Tugboat sinks off South Korea’s southern coast: one dead, six missing amid major search operation

According to South Korea’s coast guard, the incident occurred on September 2, 2026, off the country’s southeastern coast near the port city of Busan. The 286‑ton tugboat had departed in the morning with eight crew members to tow a merchant vessel when it capsized, leaving the crew in the water. One Indonesian crew member was rescued by the merchant vessel, while another crew member, a South Korean national, was found unconscious by coast guard rescuers and later pronounced dead at a mainland hospital. The vessel eventually sank around 15:30 local time, roughly two hours after the capsizing was reported, and the cause of the accident remains under investigation.