S. Korea ship disappears off Uruguay coast
April 2, 2017
Some 22 people were missing on Saturday after a South Korean cargo ship disappeared and apparently sank in the South Atlantic Ocean.
The 24-man crew on the Stellar Daisy carrier, which is owned and operated by South Korean-based Polaris Shipping, sent out an SOS on Friday just before noon local time (1400 UTC) and sent a text message to Polaris saying they were taking on water on the port side.
The ship last made contact about 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 kilometers) off the coast of the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo.
Two survivors
An ongoing rescue search by Uruguayan navy and nearby merchant ships has so far found two survivors. Several empty lifeboats and rafts were also found in the area.
A statement from the navy said the first ships to reach the scene detected a "strong smell of fuel" and debris in the water, indicating that "the damaged ship had sunk."
The ship had departed from a port in Brazil. Its intended destination was not immediately clear.
kbd/ksb (AFP, AP, Reuters, dpa)