Ship carrying chemicals believed sunk in S Korea

Coast guard officers transfer a Burmese seaman, second left, to hospital after his arrival at the port of Yeosu, South Korea, yesterday. PHOTO: AFP

Fourteen sailors aboard a ship carrying toxic chemicals were missing yesterday after their vessel was thought to have sunk in South Korea's southern waters.

The South Korean Coast Guard and navy started searching for the ship early yesterday after it sent out a distress signal off Yeosu, 455km south of Seoul, spokesman Eum Seung-ye said.

One sailor -- identified as a 28-year-old Burmese -- was found floating unconscious at sea hours later, but the other 14 crewmembers -- 12 South Koreans and two from Myanmar -- were still missing, Eum said.

The survivor was taken to a hospital, Eum said.

The 1,323-tonne ship was carrying 2,000 tonnes of nitric acid when it went missing.

The ship was sailing to Taiwan after leaving the southern port city of Gwangyang on Monday night, Eum said.

The news came as South Korea battles to contain the country's worst-ever oil spill, which has blackened beaches and jeopardized the ecosystem along the west coast.

A wayward barge hit a supertanker on Dec. 7 causing the tanker to leak 78,920 barrels of oil.

Choi Eun-ju, a regional Coast Guard officer, said that because nitric acid easily dilutes, it was unlikely to pose a threat to the ocean or marine life if the ship sank.