One of the crew missing after a tugboat sank in waters off Busan was found dead on a beach at Pohang. Authorities are carrying out identification procedures.

The location is a considerable distance from the accident site, and the body is presumed to have drifted with currents and wind. Search areas for the remaining missing are being adjusted.

Tugboat accidents are often slow to explain, because the vessels are small and the state of the connection to the towed ship or barge shapes how an incident unfolds.

Maritime authorities are comparing weather conditions with track and communications records to establish how the vessel went down. Whether and when the hull will be raised has not been decided.

Foreign crew make up a significant share of the workforce in coastal fishing and port operations, and interpretation and family notification procedures are raised as an unresolved issue after each accident.