“Swept Away for 100 km”: Second Engineer from Sunken Busan Tugboat Found Dead at Pohang’s Dogu Beach (Updated)

[Financial News] A missing crew member of the tugboat TNS Catcher, which capsized and sank off Busan on the 2nd, was found dead at Dogu Beach in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, seven days after the accident. The location was more than 100 km from the accident site.
According to the Busan Coast Guard, at around 8:48 a.m. on the 9th, a 57-year-old second engineer surnamed Noh, a missing crew member of the TNS Catcher (286 tons), was found dead on the beach in front of a public restroom at Dogu Beach in Nam-gu, Pohang.
The body of Mr. Noh, who was first discovered by a sanitation worker cleaning the area, had undergone significant decomposition, making initial identification difficult. The Coast Guard therefore conducted digital forensic examinations of the mobile phone and smartwatch found in his possession through the East Sea Regional Coast Guard’s forensic investigation unit. It later confirmed his identity at 9:39 p.m. that day through a detailed one-to-one comparison with the fingerprints of the missing crew members.
Mr. Noh, who lived in Busan, reportedly served as the second engineer, the third-ranking member of the engineering department after the chief engineer and first engineer. He is said to have played a key hands-on role aboard the tugboat, adding to the tragedy.
Earlier, at around 1:29 p.m. on the 2nd, the TNS Catcher capsized while towing the container ship M (66,332 tons), which had been drifting after an engine failure about 9 km east of Busan’s Oryukdo Islets. The tugboat sank completely about two hours later and is now resting on the seabed at a depth of 87 meters.
After analyzing closed-circuit television footage from the ship M, the Coast Guard determined that two of the six missing crew members escaped from inside the vessel and fell into the sea immediately after it capsized. A rescued Indonesian crew member also stated that he saw another crew member jump out of the vessel at the time of the accident. The Coast Guard believes that crew member was Mr. Noh.
Eight people were aboard the vessel at the time of the accident: six South Koreans and two Indonesians. With the recovery of Mr. Noh’s body, the death toll rose to two, both South Koreans. One Indonesian crew member was rescued, while five remain missing—four South Koreans and one Indonesian.
The Coast Guard believes Mr. Noh was swept away by currents to Pohang and has expanded the search area for the remaining missing crew members to the jurisdiction of the East Sea Regional Coast Guard, which covers Gangwon and North Gyeongsang provinces. However, worsening weather, including high waves and strong winds, is currently hampering the search in the accident area.
[email protected] Park Ji-hyun Reporter