Taiwanese fishing boat found capsized in the Indian Ocean: crew of 16 missing

A Taiwanese fishing boat reported missing February 23 has been found overturned in waters off Mauritius, but divers found no sign of crew, according to media reports Thursday, March 2.

Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture Fisheries Agency received confirmation from Mauritian authorities that the Kaohsiung-registered Lien Sheng Fa was located 490 nautical miles northeast of Port Louis, Mauritius. Mauritian search and rescue personnel reached the vessel at 6:00 am yesterday, March 2, and divers conducted an underwater examination of the boat, including inside the cabin. Divers reported that there was no sign of the crew and the lifeboat was also missing.

The absence of crew and lifeboat lends hope that the crew may have survived the capsize and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Search and Rescue Command Center have requested cooperation from countries in the area in searching for the missing crew.

According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency, the Lien Sheng Fa (CT4-2896) with a crew of one Taiwanese national, and 15 Indonesian nationals, was reported to have lost contact on February 23.

Another Taiwanese fishing vessel, the Sheng Feng 128 (CT3-5369) remains missing in the western Pacific Ocean after contact was lost February 18. The Sheng Feng 128 was last located 414 nautical miles northwest of Malakal Island, Palau.

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