49 on Taiwan fishing boat missing in South Atlantic

A 49-strong crew on a Taiwan-registered fishing boat has been unaccounted for since the loss of contact on Feb. 26 in the South Atlantic, according to local media.

The missing included 11 from the Chinese mainland. The captain and another crew member came from Taiwan, along with 21 Indonesians, 13 Filipinos and two Vietnamese, according to the fishery authority.

The 700-tonne trawler, Hsiang Fu Chun, sailed off from Kaohsiung in January to the sea area 1,700 sea miles east of the Falkland Islands for fishing and was due to return in May, the fishery agency said.

The boat lost all contact with the shipowner at 3 a.m. on Feb. 26 and has not been seen since despite a search action, it added.

In the last communication, the captain reportedly told the shipowner that the boat was taking in water in areas of the South Atlantic, media reports quoted fishery agency deputy head Huang Hung-yan as saying.

The agency believed the boat could still be drifting in the region, probably without power, since no signals of wreckage or notice of hijack have been sent by the boat. Huang did not rule out the possibility that the boat will reach the land.

At least three Taiwan vessels close to the area where Hsiang Fu Chun went missing have joined the search.

Huang said it is difficult to send either an airplane or a boat to the rescue, as the vessel went missing far from land, in treacherous sea conditions.