MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Korean fishing vessel survivors arrive in Montevideo

Twenty eight of the 34 crew members of the South Korean flagged fishing vessel Insung 207, which was lost in the South Atlantic, arrived in Montevideo over the weekend together with the bodies of four dead comrades.

The group arrived in the Panamanian flagged Baltic Pride which was involved in the rescue together with other vessels and the Argentine Fisheries patrol ARA Drumond. Two crew members apparently the captain and chief officer, are still missing. On request from the Montevideo maritime representative of the Korean vessel the case is now under investigation by a Uruguayan Court which ordered the four bodies sent to the coroner's office and is questioning the survivors on the causes of the Insung 207 loss. According to the original report from the Argentine Navy the 56 meters long Korean vessel with 34 crew members sunk last mid week outside the Argentine EEZ, approximately 290 miles off Comodoro Rivadavia. The crew was made up of 10 Koreans, 13 Chinese and 11 Vietnamese. Argentine Navy maritime patrol aircraft were involved in a search mission for the missing crewmembers. Unconfirmed reports indicate Insung 207 had recently transhipped and taken on bunkers and could have suffered a stability problem