TNS CATCHER
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ROV to survey wreck of sunken tug
A search of the 'TNS Catcher', which capsized and sank off Busan, was set to begin to locate five people still missing, supported by a barge thaleft Cheonghak Pier in Busan's Yeongdo District on the morning of Sep 23 and headed for the sinking site. The barge was to be anchoredabove the wreck and serve as an offshore base for the underwater search. Once it has arrived, crews planned to drop anchor to hold its position and then send down a RO to survey the condition of the hull and the seabed terrain. The information gathered in that preliminary survey was to determine how commercial divers carry out the detailed underwater search. Preparing the ROV and completing the preliminary survey was expected to take about a week. The hull of the 'TNS Catcher' was already filmed by a ROV deployed from the Navy ship 'Ganghwado' on Sep 8. The shipping company had originally planned to position the barge in mid-September, but insurance procedures and bad weather pushed the schedule back. The wreck was located about five kilometers southeast of Songjeong Port on a water depth of 87 metres, and thus well beyond the 60-meter limit at which the Korea Coast Guard was able to conduct searches. Report with photo: https://en.sedaily.com/society/2026/09/23/barge-departs-for-site-of-sunken-tugboat-off-busan
Six companies raided in connection with tug accident
Raids were carried out in the working spaces of at least six companies, including a shipping company, in order to seize documents and find important information relating to the capsizing of the 'TNS Catcher'. The Coast Guard, which sent 41 investigation experts to the team, has not revealed what they were searching for or how the companies were related to the case. The Coast Guard also retrieved the video footage of the incident, which shows the tug was pulling the 'MSC Ikaria VI' from its starboard side, after which it turned and lost stability. The angle of the turn, the speed of the tug and the position of the tug in relation to the container ship will be taken into consideration to understand what caused it to roll over and sink. The search for the missing crew members remained ongoing, after it had been suspended for a few days due to bad weather conditions. Both the Navy and the Coast Guard were looking for the seafarers, covering a wider area. On Sep 8, the Coast Guard deployed 15 ships and seven aircraft to search an area of 19 miles, along with 48 personnel from the Busan and Ulsan Coast Guards, to use thermal observation equipment to be able to locate the missing crew even in the dark. The body of one of the six crew members who went missing was discovered dead on a beach in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, on the morning of Sep 9. The investigators decided that they would deploy remotely operated vehicles to thoroughly search the wreck once visibility has. improved. The container ship had to remain at the Hutchison Container Terminals in Busan for investigations for the time being.
Coast Guard raided shipping company
The Korea Coast Guard has launched a compulsory investigation into the capsizing of the 'TNS Catcher' off Busan on Sep 2, raiding the vessel's operator and other related parties. The Busan Coast Guard Station sent investigators to five companies, including the shipping operator and an industry association, as well as related agencies, to carry out search-and-seizure operations on Sep 8. Based on documents and other materials seized in the raids, the Coast Guard planned to focus on determining the exact cause of the accident, including the vessel's maintenance records and whether safety rules were observed during the towing operation. The agency set up a 41-member investigation headquarters immediately after the accident and has been conducting a preliminary inquiry. The Coast Guard was meanwhile continuing its search for the still missing crew members.
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