Search for Korean vessel in South Atlantic yields no results

The search for the Korean vessel Stellar Daisy in the South Atlantic has failed to find any traces of the ship or its missing crew, the maritime ministry said Wednesday.

Twenty-two of the 24-member crew _ consisting of eight Koreans and 16 Filipinos _ are still missing. Two Filipino crewmen were rescued from a life raft Saturday, after the cargo vessel sank a day earlier.

A Brazilian aircraft involved in the search spotted nothing but an oil spill, the ministry said, adding four merchant ships were continuing their search at the site of the sinking.

The Brazilian Air Force C-130 and a P-3 maritime patrol aircraft were employed in the search, following a request from the Korean government.

Three warships from Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay will arrive at the last reported site of the Stellar Daisy between Thursday and Sunday to join the effort, after being asked by the government and the Uruguay Marine Rescue Co-ordination Center.

The search area has also been expanded.

“The search is continuing after expanding the area to 41.8 kilometers by 35.4 kilometers, 43.4 kilometers north of the site where the first distress call was made,” a maritime ministry official said at a briefing for family members of missing crewmembers at the vessel’s operator Polaris Shipping’s headquarters in Busan, Tuesday.

The official said two life rafts were found early Tuesday, 77.2 kilometers northeast of the site where the distress call was made, but these were spotted earlier, and did not carry any crewmen. One more life raft is still unaccounted for.

The Stellar Daisy departed from Brazil, March 26, carrying 260,000 tons of iron ore to China, but is suspected of having sunk after water began entering the vessel late Friday. A crewmember sent a distress signal to Polaris Shipping, saying the freighter was taking on water and that it was listing.