3 crew members rescued after fishing vessel hits rocks off Pingtung

Taipei, May 7 (CNA) Three crew members who were thrown overboard from a Pingtung-registered fishing vessel on Wednesday after it hit rocks in waters near Eluanbi in the southern county have been rescued, the National Rescue Command Center said Friday.

The three belonged to a crew of four who went missing after the accident and were transported to Houbihu fishing port on the Hengchun peninsula around Friday noon after being rescued, according to the rescue command center.

Before the three crew members were sent to three respective hospitals in Pingtung, they were all conscious and able to walk unaided. The search and rescue efforts were continuing to look for the fourth missing member, according to the center.

The Yu Shun Shen No. 168 fishing vessel issued a distress call at around 10 p.m. Wednesday, prompting the Coast Guard Administration to dispatch patrol boats and officers to the site but nothing was found there.

The boat was found Thursday evening, while the captain, surnamed Chen (陳), his son and an Indonesian crew member were rescued early Friday by the crew of another fishing boat traveling from Orchid Island off the coast of Taitung in southeastern Taiwan.

Hsu Ching-ping (許清屏), the captain of the boat that carried out the rescue, told CNA that about half an hour after his boat set out from Orchid Island at around 10 a.m. Friday, he spotted some objects in the sea.

When his boat got closer, he realized that the objects were three men who had fallen overboard, according to Hsu.

His crew then picked up the three, who were all in good physical condition apart from appearing to be exhausted, Hsu said.