Fears rise for crew of South Korean fishing boat which sank in Bering Sea

At least one crew member was confirmed dead from hypothermia as a frantic search was underway for the missing crew of the South Korean trawler. The Oryong 501 became stranded in waters off Russia for unknown reasons. 

'One person, a fishermen from South Korea, died from hypothermia', said Artur Rets, chief of the Naval Coordination and Rescue SubCentre in Petropavlosvsk-Kamchatsky. 'The destiny of 54 other crew members is as yet unknown.' Other accounts said 52 were missing. 

He said: 'Seven people were rescued, including a Russian inspector. Five of them were taken on board the Russian 'Karolina-7' fishing trawler, two others to the 'Zaliv Zabiyaka' boat'.'

'The crew of all boats in the area are carrying intense searches right now, looking for 54 others in the water,' he added.

However, the weather conditions were difficult. 'The wind is 25-27 m/c, with waves reaching 5-6 metres. We received information about the incident at about 5 pm local time, when the emergency buoy of 'Oryong-501' went off. The trawler sank very quickly. There were 62 people on board.'

On board were 11 South Koreans, 13 fishermen from the Philippines, and 35 crew members from Indonesia, plus one Russian inspector.