Latest news with #fishingvessel
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
Message in a bottle found in Ireland prompts theories about Taiwanese crew
A message in a bottle found off the west coast of Ireland has revived hopes for answers about the fate of a Taiwanese fishing crew that disappeared four years ago. Internet sleuths have linked the note, a purported SOS message written in a mixture of Chinese, Indonesian and English, to the Yong Yu Sing No 18, a Taiwanese fishing vessel that was found adrift with its crew missing in 2021. Matthew Long said that he and a friend were walking on a beach on Inisheer, a small island located about 8km (5 miles) off County Clare, last week when they came across a wax-sealed bottle containing the handwritten note. 'We used Google Translate and the first half of the message translated to an SOS message in Indonesian,' Long told Al Jazeera. Long said he handed the note over to the local police before posting about his discovery on the social media site Reddit, where internet sleuths quickly got to work trying to track down its origin. 'We posted it in a few places online, but when we posted it in r/beachcombing, it blew up and clever Redditors were able to trace it back to a real missing ship crew,' Long said. According to the Reddit posting, the text reads: 'Please send help! We are lost since 12/20. There are 3 of us here. We don't know the name of this island. We are injured. HELP. HELLO. SOS.' The note ends with the Chinese character for 'Li' and the name 'Yong Yu Sing No 18.' An Garda Síochána, the Irish police service, said it does not comment on third-party content online but confirmed it had received a 'report of an item found' on Inisheer last Saturday. It declined to provide further information. The Yong Yu Sing No 18 was reported missing on January 1, 2021, after its owner lost contact with the ship's captain, a man surnamed Li, two days earlier, according to Taiwan's Central News Agency. The fishing vessel was later found approximately 600km (373 miles) from Midway Atoll, an unincorporated United States territory in the North Pacific Ocean, with its crew and lifeboat missing. The incident was later ruled an accident by Taiwanese prosecutors, but the fate of Li and his nine Indonesian crew members remains unknown to this day. The Taiwan Yilan District Prosecutors Office, which investigated the case in 2021, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Long's Reddit post has received nearly 10,000 upvotes, or 'likes', and 1,200 comments from users, many of them offering theories about the crew's fate and debating whether it is more likely that the note is genuine or a hoax. In Taiwan, the note has been taken seriously by advocates for the families of the missing crew, including the Su'Ao Fisherman's Association. 'This association relays the hope that the government will verify the situation through appropriate channels, and if confirmed to be true, is willing for the government to cooperate with international organisations to coordinate rescue efforts,' the association said in a statement to local media. The Su'Ao Fisherman's Association did not immediately respond to Al Jazeera's request for comment. Internet users on Taiwan's PTT message board have also debated the authenticity of the note. Some have compared it with an incident in 1992 in which a container of 28,000 plastic ducks and bath toys fell off a cargo ship during a storm. In the decades since the incident, the ducks have washed up around the world, including as far away as Scotland. Long said he is uncertain about whether the note is genuine, but believes it is possible. 'I don't know about the note's authenticity or if it was really sent by the crew of that ship,' he said. 'I was very sceptical at first and believed it to be a hoax when I first opened and read the message, but since then, it is starting to look more plausible to me.'
BBC News
23-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Donegal: Three people rescued from sinking fishing vessel
Three people have been rescued after their fishing vessel began taking on water off the coast of County Donegal in the Republic of before 8:00 local time on Wednesday, a mayday call was received by Malin Head coastguard, the Department of Transport has said.A nearby fishing vessel responded to the distress call near Glengad and successfully rescued all three individuals from the stricken coastguard, the Sligo-based coastguard helicopter rescue 118 and the Lough Swilly RNLI were all dispatched to the scene. In a post on social media, Lough Swilly RNLI said the vessel had already sunk its three crew had been recovered from a life raft by a nearby fishing were then transferred to the Greencastle coastguard boat and brought to Bunagee Pier, where they were assessed by an ambulance crew.
LBCI
04-06-2025
- General
- LBCI
Israel violates Lebanese waters, seizes fishing vessel
An Israeli naval boat breached Lebanese territorial waters, intercepted a fishing vessel, and towed it toward Israeli-controlled waters, in what Lebanese authorities have described as a serious violation of national sovereignty. This maritime incident comes a day after Israeli forces carried out strikes across southern Syria. The attacks followed reports of two rockets launched from Syrian territory landing in the occupied Golan Heights.
BBC News
30-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Fishing vessel returns to Lowestoft home after 100 years
The owner of a 138-year-old fishing ship, believed to be the only one left of its kind, is hoping to raise funds to turn it into a research Nordlys has returned to Lowestoft in Suffolk, where it was built, for the first time in more than a Lund wants to raise £700,000 to convert the vessel into an eco-friendly ship for scientists to use."I am a custodian of history here and it is up to me to maintain that and keep this bit of Lowestoft afloat and alive," he said. The ship - originally called the Jubilee - was built in the coastal town in 1887 at the peak of the fishing industry, and was used as a drifter to catch herring. By 1910 it had been sold to a new owner in Norway. The vessel was most recently used to transport wine and olive oil from southern Europe and was later moored in the Netherlands during the coronavirus Lund, 25, who is an experienced sailor, helped bring the Nordlys back to Lowestoft on a 27-hour journey across the North Sea."She was absolutely flying. She sails better than any other boat I have sailed," he said."They have such power and life to them. They feel like living creatures that are meant to be out at sea." For the past five years, and the first time in its history, the Nordlys has not been used in a working is moored at The Excelsior Trust, which provides sailing experiences for the local community, and is where Mr Lund's restoration project will take place, with the help of volunteers. He said the ship was set to be transformed into a sail-powered research vessel, with the help of traditional boat-building skills."She will be used for taking scientists out to sea and giving them the opportunity to do research, without needing to burn too much fossil fuels," he added. Speaking about the ship, Karol Petryka, the general manager of the trust, said: "In the old days, the quality of timber was completely different, and the skill-set of people."The majority of the work has been done by hand."The restoration is estimated to take about three years. Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
3 rescued after fishing boat runs aground near Ventura Harbor
Three people were rescued May 25 after the 40-foot commercial fishing vessel they were aboard ran aground outside Ventura Harbor near the mouth of the Santa Clara River. The Ventura Harbor Patrol was among the group responding to the water rescue shortly after 12:30 p.m. Harbor Patrol Officer Tim Burrows the agency left the scene by 2:20 p.m., at which point the trawler was considered a salvage operation. Crews with TowBoatUS Ventura were handed the work to recover the vessel, he said. It was not immediately clear if any fluids had leaked from the vessel, Burrows said. "They're working on it right now," he said. He also could not be sure of the boat's home port. "I know they've been up here a little bit," Burrows said. Ventura Fire Battalion Chief Jeremy Henderson said they fire crews also responded via Surfers Knoll in Ventura Harbor. By their arrival, lifeguards with the California State Parks, which patrol the area, had attended to the three from the boat. None needed to be transported to the hospital, he said. The National Weather Service's forecast discussion for May 25 said the region would experience a long-period south swell that would bring elevated surf conditions of up to 6 feet. The agency also warned of high risk for hazardous rip currents for south-facing beaches through the rest of Memorial Day Weekend. The weather service also gave a 60-80% chance of a small-craft advisory because of expected winds through the Santa Barbara Channel through May 26. The afternoon lowtide was at 2:18 p.m. Stacie N. Galang is news director of the Ventura County Star. She can be reached at or 805-437-0222. This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: 3 rescued after fishing boat runs aground near Ventura Harbor
