Yilan, Taiwan— A small fishing vessel sank roughly 12 nautical miles off the Yilan coast around 3:10 a.m. on October 18, capsizing in heavy swell and leaving one crew member dead and two others missing.
The boat, a 20-ton near-shore vessel from Nanfangao, was carrying five crew. The Coast Guard Administration said two were pulled from the water by a nearby vessel within an hour. One was alive. One was not.
Radio contact was lost shortly after the crew reported engine trouble and water ingress. The captain issued a brief mayday. Then silence. Sea conditions were deteriorating, with northeast winds gusting to 35 knots.
"We received the distress at 03:17 and dispatched two patrol boats and a helicopter," a Coast Guard officer said at the Nanfangao briefing. "When we arrived, debris was scattered across a wide area. The hull was not visible."
Fishermen who know the boat said it had left port late October 17 for a routine squid run. The crew were experienced. The vessel passed inspection in August. Still, small boats like this take risks. They push further out when catches are low.
Search efforts focused on a 15-square-nautical-mile grid east of Wushi Harbor. Two patrol vessels, one Navy support ship, and an air asset scanned through the morning. Divers were on standby but the depth and current made immediate diving impossible.
The surviving crew member told investigators the stern went under first. He clung to a cooler box. He said he saw lights, then lost sight of two others. The statement has not been independently confirmed.
Families gathered at the fishermen's association building in Su'ao, waiting for updates. No names have been released. The fisheries agency said it has notified the families and opened a preliminary marine incident file.
The search was suspended at dusk for crew safety. It is scheduled to resume at first light with additional vessels.
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