Fourteen sailors aboard a ship carrying toxic chemicals remained missing Tuesday after their vessel was feared to have sunk in South Korea's southern waters, Coast Guard officials said. The South Korean ship was carrying 2,000 tons of nitric acid, but it is unlikely to pose a threat to the ocean or marine life since the chemical dilutes easily, said Choi Eun-ju, a regional Coast Guard officer. South Korea's Coast Guard and navy started searching for the ship shortly after it sent out a distress signal off Yeosu, 455 kilometers (283 miles) south of Seoul, around 4 a.m. (0700 GMT) Tuesday, said Coast Guard spokesman Kang Byung-mun. One sailor_ identified as a 28-year-old Burmese _ was found floating at sea hours later, but the other 14 crew members _ 12 South Koreans and two from Myanmar _ were still missing, Kang was quoted as saying by the Associated Press. The survivor was taken to a hospital but was unconscious, he added. The rescue team has yet to find any wreckage of the ship. However, authorities believe the vessel may have sunk since no signals have been detected from it for more than 12 hours, Kang said. The ship was sailing to Taiwan after leaving the southern port city of Gwangyang on Monday night, he said.
