Fishing boat sinks after fire off Taiwan; all 6 crew rescued

Taipei, July 22 (CNA) A Taiwan-registered fishing boat caught fire and sank off Pengjia Islet, northeast of Taiwan, late Tuesday. All six crew members were rescued Wednesday after spending nearly 10 hours adrift in a life raft, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said.

The CGA said it received a report at about 3 a.m. Wednesday that the Keelung-registered Yung Fu No. 188 had caught fire in the vessel's cabin about 50 nautical miles (92.6 kilometers) northeast of Pengjia Islet.

The fire spread rapidly, prompting the six crew members -- Taiwanese captain Lin (林) and five Filipino crewmen -- to abandon ship and board a life raft while awaiting rescue, the CGA said.

The CGA dispatched its Bali patrol vessel, part of a mobile coast guard unit for northern Taiwan, to the scene.

When the patrol vessel arrived at about 4 a.m., the boat was still engulfed in flames, with thick smoke billowing into the sky, the CGA said.

Coast guard personnel located the life raft nearby and brought all six crew members aboard safely.

The patrol vessel then tried to extinguish the fire, but the boat, already severely damaged by the blaze and flooding, sank at about 5 a.m., the CGA said.

A preliminary CGA investigation found that the fire broke out at about 7 p.m. Tuesday, forcing the crew to abandon ship. They drifted at sea for nearly 10 hours before being rescued uninjured, though they were exhausted from the ordeal.

To expedite medical evaluation, the patrol vessel returned immediately to Keelung with the rescued crew, the CGA said.

The agency said the sunken vessel was carrying about 2 metric tons of fuel. A fuel slick about 30 meters long and 2 meters wide was spotted near the sinking site, and an additional coast guard patrol boat has been dispatched to monitor the pollution.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.