news: 5 dead, 20 rescued, 17 missing after ship sinks in Antarctic waters

From Brian Walker, CNN

December 12, 2010 10:03 p.m. EST

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• The No. 1 Insung sunk Monday about 1,000 miles north of Antarctica, an official says
• 5 people are confirmed dead, 20 people were rescued, and 17 are missing
• The ship sank in waters so cold a person likely could only survive in them for 10 minutes

(CNN) -- Five people died and 20 were rescued after a South Korean fishing vessel sank Monday in frigid ocean waters about 1,000 nautical miles north of McMurdo Station in Antarctica, a spokesman from a New Zealand maritime organization said.

A time-sensitive search was underway for another 17 people who were missing, said Maritime New Zealand spokesman Ross Henderson. While the ship sank in the Southern Hemisphere's late spring, water temperatures are just 2 degrees Celsius (35.6 degrees Fahrenheit), meaning crew members likely could only survive no more than 10 minutes before succumbing to hypothermia, authorities said.

The 58-meter (190-foot) fishing trawler, the No. 1 Insung, went down about in a remote swatch of the Antarctic Ocean some 1850 km (1150 miles) north of McMurdo, a U.S. research center on the tip of Ross Island.

Two New Zealand fishing vessels nearby were at the scene, with three South Korean trawlers closing in to lend assistance, Henderson said from Wellington, New Zealand. Authorities called on all other nearby ships likewise to go to the area to help.

There was no emergency radio call before the incident, and it is still not clear what happened, Henderson said.

The seas in the area were relatively calm, with one meter (about three feet) high swells and a light westerly wind, he added.

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