Rescuers may call off search for SKorean trawler's crew

Rescuers said Tuesday they were considering calling off their search for 17 missing crew members from a South Korean trawler that sank without warning off Antarctica, claiming up to 22 lives.

Five fishermen were confirmed dead and 17 listed as missing after the No. 1 Insung sank in calm conditions Monday, with rescue coordinators in New Zealand saying there was little chance the crew members survived the icy waters.

Maritime New Zealand said three South Korean trawlers searched overnight but found no crewmen in the remote area 1,000 nautical miles north of the McMurdo Antarctic base and 1,500 nautical miles from New Zealand's southern tip.

"(Rescue coordinators) will evaluate the situation this morning and make a decision on whether the search should continue," it said in a statement.

The trawler sank suddenly at 6:30 am Monday (1730 Sunday GMT), with its owners saying it may have collided with an iceberg.

Maritime NZ said the vessel went down so fast it did not send an SOS and crew members had no chance to don protective gear as they scrambled to escape, giving them only 10 minutes' survival time in the freezing waters.

Another South Korean trawler, the No. 707 Hongjin, plucked 20 fishermen from the Southern Ocean shortly after the boat sank. Maritime NZ said none required medical treatment.

A coastguard spokesman in the South Korean port of Busan, where the ship is based, told AFP Monday there were eight Koreans, eight Chinese, 11 Indonesians, 11 Vietnamese, three Filipinos and one Russian on board.

The boat was built in Japan in 1979, according to the website of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), the global body overseeing fishing in Antarctic waters.