Rescue teams have found a Taiwanese fishing boat which capsized near the Senkaku/Diaoyutai Islands. They found only one body out of the seven people known to have been on board. The “Xin Changfa No. 88” fishing vessel left from Keelung’s Badouzi Fishing Port late on February 25th. It had a crew of seven, including one Taiwanese national and six Indonesian nationals. The body has not yet been identified.
The Japanese Coast Guard first reported the capsized ship, and rescue teams were sent out immediately. Japanese rescue divers originally reported no survivors on Sunday, but found one body after a second dive on Monday. Chair of the legislature’s Ocean Affairs Council Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) gave an update on rescue operations on Facebook. She said that despite the unfortunate news of Monday’s dive, rescuers are not giving up hope and will continue to search for survivors.
The news of the capsized ship comes as two other Taiwanese fishing boats have been reported missing. The Lien Sheng Fa went missing on February 22 off the coast of Mauritius. The fishing trawler Sheng Feng No. 128, went missing in an area several hundred miles off the coast of Palau on February 18. Search and rescue operations have been underway, with help being requested from multiple countries.