were usable “disposables” somehow dragooned into the web of international marine bottom feeders. Something untoward probably happened on board and they were “just jettisoned,” thinking that they’ll never be found. Well now….. It looks like it may have been a totally derelict vessel. A possibility is that the crew were NORTH Korean or commie Chinese.