6 more bodies recovered near sunken Sokor ship

By: 10 years ago

Executives of Sajo Industries bow to families of the missing fishermen of the South Korean fishing boat Oryong 501, which sank in the western Bering Sea on Dec. 1, during a briefing session at the company’s branch office in Busan, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2014. AP/Yonhap, Kim Sun-ho

SEOUL, South Korea — Six more bodies have been recovered from the western Bering Sea near where a South Korean fishing ship sank earlier this week.

Kim Kang-ho from Sajo Industries, which owns the Oriong-501 said Wednesday that the bodies appear to be from the ship lost Monday in the waters near Russia. One fisherman’s body was recovered Monday and seven fishermen were rescued. More than 50 are missing.

The bodies were found by fishing vessels searching the debris of the sunken Oryong 501, said Kim.

Among those onboard were 13 Filipinos of whom three have been rescued. The other 10 remain missing.

Officials have yet to identify the latest two bodies recovered.

Furious relatives have blamed the company and the ship’s captain for not doing enough to save their family members.

Officials from the ship’s company said they were hanging onto a “glimmer of hope.” But with continued rough seas and bad weather there were dwindling expectations that the fishermen would be found.

Coast guard helicopters from Russia and the United States and at least five fishing ships were searching for the missing, according to an official from Seoul’s foreign ministry, who didn’t want to be named citing office rules. He said the U.S. rescue ship Munro should arrive Thursday to help the search effort.

The crew also included 35 Indonesians, 11 South Koreans and one Russian inspector, according to the South Korean government.

It’s believed the ship began to list after stormy weather caused seawater to flood its storage areas, according to officials from the government and the company that owns the ship.

The ship left South Korea on July 10 to catch pollock, a winter delicacy in South Korea, according to company officials.

The sinking struck a nerve in a country less than eight months from its deadliest maritime disaster in decades. The sinking of the Sewol ferry off South Korea’s southwestern coast in April left more than 300 passengers dead, mostly teenagers on a school trip, causing nationwide grief and fury.