Search underway for sunken trawler’s missing crew

C-130 from AirSta Kodiak
An Air Station Kodiak HC-130 Hercules airplane crew launches to assist the Kamchatka Border Guard Directorate in the search and rescue efforts of a crew from the 326-foot fishing vessel 501 Oryong in the Bering Sea on Dec. 1, 2014. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Diana Honings)

At least one person has died and more than 50 people are still missing after a South Korean trawler sank in the western Bering Sea on Monday.

The 326-foot vessel, named Oryong 501, was fishing for pollock off Chukotka in the Russian Far East.

The trawler with 62 crewmembers on board was reportedly hit by a wave while hauling in fish in bad weather, and began taking on water. There was no report of a distress call before the vessel sank about 200 miles southwest of St. Lawrence Island.

The New York Times and Korea Times reports in its various stories about the sinking here, here, and here that 60 crewmembers were on board the vessel.

Seven people aboard escaped into a life raft and were rescued by nearby fishing vessel. An eighth rescued crewmember reportedly died later of hypothermia.

Search crews and nearby fishing vessels are looking for at least 52 missing crew members in the cold waters nearby.

“Our ultimate goal is protecting life at sea whether at home or internationally, which is why we are working closely with the Kamchatka Border Guard Directorate to find survivors,” said Capt. Diane Durham, chief of response for the Coast Guard’s 17th District, in a statement issued on Monday.

There are also five good Samaritan vessels on scene that are assisting in the search for survivors; their commitment to helping is commendable.”

A U.S. Coast Guard C-130 aircraft was dispatched on Monday (Alaska time) from Air Station Kodiak to help the Kamchatka Border Guard Directorate in their search efforts. But search and rescue controllers at the Juneau command center said spotters aboard the aircraft only saw several sheets of plywood, an unoccupied life ring, and swamped life rafts with no one inside. On Tuesday morning, the C-130 was dispatched to the area again to help with the search.

Conditions in the area were reported as 15 foot seas, 40 knot winds, and a maximum ceiling of 400 feet.

The Coast Guard’s 378-foot cutter Munro with an H-65 helicopter on board is also heading to the area.

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