Image courtesy International Cable Protection Committee
A South Korean cable layer sank in the East China Sea over the weekend after suffering a fire on board.
Korean media reports the 6,204-tonne Responder suffered a fire at approximately 3:50 a.m. September 11 as the ship was laying cable around 31 nautical miles off Tongyeong, South Korea.
The ship began to sink Saturday afternoon after several hours of firefighting and sank completely at 5:42 p.m., Yonhap News reported.
All 60 crew member on board the cable layer were rescued by a nearby tugboat before the ship began sinking.
Video posted online shows the ship going down:
The Korean-registered Responder is operated by KT Submarine. “We are going to discuss the salvage method after precautions to prevent marine pollution,” the company said in a statement reported by Yonhap.
Oil spill risk from the vessel is considered to be low, the report said.
Sign up for gCaptain’s newsletter and never miss an update
Essential maritime and offshore news, insights, and updates delivered daily straight to your inbox
By Susanne Barton Sep 6, 2025 (Bloomberg) –Microsoft Corp. said Saturday it’s no longer detecting issues with its Azure cloud platform after multiple international cables in the Red Sea were cut. ...
COSCO Shipping Ports is facing "challenges" with its international investments amid pressures from the U.S. trade war, its managing director said in Hong Kong on Thursday.
China is threatening to block the sale of more than 40 ports, owned by Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison, to BlackRock and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) if Chinese shipping company Cosco does not get a stake, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources.
Subscribe to gCaptain Daily and stay informed with the latest global maritime and offshore news
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
Sign Up
Join The Club
