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Taiwanese fishing crew missing after fire consumes ship

The fate of a Taiwanese fishing vessel's crew was unknown as of press time last night, after they were forced to abandon ship after a fire, a Guam-based newspaper reported.

The US Navy and a civilian merchant ship were en route to the scene, some 1,060km off the coast of Guam, the Pacific Daily News reported on its Web site yesterday.

The report said that the Jin Tong Long No. 33 caught fire early in the day, and the crew of 11 were forced to take to life rafts after sending out a distress signal.

"Everything after the forward bow has been completely consumed by flames," the newspaper quoted Lieutenant Lee Putnam of the US Coast Guard as saying.

"At this time, we don't have any reports on the status of the crew," Putnam was quoted as saying.

Putnam added that a US Navy aircraft had been dispatched to locate the crew and keep watch over them, until the nearest vessel arrived at the scene, the paper reported.

The merchant vessel Vioc Rose was expected to reach the crew this morning, Putnam was quoted as saying.
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