22-3-2024 (SEOUL) A tragic maritime incident unfolded off the coast of Japan, resulting in the loss of at least nine lives, according to South Korea’s foreign ministry on Thursday (March 21).
The ministry confirmed that among the deceased were two South Korean nationals. Additionally, the Japanese coastguard managed to rescue one Indonesian crew member, while another crew member remained missing from the group of 11.
Although the ministry did not disclose the name of the vessel involved, public broadcaster NHK, citing the coastguard, reported on Wednesday that a South Korean-flagged chemical tanker had capsized off the coast of Yamaguchi prefecture in western Japan. NHK indicated that seven deaths had been confirmed among the 11 crew members.
Eight die after South Korean-flagged chemical tanker capsizes off the coast of Japan’s Yamaguchi pic.twitter.com/WpCUt5PNR0
— TRT World Now (@TRTWorldNow) March 20, 2024
The vessel, known as the Keoyoung Sun, had been anchored due to adverse weather conditions. It made a distress call after 7.00 am on Wednesday (2200 GMT on Tuesday), reporting a tilting over, as per NHK’s report.
Despite carrying 980 tonnes of acrylic acid, NHK stated that no spillage had been detected from the tanker.
