Korean Container Ship Rescues Tug Crewmembers in South China Sea
[Brief] A Korean container ship helped rescue four crewmembers from an Indonesian tug off the coast of the Riau Islands in the South China Sea, according to local authorities.
The tug AOM 787 was towing an empty barge off the coast of the Anambas Islands on Saturday night, bound for Serasan, when she ran into stormy conditions. The tug's stability was in question, and the crew cut the towline to the barge in hopes of reducing the risk. This strategy was not successful: at midday, the tug capsized, and the crew abandoned ship into a liferaft.
A passing merchant ship, the Shanghai Voyager, spotted the survivors' signal flares later that night. Despite difficult conditions, the Voyager's crew brought all of them safely aboard. The Voyager called in the casualty to Indonesian SAR authorities and diverted to Matak in the Riau Islands for a rendezvous. Indonesian SAR responders launched a boat to meet the ship and retrieve the four tug crewmembers.
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All four were delivered to shore in good condition and provided with a medical evaluation.
The chief of the Natuna Search and Rescue Office, Abdul Rahman, told local media that the rescue was a reminder of the need for a full complement of rescue signaling devices, including an EPIRB, flares and flashlights.
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