Six crewmembers suffered varying degrees of injury after a fire broke out on a Russian-flagged commercial ship off the coast of the South Korean city of Busan on Tuesday, March 25.
The refrigerated cargo vessel Crystal Asia was underway some eight kilometres off the Port of Gamcheon in Busan when the blaze ignited in an undisclosed onboard area.
The vessel had an embarked crew of 23, all but one of whom were Russian nationals.
Although the fire was successfully extinguished, two of the crew suffered serious burns and needed to be airlifted to hospital in Busan. The remaining crew were eventually brought to shore by responding rescue boats on the orders of the South Korean authorities.
The Korea Coast Guard has since begun an investigation to identify the probable causes of the fire, which local media said had originated in the ship's engine room.
The 7,534GT, 135.5-metre long Crystal Asia was built in 1993.