[New Square 10] Jeju Biyangdo Fishing Boat Sinking...Two dead, 12 searching.

■ Host: Anchor Park Seok-won and Anchor Um Ji-min
■ Starring: Kim Gil-soo, emeritus professor of the Department of Navigation Convergence at Korea Maritime University

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information. Please specify [YTN New Square 10AM] when quoting.

[Anchor]
As you heard, the rescue is currently underway, and the additional structure is slow.

This time, I will connect with an expert and seek urgent advice from the rescue now. This is Kim Gil-soo, professor emeritus of the Department of Navigation Convergence at the Korea Maritime University. You're out, right?

[Kim Gil-soo]
Hello, nice to meet you.

[Anchor]
Hello, professor. The accident occurred at around 4:33 a.m. It's been about 5 hours, what's the most urgent thing about rescue work at this point?

[Kim Gil-soo]
First of all, we need to keep zero chance of survival in mind. They said there were two sailors in the hull, but there could have been more than two. In addition, there is a possibility that people who are drifting will still survive, so I think we should conduct underwater search and surface search together with such a possibility of survival.

[Anchor]
Looking at the location of the accident now, Biyang is about 13 nautical miles northwest, so what should we keep in mind when rescuing considering the flow rate and the condition of the sea?

[Kim Gil-soo]
This sea area is originally a sea with many accidents. There was an accident there this spring as well. The reason why there are many accidents is that when there is a monsoon like now, the wind flows down from Siberia to Busan through the front of Jeju Island through the sea where the accident occurred. So first of all, the sea situation is very bad because of the wind. But today, the wind isn't that strong. I think it was a strong wind. However, the current flows from there about 2 knots to the northwest. Therefore, it flows in the opposite direction to the direction of the wind and the direction of the ocean current, so I think we should consider that and set the search radius.

[Anchor]
According to the news of the accident, it is now known that the ship capsized in the process of transferring the catch to the carrier, so should I say that the sailors stayed on the ship and capsized with the ship and fell into the sea?

[Kim Gil-soo]
That's right. That's why I probably didn't have time to wear a life jacket or something because I fell into the sea while I was working on it. If possible, wearing a life jacket increases your chances of surviving at sea. So, in this case, it can be considered as an abalone accident, otherwise, if the ship was submerged and sank due to a structural defect in the ship, it would be difficult to rescue because the ship would have gone deep into the water, but once the ship is overturned due to the abalone accident, there can also be an air pocket. I think we should consider that carefully and search for it.

[Anchor]
As you said, if the ship has capsized and sunk, how should the missing people search?

[Kim Gil-soo]
There could be more missing people on the surface. There's a possibility that it's on the ship. It was probably around 4 a.m., so it's possible that the non-manufacturer was in the cabin. Others suddenly went into the sea, so there are some people who got into an accident when their boat flipped over, and others drifted from there and washed away. So, we should consider both possibilities and search. What I'm saying is that we should do underwater search and surface search at the same time, I think. The Coast Guard has its own divers. That's why divers are probably in the water right now, so they're probably searching underwater.

[Anchor]
There was a fire department briefing at Hallim Port, where rescuers were transferred a little while ago. Let's connect to the field and listen to the response leader's story for a while and listen to the professor's opinion.

[left circle rod]
Before the briefing, I would like to express my sincere condolences to the bereaved families and the injured in this accident and briefly explain the accident. The accident occurred at around 04:43 on November 8, 2024, when the 129-ton Busan-registered Geumseong ship, which is operating in waters near 24km northwest of Biyangdo, sank. The cause of the accident is currently under investigation, and 15 out of a total of 27 people on board have been rescued so far. Of the 15 rescuers, 2 had cardiac arrest and 13 had minor injuries, and the remaining 12 were rescued by the Coast Guard at the scene. As for the dispatch status, 78 people, including 56 firefighters, are active at the site, and 18 units are active at the site using 10 firefighters. Our fire department was notified by the Coast Guard at around 05:10 and has set up an on-site command center and a temporary emergency medical center at 05:20 and is in operation. The head of the public health center will explain the 15 patients I mentioned earlier. the head of the public health center

[Health Director]
I'm the head of the western health center in Jeju-si. This is the operation status of the emergency medical center on the site. Biyangdo is related to the sinking of a nearby sea ship. Of the total 14 casualties, 2 were seriously injured and 12 were slightly injured. Of these, two serious patients were transferred to Halla Hospital. Of the 12 people in Gyeongsang Province, 3 were transferred to Hanmaeum Hospital, 2 were transferred to Central Hospital, and 7 were under probation at the Western Health Center in Jeju City due to mild symptoms. We will make every effort to operate the on-site emergency medical center. That's about it.

[left circle rod]
Then I'll take a question.

[Anchor]
We've heard the fire department's briefing. I informed you about the current situation. The cause of the accident is still under investigation, and two cardiac arrest occurred among the rescue of 15 people. We will continue our conversation with Professor Kim Gil-soo. The temperature dropped a lot this week. I'm worried that this will also have an adverse impact on the structure, but how does seawater temperature affect the search?

[Kim Gil-soo]
Seawater temperature is more important for people drifting in the sea. However, the sea water temperature in the sea is the highest in September and is quite high in October and November. The sea temperature can be quite high, especially because it is next to Jeju Island. So, since the survival rate is high, I think we should search extensively for people drifting on the surface and find them without delaying time quickly.

[Anchor]
You mentioned an extensive search, but there is a possibility of survival now. You said earlier that the wind was strong, so how much should we set the search range as much as possible?

[Kim Gil-soo]
It's already been about 5 hours. The ocean current over there is flowing about 2 knots. So if you look at the ocean currents at a maximum of 3 knots, in 5 hours, you'll have to do a search with a radius of about 15 miles, or 35 kilometers.

[Anchor]
It was 4:33 and about 5 hours have passed since the accident, so what is the usual golden time in a sinking like this?

[Kim Gil-soo]
Golden time refers to the time to save people's lives, and in my opinion, the sea temperature is high, there is not much blue, and the wind is not strong, so even those drifting on the surface have a considerable chance of survival if they do their best to find it. And if there is an air pocket in the hull, it will be there for a few minutes, so I think we have to do our best to survive them.

[Anchor]
Professor, you mentioned earlier that there are divers in the Coast Guard, but is it not a situation where you can enter the ship and search?

[Kim Gil-soo]
The direction of activities of divers varies depending on whether the ship is floating on the surface of the water or is completely underwater. So I don't have any information on what condition I'm in right now, so I think it's hard to say about that. However, Korea's coast guard can also dive in the deep sea. It's quite deep there. So even if the ship sank deep in the water, I think divers can work as much as they want.

[Anchor]
I heard that the early days of the accident were early in the morning, so it was difficult to search because it was dark, but now that the sun has risen, has the view been smooth?

[Kim Gil-soo]
That's right. Civilian ships are also deployed to work together now, but the search pattern is the most important thing when searching. You can't search everywhere. I think that the Coast Guard should also direct civilian ships well and conduct a thorough search according to the search pattern.

[Anchor]
Professor, let me find out the cause. It was early in the morning and the ship was a fishing boat. Are there any cases where a ship is overturned like this while transferring fish to a carrier?

[Kim Gil-soo]
That's rare. It's rare, but if there is no restoration ship on the main line itself, you use a crane to lift a lot of the catch on this side and move it to the transport ship. So if a lot of the catch is lifted up, the stability of the restoration ship deteriorates. So, when a lot of catch is raised high with a crane, the restoration line can rapidly deteriorate and the main line can be overturned.

[Anchor]
If the ship overturns like this today, should it be attributed to weather or wind?

[Kim Gil-soo]
No, in today's case, it's overturned because of a temporary decrease in resilience caused by unloading operations. Usually, Korean coastal fishing boats use a lot of FRT structurally, so there is a lot of flooding. The ship sank because of the flooding, and in this case, the resilience temporarily deteriorated and overturned.

[Anchor]
I see. Let's stop here. I talked to Kim Gil-soo, professor emeritus of the Department of Navigation Convergence at the Korea Maritime University, by phone. Thank you.

[Kim Gil-soo]
Keep up the good work.