Injured ship crew en route to McMurdo Base

Three people are missing as a fire rages out of control on a Korean fishing vessel in the Southern Ocean this morning. Photo / Shipspotting.com

Injured crew members of a Korean fishing vessel engulfed by fire in the Southern Ocean are on their way to McMurdo Base in Antarctica on a vessel with medical facilities.

Three crew members missing since the fire on the Jeong Woo 2 yesterday are believed to have perished in the blaze in the ship's accommodation section.

A total of 40 crew were aboard when the 51m fishing vessel caught fire in the Ross Sea, about 2000 nautical miles (3704km) southeast of New Zealand.

The survivors were yesterday rescued by two other Korean fishing vessels, the Jeong Woo 3 and Hong Jin 707.

Seven injured crew members were yesterday transferred from the rescue vessels to the US research vessel Nathaniel B Palmer, which has medical staff and facilities on board.

Two were believed to have extensive burn injuries and another five had less serious burns.

The Nathaniel B Palmer was now en route to the United States McMurdo Base in Antarctica, where they would receive treatment.

The voyage was expected to take between 24 and 30 hours, depending on ice and weather conditions.

The Jeong Woo 2 was last night still ablaze and appeared to be sinking.

Vessels in the area have asked to rendezvous with the Jeong Woo 3 and Hong Jin 707 to take the uninjured crew, as the two vessels were unable to proceed with the significant numbers of extra people on board.

The Jeong Woo 2 issued a distress call early yesterday. It was picked up by Hong Jin 707 and relayed to RCCNZ by the NZ vessel Antarctic Chieftain just before 3am (NZDT).